Greetings from the just-concluded Restaurant Leadership Conference, where your humble servant was a panelist.  More about the panel later, but first some overall impressions.

Ron Paul of Technomic reported broad-based signs of strengthening performance for…

The staple of the superhero mythology is, there’s the superhero and there is the alter ego. Batman in reality is Bruce Wayne, Green Lantern is Hal Jordan, Spider-Man is really Peter Parker. When that character wakes up every morning, he’s Peter Parker. He has to put on a costume to become Spider-Man.

And it is in…

A new car is all crazy-fresh-n’good when it rolls off the lot, but more than anything you hope (darn well expect) that it will go for miles and miles without trouble. Granted, it is going to need some more gas, an oil change and, at some point, new tires. And if you get in an accident, you might need to straighten the frame, or give it a coat of paint. Would you say that your odds are better at having your car last longer/go farther if you stay current with all the maintenance and service…

During the first four weeks of America's Next Great Restaurant, we've seen some of the…

Recently, I had a simple request and you did not disappoint.  I asked you to share your industry wisdom.  Whether you led a giant organization or washed dishes in a single location.  Whether you managed a team or took direction.  Or, whether you ever discovered something as a guest, I asked you to…

What do marriage and customer service have in common?  Let’s start with the obvious.  They are both about relationship.  They both require interaction.  They are about human emotion and feelings.  I’m sure you can add to the list. 

Just for fun, let's begin by examining the 3 phases of marriage. The following account is based on hearsay not…

Hi all, a busy week at the office, so I took some blog material from the FoodCALC consumer blog Dining by Numbers, I hope you like it:

As someone who works in the restaurant industry, I know that a big complaint among restaurant operators when I ask them about providing calorie information to their customers is simple: cost.  You see, the traditional method that…

Recently, the press has been full of reports of private equity (PE) firms receiving outsized returns on prior restaurant investments. Examples include the reported Sun Capital 13 times return on its 2003 Bruegger’s investment, Olympus’ Partners reported 8 times return on its  K-Mac predominately Taco Bell franchisee group, Falfurrias selling Bojangles (unit counts up 30% since 2007). CKE Restaurant’s is now working a dividend via new debt for its owners, as did Dunkin Brands…

Restaurants record when reservations are made, but rarely have an ability to see when customers want to make reservations. Many…

For many years, restaurateurs have checked out the competition and no one so much as commented on those activities. Chains coming into a new market would routinely have managerial personnel visit existing operations, observe the service, and sometimes make offers to particularly talented servers/bartenders/etc.

This happened recently in Boston, where national chains in the past often found it difficult to open new units. Today, with a number of real estate opportunities, we've…

There’s good news and bad news regarding the prospects for an economic recovery. This should not be a surprise, especially since the news has to do with the findings of economists, perhaps the only subspecies of humans needing a third hand to settle arguments.  (You know the old joke: arguments which often include the phrases 'on the one hand...' and 'On the other hand.....’).…

Checking in at SXSW in was nearly a full-time job. This being my first time I was a bit overwhelmed. If you don't know, SXSW means South-By-South-West, a conference held annually for the past 25 years in Austin, Texas. It started out as a music festival and now, more than 125,000 people attend during its 10 days. This place is nuts. It's where Interactive, film and music intersect. Tech executives, geeks, musicians and movie stars collide with movie buffs, authors, fans,…

Sunday was the second week of America's Next Great Restaurant. The NBC restaurant reality TV show will pick a winning fast-casual concept to open in three American cities this summer - in Los Angeles, New York, and Minneapolis.

The idea behind the show intrigued me more than…

About three years ago I walked into a room of restaurant professionals to talk about restaurants providing nutrition information.  During my talk I was laughed at, walked out on, and later told that both restaurants and consumers are not interested in knowing the nutritional value of foods served in restaurants.  My, how the times have changed. 

Last week I had a chance to attend and speak at the International Restaurant and…

Over the years, I have been hounded by tribemates looking for a raise in pay (not unwarranted, but alas, still pervasive). If you want a pay increase to materialize at a faster pace, you must do some homework in addition to your work duties. What follows is the hospitality- manager response I have given to those on the money hunt: Whenever you are being evaluated for hiring, a promotion, or a raise, start with the most significant accomplishments you can cite from your recent…

If you live on the west coast Safeway is a household name!  For my friend in northern California, he had been shopping at the grocery chain for 27 years - until last week!  

You have to know a little bit about the subjects in this story to get the picture.  First you must know the names have been…

Now that Facebook has updated their algorithm to only show the updates from the pages and people your fans engage with, how does your message cut through the…

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