For five years, Burger King Holdings Inc. was on a roll, successfully courting its “super fans”—18- to 34-year-olds who account for half of all visits to Burger King restaurants.

Thanks to high unemployment and healthier eating habits, those super fans haven’t been so super lately. Burger King has felt the impact more acutely than its main rival, McDonald’s Corp., whose sales are growing.

As Burger King prepares to report earnings this week after two straight quarters of same-store sales declines, the question is whether the chain has relied too heavily on customers that may be permanently changing habits.

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Eating in a restaurant is a minefield for Bethany Jaeger.

Shellfish, dairy, nuts, beans, wheat, soy and corn all make her sick, so the Chatham, Ill., woman has to avoid commonly used ingredients that include marinades, sauces, breading, grains and butter.

“If I can get a meal that’s tasty and doesn’t turn my stomach, I’m a return customer,” said Jaeger, 30, a management consultant.

More than 12 million Americans – about 4 percent of the population – suffer from food allergies. A true food allergy is an immune-system response to a food that the body mistakenly believes is harmful.

Sensitivities to foods are a growing public health concern, according to the Fairfax, Va.-based Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (www.foodallergy.org), and so are the challenges faced by diners with food allergies and intolerances when they eat in restaurants.

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• Servsafe Starters Employee Guide
• ServSafe Essentials with Answer Sheet for Paper and Pencil Exam
• ServSafe Coursebook (text only)
• ServSafe Alcohol: Fundamentals of Responsible Alcohol Service with Exam Answer Sheet
• ServSafe Essentials Spanish with Answer Sheet

It is a time-honored tradition to celebrate a birthday by dining out and whispering to the waiter about the occasion, hopefully resulting in treatment that will either make the birthday person feel special or embarrass the living daylights out of him or her.

Of course, restaurants all have their own ways of doing this, ranging from discreet boxes of chocolate to free sundaes to waiters gathered around clapping – and they can just hope that their gestures meet your expectations.

Last month, I took my husband for a birthday dinner at Nicholas in Red Bank, an elegant restaurant that consistently ranks tops in the New Jersey Zagat guide. I told the reservationist that it was his birthday, and she said something about a candle with dessert, pointedly adding: “We do not sing, but we like to make a culinary fuss.”

This made me laugh out loud – especially when I saw the hushed restaurant. Who would expect to be serenaded there?

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• Restaurant Marketing Secrets
• The Restaurant Marketing Bible: How To Market Your Restaurant on a Shoestring Budget
• Restaurant Marketing Strategies: Dramatically Improve Your Restaurant Profits While Spending Less Money
• Foodservice Marketing for the ’90s: How to Become the #1 Restaurant in Your Neighborhood
• Restaurant Marketing for Owners and Managers

For a lot of people, it’s been a miserable winter, with snow, subzero temperatures, and more snow.

For Mike Craighill, it has been good weather.

He and his wife, Antonia, run two Soup and Such restaurants, their newest one in downtown Billings.

“Winter is definitely our busiest time,” Craighill said. “Even though we have a salad bar with great summer fare, what do you think of on a cold day? Soup.”

With a popular restaurant in the Heights, the Craighills started looking for a second location on the West End. When they learned a prime downtown spot was available, they were at first a little leery. Lots of restaurants have come and gone downtown.

But, the new store, which opened October 2008 at 2716 Third Ave., has worked out beyond their expectations.

Continue reading . . .

• 2010 RestaurantNews.com Franchise Guide
• How To Start A Restaurant Following A Profitable System
• The Restaurant: From Concept to Operation
• Successful Restaurant Design
• Restaurant Financial Basics

Anyone who travels to Japan will quickly learn two things: food is a very serious business, and Japanese cuisine isn’t all sushi and rice. Although it’s a relatively small country, Japan is blessed with an exceptionally rich variety of diverse ingredients and cooking styles.

However Japanese food also has a strong focus on seasonal ingredients, coupled with an endearing attention to detail when it comes to presentation. Even a fast-food bento box, sold at a railway station to a hungry executive on his way home from the office, is arranged with loving care and attention.

Japanese food is undeniably unique among the great cuisines of the world, but it’s only been in recent years that the country has come under the spotlight as a fine dining destination.

It all began in the wake of the new millennium, when several world class and celebrity chefs descended on the Japanese capital. In 2005, Gordon Ramsay of Hell’s Kit-chen fame opened his first restaurant in Japan at the five-star Conrad Tokyo, and he was followed soon after by others including the acclaimed Monegasque chef, Alain Ducasse.

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• Contemporary Japanese Restaurant Design
• Shunju: New Japanese Cuisine
• Kaiseki: The Exquisite Cuisine of Kyoto’s Kikunoi Restaurant

The broiled meat is tender and the rice is silky-smooth. But as Japan’s economic recovery falters, beef bowls have come to symbolize one of its most pressing woes: deflation.

The big three beef bowl restaurant chains in Japan, the country’s answer to hamburger giants like McDonald’s, are in a price war.

It is a sign, many people say, of the dire state of the Japanese economy that even bargain beef bowl restaurants must cut their already low prices to keep customers.

The battle has also come to epitomize a destructive pattern repeated across Japan’s economy. By cutting prices hastily and aggressively to attract consumers, critics say, restaurants decimate profits, squeezeworkers’ pay and drive theweak out of business – a deflationary cycle that threatens the nation’s economy.

Continue reading . . .

• Contemporary Japanese Restaurant Design
• Shunju: New Japanese Cuisine
• Kaiseki: The Exquisite Cuisine of Kyoto’s Kikunoi Restaurant

While staff put finishing touches on his new restaurant, Cat City Grill, Vance Martin weighed the relative merits of opening 24 hours after Valentine’s Day.

In this grim economic climate, what’s remarkable is that Martin, owner-chef of Lili’s Bistro just down the street on Fort Worth’s Magnolia Avenue, is expanding his business horizons at all.

