Paul Letendre's Blog – September 2011 Archive (6)

The Perfect Mix

Yes, the restaurant looks great: it’s clean, it’s inviting, and it’s comfortable.  Lighting is just right and conversations can be had without whispering or screaming.  The parking lot has easy access from the street, the lot is well-lit, and parking spaces are well laid out.  The menu seems to be iron-clad: tried and tested.  Yet, the customers are staying away in droves.  Sales are…

This is a guest post from Cosmo Nicastro.  Cosmo is the founder and senior advisor of the Food Service Advisor.   Their services include management and financial consulting, training for front of house and training for back of house.  Their training modules are among the best in the industry and deal with all aspects of food service challenges.   …

14 Crappy Reasons

It’s common knowledge in the…

Keep Them Coming

The previous two guest blogs were from folks who are pretty savvy when it comes to getting more “butts in seats.”  Getting guests in the first time and getting them to come back, again and again - that’s basically what the restaurant business is all about. 

Chain restaurants are very good at this, -getting them in, getting them back; the numbers would suggest that they are…

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…

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…