Featured Blog Posts – September 2009 Archive (59)

Non-Operator Where’s Your Healthy Listing?

A rise in the number of dieting diners has lead many restaurants to provide them with healthier options. And why wouldn’t they? In an industry where 3 in 4* adults are trying to eat healthier when eating out, and about 60%** of diners reporting that healthfulness affects where they dine, the “healthy menu option” is almost a crucial move depending on your target market. But how do you really put yourself out there and let these calorie counters know the good stuff you have to offer? Try the… Continue

Added by Alyson Mar, RD on September 30, 2009 at 4:45pm — 1 Comment

How are you marketing your restaurant in this economy

I like to hear from you on how you are marketing in this economy. With over 900,000 restaurant location through the united states, what are you doing that is helping your restaurant. This will help others who are struggling?

Research shows it’s not a good idea to eliminate marketing efforts during a down economy just to save money on your bottom line. Did you know that McGraw-Hill Research found that companies that maintained or increased their marketing efforts throughout the… Continue

Added by Ola Ayeni on September 30, 2009 at 5:00am — No Comments

Non-Operator Bacon: It's Not Just For Breakfast Anymore

The name derives from the old German word “bacho” meaning buttock. The USDA defines it as "the cured belly of a swine carcass" (other reason not to let the government craft your menu descriptions). “It” is, of course, bacon. Once consigned to nestle next to breakfast eggs (when bacon is served, eggs are present 71% of the time), sit crumbled atop baked potatoes and be the “B” in BLT’s, today bacon is literally and figuratively everywhere in the food universe:

U.S.…

Continue

Added by Mathew Mandeltort on September 29, 2009 at 3:00am — 7 Comments

Non-Operator Birthdays are a Great Excuse to Attract New Guests...

About 1/2 of all restaurants have a birthday rewards program for existing customers...you know..."tell us your birthday and we'll send you a coupon" kind of thing.

Unfortunately, most restaurateurs don't realize that birthdays are a great (mostly untapped) way to reach customers who have never been to their restaurant.

In fact, birthdays are the most celebrated holiday on the planet, and almost 70% of Americans go out to eat at a restaurant to celebrate!

Here's… Continue

Added by Rod Brant on September 28, 2009 at 10:18am — 6 Comments

Non-Operator Starved for Comps: Burger King $1 Cheeseburger Promo Coming, High Stakes

The Burger King $1 doublecheeseburger campaign starts nationally on October 19. For Burger King, its high stakes. For the QSR sector, its a way to detect whether the $1 value focus will actually payoff.

In its August 25th earnings call, CEO John Chidsey indicated they were happy with the early $1 double results in about 40 markets. Earlier this year, Burger king and its franchisees failed twice to come to agreement to promote it, and these must be test markets or company… Continue

Added by John A. Gordon on September 28, 2009 at 9:49am — No Comments

Non-Operator Restaurants & Alcohol Abuse in the Workplace

This past weekend a peer in another state contacted me requesting advice on what to do and how to handle an employee who was regularly intoxicated while on the clock.

The GM is the offending employee.

The last straw was the GM, during the shift, approaching a table that a waiter was describing the details of one of the features to the seated guests. The GM barged into the moment declaring the employee was incorrect. The GM then presented their own version of the… Continue

Added by Paul Paz on September 28, 2009 at 1:44am — 25 Comments

Non-Operator The Rule of "Sameness"

In today’s difficult and challenging times, slick facilities and trendy foods are simply not enough for long term viability in the restaurant business. There must be a real foundation in operations. Clean restaurants, consistent food & liquor cost, well managed labor costs are not accidents, nor are they achieved because the manager is a nice guy. Such achievements are only realized through consistency of operations.

Consistency in operations including employee development only… Continue

Added by Jerry A. Heilpern, CFBE, FMP on September 27, 2009 at 11:22pm — 2 Comments

Creative Social Media On The Cheap

Think Like A Musician

Musicians amaze me. A lot like a good chef, they are consumed with creating wonderful things. On the flip side, they need to expand and massage their fans, satisfy them and bring in revenue. The similarities are unique; a restaurant also needs to expand and massage its customers, satisfy them and bring in revenue.

With only 10% of affordable fine-dining restaurants using social media, I thought an introduction to how musicians have… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on September 27, 2009 at 10:42pm — 3 Comments

The Small Business Guide to Text-Message Marketing

The New York Times recently published an article titled "The Small Business Guide to Text-Message Marketing". If you're a small business looking at new innovative and effective marketing methods, text message (SMS) marketing is the way to go. Let's review --

1. Don’t even think about doing it the illegal…

Continue

Added by Vitaliy Levit on September 26, 2009 at 10:17am — No Comments

The Big Enigma : Hospital "cuisine"

As the designated weekend FohBohist, my blogs are supposed to be light

and sometimes off the subject of food or restaurants.

I thought I would take a break and bring up a topic, that, as far as I am aware, has not been covered on FohBoh. The subject is hospital cuisine.