And he’s not alone.

Another Magnolia restaurant, Scampi’s, is enlarging its serving area and adding a bar. And new to the Tarrant market are the Cowtown Diner downtown and Wildwood Grill in Southlake, not to mention out-of-town ventures like Cooper’s barbecue, from Llano, opening in the Stockyards. From Austin comes Mandola’s, moving into Arlington, and El Arroyo, in southwest Fort Worth. Add to that Dallas concepts expanding to Fort Worth, like Tillman’s Roadhouse near West Seventh Street.

BJ’s, a California chain featuring beer from Houston’s Saint Arnold microbrewery, added area restaurants at North East Mall in November and yet another at Alliance Town Center.

Houlihan’s, a more refined version of the 1970s chain, is back with geographically wide-ranging dishes in a casual-dining restaurant at Arlington Highlands.

But for all the openings, the economy also claimed victims in Dallas-Fort Worth’s ever-more-competitive environment, which boasts a full-service restaurant for every 299 households.

Continue reading . . .

• 2010 RestaurantNews.com Franchise Guide
• How To Start A Restaurant Following A Profitable System
• Restaurant Franchising
• Quick Service Restaurants, Franchising, and Multi-Unit Chain Management
• The Restaurant: From Concept to Operation

Some Phoenix-area restaurants, bars and coffee shops are seeing an uptick in business after a tough 2009 took a toll on their bottom lines.

January bar and restaurant sales have received a boost in the Phoenix market from the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, National Football League playoff games and some improvement in consumer confidence. The sector is hoping February’s start to spring training will further help sales.

“We have seen better foot traffic, especially the weekend of the 15th of January with the (P.F. Chang’s) Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon and NFL games. It was the best Sunday we have ever had in our 16 years of business,” said Jim Scussel, owner of Four Peaks Brewing Co., which operates bars in Tempe and Scottsdale. “Our general numbers are up in January over last year, so that means better foot traffic.”

Chad Barnett, who owns 30 Subway restaurants in Arizona, said foot traffic is equal to or better than it was at the same time last year.

Continue reading . . .

• How To Improve Restaurant Dining Room Service
• Restaurant Waiters Training Guide
• Restaurant Basics: Why Guests Don’t Come Back…and What You Can Do About It
• Remarkable Service: A Guide to Winning and Keeping Customers for Servers, Managers, and Restaurant Owners
• Lessons in Service from Charlie Trotter

Charles Phan had pretty much failed at every thing he’d tried.

So when he decided to build a world-class Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco at a time when ethnic-food places were confined to ramshackle neighborhood storefronts, and prepare all the dishes himself, few thought he’d succeed. In fact, it seemed downright presumptuous for a man whose sole restaurant experience until then was busing tables.

“The bank wouldn’t even give me a loan because they thought it was such a stupid idea,” Phan said.

It turned out the bank and other naysayers were wrong. The project, known as the Slanted Door, opened in 1995 and became a worldwide destination restaurant, the flagship of a multimillion-dollar enterprise.

Continue reading . . .

• Restaurant Planning, Design, and Construction: A Survival Manual for Owners, Operators, and Developers
• The Restaurant: From Concept to Operation
• The Restaurant Business Start-up Guide
• Design and Layout of Foodservice Facilities
• Design and Equipment for Restaurants and Foodservice: A Management View
• Successful Restaurant Design

Swati Kapoor, 25, was about to order a double chocolate cake doughnut when she noticed something new on the rack at Dunkin’ Donuts. A tag said 290 calories. In an instant, she switched to a chocolate frosted doughnut (230 calories).

“To prevent obesity,” the skinny medical student explained, munching away at a table in 30th Street Station.

Philadelphia begins phasing in enforcement of its strictest-in-the-nation menu-labeling law tomorrow. This first part, requiring chain restaurants to list calories on food tags and menu boards, is a relatively simple proposition that research shows can influence ordering habits.

A similar law will take effect in New Jersey next year, and dozens of such bills are pending around the country, including in Harrisburg.

What’s different in Philadelphia will become apparent on April 1, when restaurants with individual menus must list saturated fats, trans fats, carbohydrates, and sodium, in addition to calories, with every item.

No one really knows what will come of this broader experiment in attempted behavioral change.

Continue reading . . .

• Profitable Menu Planning
• Menu Design: Merchandising and Marketing
• Marketing by Menu
• Menu Pricing: Restaurant Manager’s Pocket Handbook Series

Have you ever been in a restaurant or bar where the server was not customer friendly? It takes more than the ability to mix a good drink or the ability to carry a tray of food to work in this industry. It takes charisma. This job relies on your personality. You need to be the provider of good fun, good cheer, and a pleasant place to come. Customers come back to your establishment over and over because of you.

So here are a few tips to keep them coming:

You are the first impression. Customers may come in occasionally or daily. They will always notice the cleanliness of your place and how you come across. Remember, as the first impression, you are paid by the management to exude good cheer.

Remember the show “Cheers”? If Sam had been a grump all the time, instead of enjoying the people around the bar, it would have never been successful. Yes, Sam was going through all kinds of trials and tribulations. But Sam was fun, the place was neat, and everyone, the regulars and the new visitors enjoyed themselves. Become a Sam.

Continue reading . . .

• How To Improve Restaurant Dining Room Service
• Restaurant Waiters Training Guide
• Restaurant Basics: Why Guests Don’t Come Back…and What You Can Do About It
• Remarkable Service: A Guide to Winning and Keeping Customers for Servers, Managers, and Restaurant Owners
• Lessons in Service from Charlie Trotter

Imagine a chef stepping up to you, offering 50 per cent off the price of your dinner if you eat tonight between seven and nine.

