September 2011 Blog Posts (40)

I’ve been in some interesting conversations recently.  On one side of the table, three different, but very appealing, young restaurant companies, which I’ll generally describe below, plus another company providing marketing intelligence to restaurant operators.  (Each is seeking growth capital and/or a change in ownership, which may be the same thing given their size.)  On the…

In the current economic climate most restaurant companies have been searching for a way to attract guests.  They have turned to a variety of discounts and value-oriented options to keep guests coming through their doors.  In order to maintain profitability, they have also looked for ways to cut costs.  One of the most common cutbacks has been in the area of server training.  Restaurants have been continuously allocating less of the budget to training servers.  This is often perceived as a…

It's getting colder outside and I'm starting to think about food more often. By the time 5 p.m. rolls around, I'm a lot hungrier than I was in the summer...and a beer feels even more in order.

So where do I go and what do I do? I look for happy hours. I look for the most bang for…

In the coming years Millenials (those between the ages of 18-29, sometimes referred to as Generation Y) will overtake the baby boomers as the most sought after target audience for restaurants, this according to a recent…

A show of hands if you are happy swimsuit season is just about over. You're not the only one!

As the restaurant daily deal sphere drones on, I can't help but compare them to a "get skinny fast" method that people use to drop a few pounds before hitting the beach. Sure, you can probably shed a pound or two by drinking a strange, green liquid and starving yourself for 72 hours. By the third day, you'll be running toward a bakery fast than Kirstie Alley can say "Jenny…

What is the profit per dollar in a restaurant? Most owners and managers can't even answer this question right. And they wonder why staff isn't more careful with the business. If everyone understands this in your restaurant you will have a much different operation.

MAKE SURE THEY DO!

While preparing for my Keynote next Tuesday at #FSMU, I almost want to change the title to "Stress Test, Surviving Silicon Valley". Startups are hard enough without all the strange stuff Silicon Valley tosses at you. I presented to a white-shoe venture fund a couple of weeks ago. They’ve invested in several social media companies and loved what we are doing here at FohBoh. They loved our business model, how we’ve evolved a social media insights and web analytics company, our…

We posed a question on our Facebook page the other day asking whether those in the industry think staff members…

A thing done well

John Updike, when referring to baseball great Ted Williams,  once wrote: “Williams is the classic ballplayer of the game on a hot August weekday, before a small crowd, when the only thing at stake is the tissue-thin difference between a thing done well and a thing done ill. Baseball is a game of the long season, of relentless and gradual averaging-out.”

I think that…

This three part series will highlight three very different restaurant training styles.

For part one, click here.

There is simply no replacement for hands-on training. Talk to any culinary student who begins to work in a real kitchen and they'll…

Today's post is written by my colleague, Lara Baldwin, with whom I always find myself in conversations about the types of restaurants we enjoy most.  I love quaint, little known h***-in-the-walls.  Lara has an affinity for large chains.  I asked her to articulate her argument and let you guys be the judge.  Let me know if you feel the same way...perhaps I'll write my side of the story next time ;)

Let’s face it: chain restaurants don’t exactly have a glamorous…

Adapted from original post on www.pamross.ca

There is a lot of buzz about De Santos, a restaurant in New York, using iPads to help serve their guests. Several months ago, I experienced "service by iPad" recently at a Canadian chain restaurant which was testing the technology. It…

About a month ago a regular at the Ugly Tuna Saloona in Columbus, OH, sent a tweet that her phone had been stolen. A few hours later she tweeted she was on her way to the bar, adding that she was having a “(bad) day.” Ugly Tuna’s…

The joints of their knuckles ached. Their wrists were stiff as the first sign of primate related Carpal Tunnel Syndrome waged war on their usually limber joints. Many of the Apes had gone to be fitted for reading glasses as the hours spent in front of computers had taken its toll. The hunt for those filthy human pests,…

Georgetown Baglery, well-known for its artisan bagels for the Washington DC Metropolitan region, received national certification as a Women’s Business Enterprise by the Women Presidents’ Educational Organization (WPEO), a regional certifying partner of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).…

Labor Day

In our industry, Labor Day, more so than any other day of the year, traditionally signals the end of one period, start of the next.  It’s a time of change.  Urban areas are gearing up; seasonal areas are gearing down. Seasonals are getting ready to wrap up the year: probably working short-handed for a few more weeks, with very slow weekdays and crazy busy weekends, -“weather…

I could have called it Part 2, but I just saw Harry Potter, and thought a more grandiose title was in order.  

Back in March, I wrote a column entitled “Who Will Buy Your Burritos?”, which was -- in part -- focused on a longstanding concern of mine, that the US economy will continue to lag,…