Like airline food, hospital food has had its share of jokes, questionable concerns, and even to the point of "don't discuss" .

I have had my sahre of hospital food in my lifetime, as I am… Continue

Added by Keith Bernhardt on September 25, 2009 at 1:00pm — 13 Comments

DAWG Talk: Lessons from the Dog - One Candidate's Perspective

(Guest post by Kimberly)

I’m a Greek Mathematician. Actually, I’m not, but today I did have a “eureka” moment.

Having been in the real-world (whatever that means) work force for 15 years, I’m confident in my skills and abilities and that I’m the best at what I do. I’ve consistently been gainfully employed during these 15 years and have worked for a total of three companies in this time span, earning awards and exceeding expectations at each of them. What was my experience… Continue

Added by David Rose on September 25, 2009 at 12:03pm — No Comments

Non-Operator How to Get Free Email Mail Marketing that Converts Like Crazy

First... Set Up a Free Account With a Company that is White Listed...

There are many email marketing companies that offer free campaigns, but two stand alone as the best.

1) iContact - Included in their free package is a 31 page white paper that will make even the most novice marketer an email pro. They have a fully integrated survey sytem along with email scheduling capabilities. iContact also… Continue

Added by Arianna Garcia on September 25, 2009 at 8:21am — 1 Comment

May I borrow your time machine? I need to go back and stop myself from having a recent discussion with a potential customer…

I had this disturbing discussion with a potential customer that has me both frightened and laughing at the same time.

We discussed the importance of the guest experience and how tough it is to find the right resources to represent a brand appropriately. We outlined that measuring a resource's success can be even tougher. Here’s what had me falling off my chair – the management team of this small chain doesn’t want resources measured – especially not by the customer and not while in… Continue

Added by Terri Hitchcock on September 24, 2009 at 1:08pm — 2 Comments

Beef Prices and the Aussies

The chart of the week is the value of the Australian dollar (versus the US dollar) and the US 90% beef trimmings market. What does one have to do with the other? Good question! First we remember that beef processors utilize trimmings to make various beef products including the ever popular hamburger. Typically, a hamburger processor will mix 90% beef trimmings with a fattier trim, say 50% trimmings, to make their product. In the US, we produce at lot of fattier beef trimmings. So much so that… Continue

Added by David Maloni on September 24, 2009 at 3:56am — 1 Comment

Are Your Baristas Rock Stars?

Cross-posted at Chalkboarder.com's White Papers and on Barista Exchange

Are Your Baristas Rock Stars?

With Coffee Fest Seattle approaching this week, we wanted to share some ideas on how to drive sales in coffee houses using social media.

The explosion of independent espresso and coffee houses across North America in the last ten years is phenomenal. Over… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on September 22, 2009 at 7:37pm — No Comments

The war between the greens (sustainable vs. organic vs. Biodynamic® viticulture)

Green wines have become more plentiful and better than ever, which is good news for all of us, and the environment.

One of the unseemly aspects of this inexorable movement, on the other hand, is the public sniping between the various sustainable, certified organic, and Biodynamic® camps; and I have to say, what’s even more disappointing are sides taken by individuals… Continue

Added by Randy Caparoso on September 22, 2009 at 7:00pm — No Comments

Non-Operator Are You Working Too Hard?

I had a fascinating discussion with a group of employees yesterday morning that I just had to share with you. During a pre-shift meeting I asked my team why they work. To a person everyone said money. After inquiring further I discovered that really it was about taking care of their bills and providing for their families.

Once we established this as their primary reason for working I asked them about their work environment and how much they enjoyed it. The consensus was that the work… Continue

Added by Bill Campion on September 22, 2009 at 1:08pm — 3 Comments

Video Blog: If You Don't Create Your Life Someone Else Will For You.

"Action without Vision is a Nightmare."

The hard truth is that if you don't create your life, someone else will create it for you. Yes, sometimes s*#t happens that leads to experiences we didn't plan for, and some of those experiences become… Continue

Added by Amanda Hite on September 22, 2009 at 7:07am — 10 Comments

Rethinking Line Up

How many times have we heard this during line up?

"I haven't worked a shift since last Wednesday. I'm only here a couple days a week; how can I be expected to know when things change? I have no idea what these new menu items are. Since when did the chopped salad have broccoli? We have 5 new wines by the glass? What are these new desserts all about?"

I've said or thought them all.

If we come to the line up unprepared, if we are expecting to use the time to learn… Continue

Added by Michael Biesemeyer on September 21, 2009 at 1:07pm — 3 Comments

How State Restaurant Associations Could Use Social Media

Blog posted on FohBoh and Chalkboarder.com’s White Papers

Two weeks ago, Chalkboarder.com surveyed 2200 restaurants in fourteen major metropolitan US markets, to assess the Ease of Entering the Virtual Door. As a break from that labor, we did a quick study of how many state restaurant associations are using social media and discovered that about 6% do.

This… Continue

Added by Jeffrey J Kingman on September 21, 2009 at 10:19am — 11 Comments