It’s happening in Vancouver, where tech startup Storm Media Innovations has put a new twist on restaurant reservations with a service that lets restaurants order up customers to fill their empty seats by offering targeted, location-based discounts that only last until the restaurant is full.

“We deliver customized discounts to consumers at the right time in the right place,” said Craig Baker, Storm’s chief executive officer, who was making a pitch to investors at Bootup Labs demo days at the Canadian Financing Forum this week in Vancouver.

Baker said his company’s service is being tested with 25 restaurants; plans are to expand that number to 1,000 restaurants in nine markets across North America.

Continue reading . . .

• Serving Your Customers Online: A Workbook For Creating a Profitable Restaurant Website
• Restaurant Marketing Secrets
• The Restaurant Marketing Bible: How To Market Your Restaurant on a Shoestring Budget
• Restaurant Marketing Strategies: Dramatically Improve Your Restaurant Profits While Spending Less Money
• Foodservice Marketing for the ’90s: How to Become the #1 Restaurant in Your Neighborhood

News that Ferran Adrià will temporarily close “the best restaurant in the world”, El Bulli in Spain, has left many in the culinary fraternity wondering if it means the death of molecular gastronomy.

But at MadridFusion 2010 last week, Adrià said there is still a future in avant garde cuisine, the distinctive cooking style known variously as molecular gastronomy, nueva cocina, culinary constructivism or new cookery.

“I believe there is still room for many people to create,” Adrià said.

The three-Michelin-starred El Bulli, voted best restaurant in the world for the past four years, pioneered the renaissance-style explosion of gastronomic innovation in the late 1990s. Spain overtook France as the epicentre of gastronomic excellence and creativity. By 2009, Spain claimed more restaurants at the top of the San Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurants list than any other country. Its influence has spread around the globe, with other avant garde chefs such as Britain’s Heston Blumenthal and America’s Grant Achatz achieving international acclaim and numerous awards.

However, controversy has surrounded molecular gastronomy. Adrià has been attacked by critics who claim his food is pretentious, elitist and even poisonous in its use of colourants, gelling agents and emulsifiers. Even the chefs of the avant garde movement have shunned the term molecular gastronomy, instead preferring new cookery or, in Spanish, nueva cocina.

Continue reading . . .

Two small businesses, one goal: to survive and grow in this economic climate.

The owners of Chicken Chalet and Red Oak restaurant and diner have teamed up to attract more customers, deciding to tackle the challenges of entrepreneurship together from one place, instead of from two separate facilities.

Chicken Chalet in the Town of Chenango closed for good on Dec. 24 after about 20 years in business, owner Kelly Kennedy said. It had 10 employees.

“Business was getting slower. Expenses keep going up,” she said. “I did have a base of customers, just not big enough. … We noticed people who were (previously) coming in two to three times a week were coming in once. Instead of paying $8 on a lunch, they were saving it. It was definitely an economy thing.”

She approached Red Oak owner Michael Kapogiannatos about cooking out of the kitchen of his restaurant, on Front Street in Binghamton.

Continue reading . . .

The buildings that line the upper village stretch of Old Post Road South in Croton-on-Hudson are pretty dark at night. The delis, liquor store and offices typically are not open once the daylight disappears. But one evening a month, the street comes to life.

That’s the night that Skillet restaurant takes over Grouchy Gabe’s Grill, a deli at 8 Old Post Road South. Temporary signs are put out front, brown paper sheets cover the Formica tables and candles cast a warm glow. The 6 and 8 p.m. seatings are sold out, and the place is packed with customers, many of them moving from table to table, introducing themselves, chatting and sometimes sharing their wine, which they bring themselves.

“People stop in and ask what’s going on — they say that the lights and all the fun that people seem to be having drew them in,” said David Leveen, the self-taught chef who dreamed up the idea for Skillet. His first dinner was held on Oct. 24 and he has sold out all the seats at the monthly dinners ever since, purely through word of mouth.

Call it an occasional restaurant. Skillet is just one example of the creative resource sharing that Westchester restaurateurs, bakers, caterers and other food entrepreneurs are employing to make it during these hard economic times.

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When Frank Ryan was asked to leave Rib City Grill in East Naples in 2007, the general manager signed an agreement not to compete or use the restaurant’s trade secrets, recipes, or food preparation techniques for 10 years.

So managers of the Fort Myers-based restaurant, which has franchises in seven other states, were surprised when they received an e-mail about its Long Island, N.Y., restaurant: They had no restaurant there.

It turned out it was Ryan’s restaurant, Rib City Ale House in Port Jefferson Station.

So Rib City Group’s attorney sent Ryan a cease-and-desist letter, telling him “Rib City,” its layout, smiling pig, menus, recipes, food preparation techniques, Internet name, and other material was trademark-protected.

Ryan’s attorney called it an “inadvertent mistake, a coincidence,” and said Ryan would remove the Rib City name. He didn’t.

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Several of the questions in Restaurants & Institutions 2010 New American Diner Study offered respondents the chance to write in their own answers. The comments shared offer a revealing look into diners’ attitudes, beliefs.

HOSPITALITY HELPERS
The study asked consumers to name their top three components of good service at a restaurant; among the choices provided, “a friendly disposition” (56%), “stopping by regularly to check if I need anything else” (51%) and “clean/safe serving habits” came out on top. Consumers who selected “other” were free to submit their own markers of good service; following are several of their responses.

What do you consider to be key components of good service?
“not asking me questions when my mouth is full”
“no hovering”
“being unobtrusive”
“appropriate appearance of servers [in terms of] clothes/hair/jewelry”
“Never ask, ‘Are you still working on that?’”
“very clean table–not just wiped off”

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T.G.I. Friday’s announced it will offer $5 off party platters at participating restaurants in the U.S. for the February 7, 2010 professional football championship between New Orleans and Indianapolis. In addition, Friday’s will extend its offer of half-price appetizers in the bar after 4 p.m. for a limited time, including the Feb. 7 big game, which will be televised at participating T.G.I. Friday’s bars coast-to-coast.

