Thomas Shackelford's Blog (9)

I'm not talking about proper wine presentation. I'm talking about knowing when to have your guests to say when. Do your people know what to do if there guest has been overserved? Do you know what to do? What if someone comes in your establishment drunk already and you serve them a drink before you realize they've had too much? These are all easily answered questions if you have the right training. Some states require alcohol training while many others do not. I say even if they don't require… Continue

This is for the management of the restaurant world. Some of us are very fortunate and only do 40, 45, or even 50 hours a week. Since my restaurant is a dinner only concept I fall in that categorie.

Yesterday I heard a horror story from a guy that worked at a concept down the street that quit his new management job because he was scheduled a minimum of 60 hours a week and was pulling probably close to 70 hours a week due to the simple fact that he didn't know what he was doing and was left… Continue

We are in a new era in the restaurant industry. Minimum wage is going up everywhere for hourly employees. Many states have already felt the effects of the tipped employee wage increase. Some states have only taken a slight hit while others have gone up to $6.50 and $7.50 an hour.

For the employees that's incredible! The managers and business owners feel it the most in their own pocket books with less cash coming in. I'm all for our hourly staff members to recieve the money they deserve and… Continue

In this business, smoking is something we have to deal with daily. If you hire a staff that doesn't smoke then I want to know where you got them. I'm not saying people that smoke are not good or even great workers. But lets face it, privelages are given to the smokers that end up having to be given to everyone. Its only fair right?

Sometimes when someone wants to take a smoke break you get the sarcastic smart employee that comes up to you and asks if they can go take a phone break or have… Continue

In this business you can find yourself working a lot of hours as a manager! At the end of your 5, 6, or 7 days of working ten or more hours per shift, how do you keep the energy alive?

Remember, the management sets tone and energy for the restaurant! Every staff member checks the "Temperature of the restaurant" when they come in for the shift. Attitudes ARE contagious! Do you set the tone and energy for the restaurant? How do you do it?

My restaurant is not a green restaurant by standard but I was curious about how much more it costs to just make the slightest of difference?

I'm basicly talking about being a recycling restaurant at the very least! Lets face it, we produce soooo much garbage in a given work day and if we don't get our trash pick-up on the scheduled day we are overflowing! What would it take to have seperate trash cans, dumpsters, and so on...

I understand this is a huge undertaking. Hell it's…

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I've worked in the industry for too many years now and I've never seen ANYTHING that has been really that gross...doesn't mean it doesn't happen!

After the movie "Waiting" came out everyone outside of the business thought that was the way things worked in most restaurants. I've had may people refuse to send thier food back if it was incorrect because they said,"Oh no, I've seen that Waiting movie. I don't want anything to happen to my food."

I'm not saying throw your old or…

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Balancing love, business is like walking a tightrope

look at a restaurant as an organic, living being, constantly needing to be massaged, undressed, dressed," says Henry Meer, chef-owner of Cub Room and City Hall in New York. "My wife and I have gone through a tremendous amount of discussion about how, for the first few years, she was the mistress and the restaurant was the wife."

Many good owners and managers are similarly devoted, heart and soul, to their restaurants -- quite…

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I know most of us in the industry know how to tip or even tip too much but here is a list of the WORST and BEST Tippers from Bartender Magazine. Agree or disagree? Share your thoughts because of course, there is always exceptions.

The best tippers:

• Restaurant People
• Regular Customers
• Small Business Owners
• Hairdressers
• Liquor Salesmen
• Limo Drivers
• Salesmen

The…

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