San Francisco restaurants are participating in a city-wide compost collection program that has collected over 105,000 tons of food scraps and yard trimmings in a single year.  All that waste used to end up in the landfill, where compostable waste makes up a full third of everything in the dump.  …

A few restaurateurs in the United States have turned to some revolutionary ideas to overcome the perennial problem of wine by the glass: oxygenation.  Sticking a cork back in the half empty bottle and returning it to the undercounter fridge  behind the bar is common practice, but not even close …

TVs have slowly been creeping further and further into every restaurant’s atmosphere for years now.  It started with a small black and white television in one corner of the bar so guys could watch the game.  Now many bars have several HD flatscreens showing multiple games and news channels at …

A pilot project currently in development at Google will enable health officials to spot outbreaks of deadly food borne illnesses 7 to 10  days faster than the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) current system. Google accomplishes this by tracking queries entered into its search engine by people who are trying …

An increasing number of restaurateurs are looking to boost sagging sales with value-minded deals to lure customers back into their restaurants.  A particularly successful strategy has been employed by the Laguna Grille in Long Island, NY: a “Bailout Program,” which randomly awards free meals to a table per shift. The …

My recent post, “Missouri Legislature Debates Wage Cuts For Servers” sparked some debate about cutting payroll expenses in your restaurant.  Finding places to cut expenses as revenue falls is never an easy endeavor.  And since labor is almost definitely your number one expense, it’s easy to look there first when …

The Labeling Education and Nutrition, or LEAN Act, is gaining sponsors and votes in the United States congress.  The legislation would create a national standard for labeling menu items across the entire food service industry.  Consumers overwhelmingly support menu labeling, with some polls showing a 75% majority in favor of …

In 2006, voters in the state of Missouri overwhelmingly passed Proposition B, an initiative that mandated a minimum wage increase for hourly workers.  Prop B passed with a 75% majority, and after some debate, Missouri decided that workers who receive an hourly wage plus tips were eligible for the pay …

Italian Claudio Torghele has developed a pizza vending machine, complete with dough, sauce, and toppings, all in less than three minutes.  The machine, called “Let’s Pizza,” will knead the dough, spread the sauce, and give you a choice of toppings, including bacon, ham, cheese and tomato, and vegetable.  Customers can …

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’sshow Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA has been a huge hit, garnering thousands of American viewers and elevating the chef’s celebrity even further. Unfortunately, the restaurants he’s supposed to be helping are dropping like flies in the wake of his black widow touch.  The show’s premise is to …

Plenty of national food service companies have been eager to wade into the social media world as a way to engage and recruit customers.  Dunkin’ Donuts has tens of thousands of friends on Facebook.  Other restaurants, large and small, have pumped up their online presence in recent years and the …

A waitress at Bubba Gump’s restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans was arrested recently and charged with possession of fraudulent documents and credit card skimming. Jaleesa Jimerson reportedly used a skimming device to record the credit card information of up to 50 Bubba Gump customers.  The device was …

The Golden Gate Restaurant Association (GGRA) petitioned the Supreme Court recently to prevent the city of San Francisco from enacting legislation that would require employers to pay a fee to provide health coverage for their workers. On Monday, the Supreme Court refused a temporary stay on the San Francisco legislation.  …

A Boynton Beach, Florida man experienced a terrible emergency recently: the local Burger King was out of lemonade. 66-year-old Jean Fortune was ordering food at a Burger King location in Boynton Beach when he was told that there was no more lemonade at the restaurant.  A distraught Fortune called 911 …

Google has profoundly affected the way business is done the world over.  Besides becoming a frequently used verb (meaning “to search”) in multiple languages, the internet search and advertising giant became an international success on a business model that has never been attempted before. Google offers its primary service, internet …