“Traditionally, the ‘Big Game’ is celebrated at home with friends and what better way to celebrate than by bringing Friday’s specially-priced party platters with you,” said John Neitzel, president and chief operating officer of T.G.I. Friday’s USA. “Of course, we invite you to watch the game at Friday’s, where our guests can enjoy half-price appetizers for a limited time including the big game day.”

The $5 off party platters must be ordered 24 hours in advance. Guests can choose from the following T.G.I. Friday’s Party Platters: Baby Back Ribs, Jack Daniel’s(R) Ribs, California Club Sandwiches, Tuscan Spinach Dip, Fresh Garden Salad, Caesar Salad, Jack Daniel’s(R) Wings, Fresh Fruit, Fajitas, Sesame Jack Chicken Strips, Pecan-Crusted Chicken Salad, Chicken Fingers, Vanilla Bean Cheesecake and Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie.

You can follow T.G.I. Friday’s news on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/TGIFridays), Twitter @TGIFriday’sNews and YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/TGIFridaysNews).

With more than 900 restaurants in 60 countries, including approximately 600 restaurants in the U.S., T.G.I. Friday’s offers great food, innovative drinks and a unique experience filled with flair and a Thank God It’s Friday’s(TM) attitude. Friday’s authentic, engaging atmosphere makes it the perfect place to escape, socialize and connect with people while getting a rejuvenating second wind. Members of Give Me More Stripes(R), Friday’s guest recognition program, receive free stuff and special perks year-round. As the original casual dining restaurant, T.G.I. Friday’s has a rich heritage which includes being credited with popularizing Happy Hour, Long Island Iced Tea and Loaded Potato Skins. T.G.I. Friday’s is also famous for its flair bartenders, approximately 8000 of whom compete annually for the title of the “World’s Greatest T.G.I. Friday’s Bartender.”

Carlson Restaurants Worldwide Inc., the parent company of TGI Friday’s Inc., is a privately held company owned by Minneapolis-based Carlson, a world leader in the hospitality and travel industries. As of January 2010, Carlson Restaurants Worldwide owns, operates, franchises or licenses more than 1,000 restaurants in 60 countries. For more information, visit http://www.fridays.com.

Driven by improvements in both business performance and expectations for future business conditions, the National Restaurant Association’s comprehensive index of restaurant activity rose to its highest level in 22 months in December.  The Association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) – a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry – stood at 98.7 in December, up 0.9 percent from November and its strongest level in nearly two years. 

“The RPI’s strong gain in December was the result of broad-based improvements among several index components,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the National Restaurant Association.  “Although restaurant operators continued to report a net decline in same-store sales and customer traffic, both registered their strongest performances since the summer of 2008.”

“Along with a solid improvement among the current situation indicators, restaurant operators are increasingly optimistic about industry growth in the months ahead,” Riehle added.  “More than a third of restaurant operators expect to their sales to improve in six months, the highest level in more than two years.”

The Restaurant Performance Index is based on the responses to the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Industry Tracking Survey, which is fielded monthly among restaurant operators nationwide on a variety of indicators including sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures.  The RPI consists of two components – the Current Situation Index and the Expectations Index.  The full report is available online. A video of Riehle providing an update on the RPI and 2010 Restaurant Industry Forecast is also available.

The RPI is constructed so that the health of the restaurant industry is measured in relation to a steady-state level of 100.  Index values above 100 indicate that key industry indicators are in a period of expansion, and index values below 100 represent a period of contraction for key industry indicators.  Despite the solid improvement in December, the RPI remained below 100 for the 26th consecutive month.

The Current Situation Index, which measures current trends in four industry indicators (same-store sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures), stood at 97.3 in December – up a strong 1.4 percent from November and its highest level since August 2008.  However, December still represented the 28th consecutive month below 100, which signifies contraction in the current situation indicators. 

Although restaurant operators reported negative same-store sales for the 19th consecutive month, the overall results improved dramatically in December.  Thirty-five percent of restaurant operators reported a same-store sales gain between December 2008 and December 2009, well above the 24 percent of operators who reported higher sales in November.  Forty-nine percent of operators reported a same-store sales decline in December, down sharply from 65 percent who reported negative sales in November.   

Restaurant operators also reported an improving customer traffic performance in December.  Thirty percent of restaurant operators reported an increase in customer traffic between December 2008 and December 2009, up from just 21 percent who reported higher customer traffic in November.  Forty-seven percent of operators reported a traffic decline in December, down from 62 percent who reported lower traffic in November.

Although restaurant operators reported stronger sales and traffic results in December, capital spending activity continued to drop off.  Thirty-one percent of operators said they made a capital expenditure for equipment, expansion or remodeling during the last three months, down from 33 percent last month and the lowest level on record.

The Expectations Index, which measures restaurant operators’ six-month outlook for four industry indicators (same-store sales, employees, capital expenditures and business conditions), stood at 100.0 in December – up from a level of 99.6 registered in the previous two months.  December represented the first time in eight months that the Expectations Index reached the 100 level, which means restaurant operators were no longer pessimistic about the six-month outlook for the industry.   

Restaurant operators are increasingly optimistic about sales growth in the months ahead.  Thirty-five percent of restaurant operators expect to have higher sales in six months (compared to the same period in the previous year), up from 31 percent who reported similarly last month and the highest level in more than two years.  In comparison, 21 percent of restaurant operators expect their sales volume in six months to be lower than it was during the same period in the previous year, down from 24 percent who reported similarly last month.

Restaurant operators are also more optimistic about the direction of the economy in the months ahead.  Thirty-four percent of restaurant operators said they expect economic conditions to improve in six months, while 18 percent expect economic conditions to worsen during the next six months.  Last month, 27 percent of operators said they expected the economy to improve in six months, while 19 percent expected economic conditions to deteriorate. 

