Caribou's Blog (6)

Does Your Restaurant Have a Leaky Bucket?

Think of your restaurant as a 5 gallon bucket. Every day you fill that bucket with customers. Sometimes there’s a steady flow, sometimes it’s just a trickle, and sometimes it seems like a flood. No matter what kind of day it is, every customer flowing through your doors grades their experience and makes a decision on whether to come back or not.

The fewer holes you have in your bucket, the more customers you retain, and the more likely your bucket is to be full on a daily basis.… Continue

Added by Caribou on August 4, 2009 at 9:28am — No Comments

Stop Giving Waste Fryer Oil Away!

Disposing of used vegetable oil has always been a problem for restaurants. In recent years it has gotten easier with the increasing demand for biodiesel. Now many restaurants depend on free pickup services by biodiesel companies as a convenient and cheap way to dispose of their used fryer oil. Some even pay to have the stuff hauled away.

But what if you could take that oil and use it to save money, instead of just giving it away? Enter Vegawatt, a power system that uses… Continue

Added by Caribou on July 31, 2009 at 12:46pm — 3 Comments

Online Ordering: Is It Your Future Blessing or Curse?

You can do anything on the internet these days, and increasingly people are relying on the web to do all kinds of things that make their daily lives more convenient. On paper, the idea of introducing an online ordering service sounds exciting to restaurateurs. After all, who can complain about making sales before your customer ever steps through the door?

At this point, it’s mostly national chains that have introduced online ordering, many with some considerable success. But… Continue

Added by Caribou on July 29, 2009 at 2:30pm — 1 Comment

Dipper Wells: Why You Should Turn Yours Off TODAY

The dipper well is a small countertop sink that uses a constant flow of water to clean utensils like ice cream scoops and barista thermometers. The sink fills up to a certain level and then drains away, so a dipper well acts like a constantly filling pool. The in and out flow of water makes it convenient to clean utensils because any residue drains out automatically as the pool continues to fill.

The problem is that many… Continue

Added by Caribou on July 20, 2009 at 3:30pm — No Comments

4 Strategies For Improving Refrigeration Efficiency In Your Restaurant

Now that we are entering the hottest time of the year, it’s a good time to examine the refrigeration units in your restaurant and make sure they are operating as efficiently as possible. No matter what you do, you’re going to end up spending more money on refrigeration this time of year than any other. However, that doesn’t mean you should have to spend any more than absolutely necessary.

Have you optimized your refrigeration efficiency? Doing so can save you a LOT of money. Here’s… Continue

Added by Caribou on June 29, 2009 at 3:44pm — 2 Comments

Kogi Is Kool: How 1 Taco Truck Is Taking LA By Storm

Los Angeles has long been famous for roaming taco trucks that service the myriad neighborhoods of this sprawling metropolis, serving classic Latino fare.

L.A. is also known for its distinct Asian cuisine, which is often blended with more traditional American foods to create wonderful hybrids.

Well, now Korean BBQ, a hot food trend in America as it is, has met and melded with the classic Mexican taco to create a tantalizing blend of tangy, slightly spicy meats and sesame… Continue

Added by Caribou on March 20, 2009 at 10:33am — 2 Comments