December 2010 Blog Posts (74)

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If you thought the hottest race in Chicago is going to be the race for mayor, think again. Unless Rahm Emanuel gets into a fist fight with Carol Moseley Braun or has a Howard Dean-like eruption, my focus will be on the real battle -- our city's fight to be a haven for mobile food trucks.

Honestly, I didn't even think there would be opponents. Currently, Chicago allows trucks that serve already prepared food; they just can't cook it while on-the-go. Alderman Scott…

This happens to me all the time: I go into a restaurant with the intention of making a healthy choice and end up falling victim to a less healthy option because it just sounds so good.  I love restaurants that serve healthy options because they help me…

Saturday night, after a long day of holiday shopping my wife and I were considering what to do for dinner. We knew we were going to a restaurant nearby, but not sure of where to…

2010 was a very interesting year for restaurants and restaurant social media. That means it was a pretty amazing year for us here at FohBoh. Why? Because it’s just starting to gel and we can see investment starting to take place. As a start-up, it’s always a good thing to be ahead of the curve. Be the “first mover”, as they say, but not too far ahead. There are also many advantages to being “second mover”. I’ve written about this before citing Google, Oracle,…

Often we don’t pay attention to personnel announcements unless we know the people involved, but I was struck recently by Johnny Rockets’ announcement naming Cris…

I read a blog the other day where the author was complaining about an over-zealous waiter. He was trying to conduct business over lunch and this waiter kept interrupting the conversation. As I read this account it sent a wake-up call to an idea about service that went to sleep years ago somewhere in the catacombs of my mind.

Why wouldn’t we just ask our customers what type of service they desire instead of guessing? One might say that this waiter…

It can be easy to succumb to the temptation to dive into something that you hear being praised every day for its benefits. All you hear about is Facebook this and…

We recently formed a restaurant group with 5 unique concepts in washington DC and we are about to start selling equity shares to raise capital is this a good way to go to raise funds since bank wont lend to businesses. Any takers?

I was going to say “Only in America…” until I realized this comes to us from Canada! A Canadian couple has modified their car so their 1600 pound pet can ride with them to the bar. It just goes to show you can never be short of customers if you use your imagination….…

I spoke this week with a Bar owner who mentioned that his Facebook Page for his bar had been shut down by Facebook without warning and as a result, he had lost all his bar’s friends and their contact details. In essence, he had lost a targeted effective marketing channel overnight. I discuss the reason for this in the video below together with recommendations on how you can avoid this happening to your Facebook presence too.

Can’t see this…

I’m a big fan of Saul Good. I love my friends Rob and Diane Perez who own and run the two locations in Lexington. I’d be a liar if I told you I wasn’t a bit biased. However you are just going to have to believe me when I tell you if Saul Good was a lousy restaurant I wouldn’t be a fan regardless of my relationship with Rob and Diane.

The food and service are both “out of this world” at Saul Good. I can guarantee you will enjoy your experience at either one of their locations.…

According to Donna Goodison in the 12/8/10 Boston Herald, Kevin Fitzgerald, the owner of Jacob Wirth, a Boston restaurant institution, posted a memo to his servers that included the following comment and ultimatum:



“You are the LOSERS!!!” … “Change or be changed. Please, don’t force your termination for the holidays.”



The Herald piece goes on to say; The memo, posted Saturday in a private work area, included eight pages of mostly negative customer comments about Jacob…

Regular readers of this column will know two things: I’m a former (reformed?) lender of many years’ experience, and I’m not too gentle with lenders in this space. I’m also a bit of a contrarian, and that side shows itself today.…

This week, Wednesday December 8th, marks the 30th anniversary of the assassination of John Lennon. Hard to believe it has been that long since we all gathered around our radios and TV’s trying to take in the news that one of the last great pacifists was murdered. Just like Robert Kennedy. Just like Martin Luther King. And just like Gandhi.



There is a lot that can be said about Lennon. We’ve heard all the good, the bad and…