Despite the positive outlook for sales and the economy, restaurant operators’ plans for capital expenditures dipped somewhat this month.  Thirty-nine percent of restaurant operators plan to make a capital expenditure for equipment, expansion or remodeling in the next six months, down from 41 percent who reported similarly last month. 

The RPI is released on the last business day of each month, and more detailed data and analysis can be found on Restaurant TrendMapper (www.restaurant.org/trendmapper), the Association’s subscription-based service that provides detailed analysis of restaurant industry trends.

 Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which is comprised of 945,000 restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of 13 million employees. Together with the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation, the Association works to lead America’s restaurant industry into a new era of prosperity, prominence, and participation, enhancing the quality of life for all we serve. For more information, visit our Web site at http://www.restaurant.org.

Sundrop Systems Inc., the creator of cardless loyalty solution loyalTXT, has released Txt-To-Go Mobile Ordering, which allows consumers to place pick-up orders with their favorite restaurants via text message.
 
With Txt-To-Go, patrons text in their desired order to Txt-To-Go: the service redelivers the order to the restaurant and sends a confirmation number back to the patron. For example, a patron may text “Order 1 lg pizza, pepperoni, xtra cheese” which will cause the order, with the patron’s mobile number and confirmation number to be delivered to the restaurant for fulfillment. The restaurant can resolve order questions by calling the provided patron’s mobile number or by using Sundrop’s companion two-way text paging service.

Continue reading . . .

• Restaurant Marketing Strategies: Dramatically Improve Your Restaurant Profits While Spending Less Money
• Restaurant Marketing for Owners and Managers
• The Restaurant Marketing Bible: How To Market Your Restaurant on a Shoestring Budget

Who doesn’t have childhood memories of field trips to the museum? After a morning of being guided through the paintings and sculptures of the great masters, everyone would head for the basement cafeteria, where you would stand in line, plastic trays in hand, waiting to be treated to a lunch of rubbery chicken and gooey tapioca pudding. Those days are gone, or at least numbered. Increasingly museums are moving away from the middle-school approach to feeding visitors, with its emphasis on a lowest-common-denominator menu, in favor of stylish restaurants that offer fine dining to go with the fine art.

Last month sleek new restaurants with sophisticated menus opened in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Arts and Design. The Whitney Museum of American Art has just announced plans to open a new cafe during the second half of this year, to be run by the celebrated restaurateur Danny Meyer, and at least two other smaller art museums in Manhattan are in negotiations to install restaurants or cafes.

The trend, though strong locally, is by no means confined to New York City. In recent years, Wolfgang Puck has partnered in museum restaurants in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Washington, and other high-end dining rooms have opened recently in museums in cities including Toronto and Atlanta.

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The Apple Gold Group, franchisee of Applebee’s restaurants in North Carolina, Oklahoma and Arkansas, is proud to partner with Triangle Radio Reading Service of Raleigh, NC to host a Flapjack Fundraiser on Saturday, January 30, 2010. All proceeds raised will directly go toward providing access to local print information for community members who cannot read standard print.

“Applebee’s takes great strides to be active members in the community, dedicating itself to supporting local programs and organizations,” said Michael Olander, President and CEO of Apple Gold Group. “Triangle Radio Reading Service is a wonderful organization, and we are delighted to assist them in their goal.”

The Triangle Radio Reading Service Flapjack Fundraiser will be hosted by the Applebee’s Restaurant located at 501 E. Six Forks Road, Raleigh, NC, from 8 am to 10 am. Tickets for the Flapjack Fundraiser are $7 and can be purchased by calling Linda Ornt at (919) 832-5138. Breakfast includes a short stack of pancakes, sausage, milk, juice and coffee.

Applebee’s is proud to partner with any local non-profit organization as a way to raise money for their cause. From ticket sales to event-day staff, the breakfasts are managed by the non-profit organization with the assistance of Applebee’s employee volunteers. Breakfasts can be held on any Saturday or Sunday morning, and cost the organization around $2 a meal. The Applebee’s Flapjack Fundraisers represent the restaurant chain’s latest efforts to remain active within its local neighborhood. To request a Flapjack Fundraiser to benefit your non-profit organization, please visit www.AGGrestaurants.com.
 
Apple Gold, Inc., one of the original five Applebee’s Franchisees, was founded in 1984 to develop and operate Applebee’s restaurants in North Carolina, opening its first Neighborhood Grill and Bar in North Carolina in 1985. A decade later, the company expanded its territory to include Oklahoma and then Arkansas, and currently operates 72 restaurants in those three states. The Apple Gold Group strives to be a recognized leader in both the casual dining industry and in local charitable fundraising. For more information on Apple Gold Group, please visit www.AGGrestaurants.com.

• Applebee`s International Inc.
• Applebee’s Gift Card Collection

The breakfast club at the Bay City Big Boy restaurant on Euclid will continue, even without its most famous greeter.

On a daily basis, the same group of old-timers meets every morning for breakfast and conversation and for the past seven years, owner Sam Cappello made them feel welcomed.

Cappello died Wednesday morning at his Florida home after an 11-month battle with a brain tumor. He was 66.

“Some guys, you never forget,” said Al Eichhorn, a regular at Cappello’s Big Boy, 500 N. Euclid. “He always had a smile on his face and love for people in his heart.”

Every morning, Cappello would travel more than an hour from his home on Clear Lake in West Branch to his Big Boy in Bay City, arriving before 7 a.m., in all kinds of weather.

“The man was always seen shaking everyone’s hand and of course, hugging all the women,” said Chuck Cusick, another breakfast regular.

Continue reading . . .

Burger King Holdings Inc. franchisees will get to hold onto their entire soda rebate funds for now, potentially crimping the burger chain’s plan to kick off 2010 with a beefier national ad presence.

Franchisees in the coming weeks will receive the full rebate, earned from buying soda syrup, from Coca-Cola Co.,  and Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc., as Burger King has deferred diverting up to 20% of those funds to its national advertising pool due to pending litigation, a Burger King spokeswoman said late Thursday. The February payment is one of two franchisees receive annually from the soda companies.

Burger King was eyeing the extra funds to help boost its national advertising presence by as much as 25% in 2010 versus 2009, helping to promote its products, including a showcase of new items cooked on a new broiler, and help close the gap with competitor McDonald’s Corp.

Continue reading . . .

• The Burger King: Jim McLamore and the Building of an Empire

Brenda Stanton, manager of the Hoffman Road McDonald’s, was expecting a restaurant inspection when she arrived at work Friday. Little did she know, friends, family members, employees and Gastonia Mayor Jennie Stultz had gathered there to surprise her with an award.

Stanton was presented with the Ray Kroc Award — the highest honor bestowed upon a McDonald’s manager — in a surprise ceremony at the restaurant.

The award, named after the late founder of the fast-food chain, honors the top 1 percent of McDonald’s managers across the country. With over 14,000 McDonald’s locations in the U.S., Stanton had a lot of competition.

“It definitely was a surprise,” said Stanton, who smiled big and shed tears when she walked into the restaurant. “I never imagined all this.”

Continue reading . . .

• Grinding It Out: The Making Of McDonald’s
• McDonald’s: Behind The Arches
• Everything I Know About Business I Learned at McDonald’s: The 7 Leadership Principles that Drive Break Out Success
• None of Us is As Good As All of Us: How McDonald’s Prospers by Embracing Inclusion and Diversity
• Biography – Ray Kroc: Fast Food McMillionaire (DVD)
• Golden Arches East: McDonald’s in East Asia, Second Edition
• My Secret Life on the McJob: Lessons from Behind the Counter Guaranteed to Supersize Any Management Style

Iggy Lena and Bob Kutnick knew it was a good idea — open a medically themed sports bar with unfashionable menu items, such as Chili Chest Pain Fries and The Heart Stopper, a three-pound burger.

Decorate with a heart defibrillator and sharps containers. Make the tables look like wheelchairs, put salt and pepper in pill bottles and present the bill in a plastic first-aid kit.

The result is their 6-week-old Heart Stoppers Sports Grill in Delray Beach, where the menu warns that “consumption of our food will definitely lead to obesity” and there is a standing offer of free food to anyone over 350 pounds.

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• The Restaurant: From Concept to Operation

Lyn Howard is the first to admit how difficult it is to make any money in the restaurant game.

“But I feel really good providing something nice for others to enjoy,” she said.

“If you trust your instincts, you can have a lot of fun.”

Fun has been the name of the game for Ms Howard all her life – an eventful one that has taken more twists and turns than the road to Maleny.

These days she is most well-known as the owner of Minyama restaurant Lyn’s Place, which she established almost four years ago.

Before that, she managed to cram in about four lifetimes of living.

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• The Restaurant Manager’s Handbook: How to Set Up, Operate, and Manage a Financially Successful Food Service Operation
• The Encyclopedia Of Restaurant Training: A Complete Ready-to-Use Training Program for All Positions in the Food Service Industry

More Restaurants Are Helping Haitians Starbucks and Panda Express are the latest restaurant chains to announce programs to aid Haitian earthquake victims. In addition, the National Restaurant Association and its Educational Foundation (NRAEF) have joined with Share Our Strength to organize a Restaurants for Relief-Haiti program.

Starting today, participating Starbucks restaurants in the U.S. and Canada will enable customers to make monetary donations at store registers, with no purchase necessary, to benefit the American and Canadian Red Cross organizations for a limited time. The Starbucks Foundation will also donate $1 million (U.S.) to the American Red Cross efforts to help Haiti.

Panda Restaurant Group Inc., parent of Panda Express, has committed to a goal of raising $300,000 through in-store and corporate donations. Through Feb. 5, participating Panda Express locations across the country will facilitate donations through in-store drop-boxes, allowing guests to make contributions of any amount.

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Subway has just introduced a test of a text message ordering system in southern California. The system, introduced by Zingle, touts  improvements in convenience and sales as well as professing to provide a competitive advantage. 

A look at their website and a quick search of the web produced some surprising information.  Perusing Zingles’ customers indicates that bagel shops and coffee houses dominate the list. Who knew bagel eaters were so impatient.  However, a few prominent names appeared that were a bit of a surprise. Quiznos, Papa Johns and Dominos. Curiously though, upon a thorough search of their websites, only Dominos lists mobile texting as an ordering option. Perhaps the others are running a program within limited geography. 

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• SUBWAY Gift Card Collection

The next time you’re debating trying out a new restaurant but want to check out the menu first, whip out your iPhone or iPod touch and take a look at MenuPages.

MenuPages for the iPhone plugs you into the MenuPages web site’s main database of menus. You can search for restaurants by type, location, or just call up the whole list of nearby eateries and skim it that way.

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• Apple iPod touch 32 GB (3rd Generation) NEWEST MODEL

Rubio’s Restaurants Inc. has received a revised offer to buy the Baja-styled fast food chain from a group of Los Angeles investors. And the company says the answer is just the same as before: No to this particular offer, but we’re willing to talk.

The offer from Alex Meruelo and Levine Leichtman Capital Partners IV, L.P. comes in at $8.50 per share, up from $8 per share offered in October. Rubio’s rejected that offer in an Oct. 29 press release, but left the door open for further discussions.

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The qualities that drive the Green Flash restaurant’s success can serve as a primer for any thriving eatery.

Good food, a stellar location, loyal customers and positive word of mouth have served the Captiva bistro well since its December 1995 opening. Their importance has loomed even larger as the economy slid from slowdown to recession over the past few years.

That’s the assessment of Green Flash owner Andreas Bieri, who’s appreciative of his business’ good fortune.

“I guess it tells you that you are doing something right,” he said of the restaurant’s solid standing. “But I know how hard it is for so many restaurants and so many businesses.”

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Chick-fil-A, who has awarded more than $25 million in Leadership Scholarships to help restaurant team members reach their educational goals, has awarded its most recent scholarships to Allison Horne from Monroe and Kristian Roberson of West Monroe.

The recipients received the $1,000 scholarship from Chick-fil-A franchised Operator David Benson at the Chick-fil-A restaurant at Pecanland Mall and the drive — thru – only Chick-fil-A restaurant at West Monroe. Horne is the 66th team members from the Pecanland Mall location to receive the honor. She is studying accounting at University of Louisiana — Monroe. Roberson is the 29th team member from the West Monroe drive — thru — only location to receive the honor. Roberson is studying dental hygiene at University of Louisiana — Monroe.

“These team members are now part of a 36-year legacy of more than 25,000 Chick-fil-A restaurant team members who have received this scholarship as they pursue their educational goals,” said Benson.

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• It’s Easier to Succeed Than to Fail
• How Did You Do It, Truett?
• Eat Mor Chikin: Inspire More People
• It’s Better to Build Boys than Mend Men

The Subway restaurant chain defended its advertising campaign with Baltimore-based swimmer Michael Phelps against the U.S. Olympic Committee’s attack on “ambush marketing.”

The USOC issued a statement Wednesday attacking nonofficial advertising tied to next month’s Vancouver Olympics.

“Subway has a successful history of partnering with elite athletes,” Subway said in a statement issued Thursday by spokesman Robert Bronfeld. “Regarding our latest commercial featuring Michael Phelps, Subway does not share the USOC’s perspective and the conclusions being drawn from it.”

Subway is not an official sponsor of the Olympics but has worked with Phelps and pledged to keep using him in its ads.

“Michael Phelps has been an integral part of several Subway marketing campaigns since late 2008,” the company statement said. “We are proud of our work with Michael, and we look forward to working with him and other elite athletes throughout 2010 and beyond.”

The St. Louis area, which has a soft spot for mostaccioli and ravioli, has been one of the top-performing markets for Fazoli’s, the Italian quick-service restaurant chain based in Lexington, Ky.

That’s why Carl Howard, Fazoli’s chief executive, picked this region for the chain’s first new store in more than 3 years.

The new outlet, which opened this week in Edwardsville, is also the first to debut the chain’s new prototype. The new design is smaller than the old model, located in strip centers instead of a stand-alone building, and has a brighter, more modern decor.

“This is a fresh look for us,” Howard said in an interview during a visit to the new store. “Our old facility is a little bit stale. We wanted to juice it up and have some fun.”

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• Design and Layout of Foodservice Facilities
• Restaurants That Work: Case Studies of the Best in the Industry
• Design and Equipment for Restaurants and Foodservice: A Management View
• Successful Restaurant Design

This inspirational, award-winning 6-minute video from the National Restaurant Association is a tribute to what restaurants do for our country — their impact on their employees, on careers, on communities and on the nation’s economy. Show this to your staff teams, business colleagues, community groups and others.

When McDonald’s ventured into India in 1996, it offered an all-American dining experience minus one vital ingredient – the beef.

Its consumption is a widespread taboo, even among the country’s meat-eaters, so the fast food giant substituted mutton in its otherwise standard global menu.

“We thought that we could just replace one red meat with the other,” recalls Vikram Bakshi, managing director of Connaught Plaza Restaurants, which holds the franchise to operate McDonald’s in north and east India.

But that underestimated the challenge of catering to Indian tastes. With fat content far lower than that of beef, mutton burgers were rubbery, not juicy. McDonald’s “special sauce” did not quite suit the meat either.

And many Indians still feared eating mutton outside the home, in case it was inadvertently mixed with beef.

After two years of sluggish sales, the company withdrew its mutton burgers after casting round for more popular offerings – including more vegetarian items.

Today, 70 per cent of its India menu is “indigenised”, with items such as “paneer salsa wrap,” and various chicken and vegetarian burgers developed for Indian palates.

The localisation is paying off. McDonald’s Indian revenues, which analysts put at $120m, are growing 33 per cent a year, fuelled by new outlets and also an 11 per cent year-on-year increases in same-store sales.

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• The 2007-2012 Outlook for Restaurants in India

Recession increased focus on value pricing, but many consumers want quick, easy, close-to-home restaurant meals.

Restaurants and foodservice establishments serving up convenience are poised to do well in this post-recession economy. A new report from Mintel suggests that although value has become the mantra of many contemporary diners, convenience still resonates with the out-to-eat crowd, especially those under age 34.

Over half of younger adults rank a restaurant’s proximity to their workplace as very important/important when selecting where to dine (62% of 25-34s and 55% of 18-24s, versus 41% of all respondents). The ability to order online ahead of time is also essential to young, time-strapped consumers (31% of 25-34s and 24% of 18-24s, versus 19% overall). The younger demographics also rank extended hours (i.e. late-night) and speed of service highly in their restaurant selection processes.

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Restaurant franchise El Pollo Loco, Inc. announced today that 23-year culinary veteran Jonathan Rogan has returned to El Pollo Loco as Executive Chef. Rogan was Manager of Culinary Development for the flame-grilled chicken leader from 2006 to 2007. In his current post as Executive Chef, Rogan will lead culinary innovation at El Pollo Loco and ensure the maximum flavor delivery of all menu items.

Rogan is widely known throughout the restaurant industry as a culinary connoisseur with a passion for infusing freshness and emerging flavors. Prior to joining El Pollo Loco, his culinary expertise benefited numerous food and beverage businesses, including: California Pizza Kitchen, Gelson’s Markets, Good Earth Restaurants, Square One Restaurant and Moose McGillycuddy’s Pub and Café. From 2007-2009, Rogan served as Director of Research & Development for Baja Fresh®. Additionally, he has more than 10 years of product development experience with companies that include: Huxtables’ Kitchens, Sizzler USA, Webvan Group, Chi-Chi’s Mexican Restaurants, and Perspectives/The Consulting Group.

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Tomorrow will be the deadline for Quiznos Subs franchisees to join in or opt out of the settlement agreement of four class action lawsuits that was approved by Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer in Illinois federal court last November. The 160-page legal document cautiously details the structure of the plan to compensate approximately 10,000 restaurant owners, in order to wipe the slate clean for Quiznos after years of litigation and bad press.

Included in that number are current and former franchisees, and various classes of SNOs (Sold but Not Opened) where buyers bought franchises but were unable to find locations or open their stores in the required time period of their franchise agreements. SNOs had to forfeit their franchise fees.

Quiznos claims the cost of settling the lawsuits is approximately $100 million, which will impact almost 7,000 individuals in the system, as well as several thousand more who have closed or never opened their stores. Because the litigation revolved around the company’s supply chain and food costs, marketing and advertising funds, disputes with franchise owners and other franchise investors, the settlement offers related solutions.

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• QUIZNO’S CORP. (THE): International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis

Over the past several weeks, Food Network has been introducing us to the “Worst Cooks in America.” These are people with no knowledge of what to do (or even what instruments to use) in a kitchen, and over the course of the show they receive guidance from Chefs Anne Burrell and Beau MacMillan.

What’s on the line? For the two chefs, it’s all about reputation. The winning cook from each “team” will create a dish of such a high degree that a panel of judges will believe it was done by the professionals.

Now that the competition is near the end, I recently talked with Chef Anne (who also appears on “Iron Chef America” and hosts “Secrets of a Restaurant Chef“) about her experiences dealing with such novice cooks.

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• Chef Magazine
• Chef Educator Today
• Le Chef – France

The past year felt like one of the longest ever for foodservice businesses, and one most weren’t sad to leave behind. Even though they feel they’ve waited long enough for an economic recovery, predictions are that they’ll be waiting a little bit longer.

But so far, the new year’s bringing more of the same, and in some instances, worse results, as multiple restaurant chains have already filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Once the new year got going, research firm Technomic Inc., Chicago, issued a revised 2010 restaurant industry forecast, adjusting it downward on Jan. 25. The firm cited concern over job losses, underemployment and continued consumer frugality in dining away from home as its primary reasons for its prediction of a 1.6% industry decline in 2010.

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• Restaurant Marketing Strategies: Dramatically Improve Your Restaurant Profits While Spending Less Money
• Restaurant Marketing for Owners and Managers
• Restaurant Newsletters That Pay Off

The study published in the International Journal of Food Microbiology has gotten national attention. It could have restaurants taking a closer look at how well they clean their machines.

Hollins Biology Professor Renee Godard and her team were surprised at what they found when they tested 90 different sodas and the water from 30 different soda fountain machines in the Roanoke area. 70-percent of them had bacteria present.

“We found over 300 bacteria in half of a milliliter,” said Amy White, Hollins University Professor.

Half a milliliter is barely enough for a swallow.

Almost every time Dirk Amtower drank from a fast-food restaurant or convenience store soda fountain, he claims he would end up sick to his stomach.

“Often times within 30 minutes to an hour I start getting a rumbling in my stomach and I start getting sick,” said Amtower.

Maybe not surprising when you take a closer look you at what Hollins researchers found.

“Almost 12-percent of the samples tested contained E. coli,” said White.

E. coli that would’ve come from fecal matter.

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• Servsafe Starters Employee Guide
• ServSafe Essentials

On Sunday, February 7th, over 400 Hooters restaurants in The United States and Canada will donate all their stores sales for to-go and dine in, food and beverage orders for the duration of the 4th quarter of the Super Bowl Game to the Haiti relief effort. The money raised will go to Stop Hunger Now, an international hunger relief organization that coordinates the distribution of food and other life-saving aid around the world.

“Our Hooters Community wanted to find a way to help ease the suffering in Haiti. By supporting Stop Hunger Now we have found a path that involves feeding people which only makes sense with us being in the Restaurant Industry,” stated Mike McNeil, Vice President of Marketing for Hooters of America, Inc. “We are very impressed with the work that Stop Hunger has done around the world and already in Haiti. They have told us that the funds we generate in this effort will provide over 300,000 meals for hungry victims, especially children. That is a tangible benefit that makes our Operators and Franchisees proud,” concluded McNeil.

The Sunday of the Super Bowl is historically the largest sales day of the year for Hooters. This is the 6th year in a row that Hooters is giving away a TV in every location during the game, and sales are expected to hold true to the high sales trend.

Hooters of America, Inc. is the franchisor and operator of over 450 Hooters restaurants in 42 states and 26 foreign countries. The first Hooters opened in 1983 in Clearwater, Florida. Hooters is well-known for its brand of food and fun, featuring a casual beach-theme atmosphere, a menu that features seafood, sandwiches and Hooters nearly world famous chicken wings, and service provided by the All-American cheerleaders, the Hooters Girls. For more information about Hooters visit www.hooters.com.

Stop Hunger Now is a Raleigh-based international hunger relief agency that has been fulfilling its commitment to end hunger for over 10 years. Since 1998, the organization has coordinated the distribution of food and other lifesaving aid to children and families in countries all over the world. Stop Hunger Now has provided over $56 million worth of direct aid and 18 million meals to more than 70 countries worldwide. For more information visit www.stophungernow.com.

• Hooters, Medium Wing Sauce, 12-Ounce (6 Pack)
• Hooters, Wing Sauce Hot, 12-Ounce (6 Pack)