The bar is buzzing on a busy night at Chicago Cut steakhouse as regulars Keith and Peg Bragg sit at a high table scanning the wine list.

Within seconds, they have all bottles under $40 at their fingertips using an iPad supplied by their server.

“You can very quickly look through to see the price per bottle,” said Keith, a finance executive, as he scrolled through rows of selections. “You can read the wine tasting note, how long it has been aged.”

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McDonald’s databases were recently hacked into and personal customer information was stolen, the fast-food giant said in a statement.

“Recently McDonald’s was informed by one of its partners that limited customer information collected in connection with our promotions or websites was improperly accessed by a third party,” McDonald’s said. “Limited customer information such as name, address, phone number, birth date and gender was included in the information that was accessed.”

The data that the hackers were able to get was compiled from consumers who signed up to receive e-mails from McDonald’s on the websites mcdonalds.com, mcdonalds.ca, mcdonaldsmom.com, mcdlive.com, meencanta.com, monopoly.com, playatmcd.com and 365Black.com, the statement said.

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Social media certainly has its benefits for those who love dining and drinking. From free drinks for Foursquare checkins, to Twitter notifications about happy hours, to Facebook messages about free food, there’s always something tasty happening online.

But the social web offers a lot more than just discounts and deals when it comes to drinking and dining. Restaurants and bars are giving social media users a backstage pass to the food and the people who make it. Chefs and restaurateurs are using social media to reveal how their dishes are made, generate familiarity with chefs and provide a means for diners to share feedback.

While customers go to lower end restaurants looking for value and discounts, higher-end restaurants think that “discounts cheapen the experience,” says Tom O’Keefe, a Boston-based restaurant tweeter and social media-focused marketer.

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A recent survey by MustHaveMenus a provider of restaurant menu templates, revealed that nearly half of the 1,300 restaurant owners, managers and caterers that were polled, do not use social media to attract customers to their eateries. While social media usage among restaurateurs is growing, a large percentage of eating establishments are social media holdouts.

Here are some of the key findings from the study:

• 42% of restaurant owners and managers invest in social media efforts (including blog participation, and managing their Twitter and Facebook accounts.
• 12% of restaurants and caterers hire someone to manage their social media presence.
• 23% of respondents do not believe that they need to use social media as a marketing tool.
• 23% of respondents believe that they don’t have time to devote to social media, along with all their other restaurant management duties.

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Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (NASDAQ: CBRL) has always tried to offer the genuine hospitality and honest value associated with times past, and now the popular family restaurant is looking to the future with its new pilot project – installing Blink electric vehicle (EV) chargers, provided by ECOtality, Inc., (NASDAQ:ECTY), at select restaurant locations across Tennessee. Cracker Barrel today announced that it will become a major participant in The EV Project, an initiative to increase the adoption of electric vehicles by creating a solid charging infrastructure across the country. Cracker Barrel is pleased to be an early participant and anticipates that its guests will also be pleased regardless of what kinds of vehicles they drive as this initiative clearly looks at the future of travel in America. The EV Project is managed by ECOtality, a leader in clean electric transportation and storage technologies.

“Cracker Barrel was founded along the interstate highways with the traveler in mind and has always tried to anticipate what our guests might want and need as they stop in for some good country cookin’ and to experience genuine Southern hospitality,” said Cracker Barrel Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Michael A. Woodhouse. “Becoming a leader in The EV Project continues our tradition of striving to anticipate and meet our guests’ expectations and, at the same time, allows us to participate in a meaningful way in the nation’s explorations of energy independence.”

Woodhouse added, “While ownership of electric cars is small compared with traditional vehicles, there’s great curiosity about them, and so we expect our guests will be quite interested in seeing these charging stations when they stop in with us. We like to think that our guests will be pleased to see Cracker Barrel taking an active role in exploring energy alternatives that are aimed at protecting the environment, as well as strengthening our economy. This is a way of showing that Cracker Barrel is focused on the future even as we provide guests with a genuinely hospitable experience reminiscent of times past.”

Installing EV charging stations at select Cracker Barrel locations keeps the Cracker Barrel brand relevant to changing times, but it’s also a nod to the company’s past. Woodhouse pointed out that the original Cracker Barrel locations sold gasoline because founder Danny Evins was an oil “jobber” who wanted to sell more gasoline as well as to offer the food and hospitality he grew up on in rural Tennessee. Fueling pumps were removed in the early 70s during the oil embargo, and Woodhouse sees the new electric car charging stations as being consistent with the company’s roots. “In the early days, Cracker Barrel provided food for our guests and fuel for their cars. While we expect that use of the electric chargers will be light during this pilot project, making this available to our guests is consistent with our brand reputation of hospitality, service, and value.”

Guests will be able to get an 80% charge – the recommended charge – in just under a half hour at the 12 Cracker Barrel locations which will have the DC Fast Charging stations. These guests will essentially be able to “fill ‘er up” in about the same amount of time it takes to order and eat a meal. Guests visiting the 12 locations that will have the Blink EV L2 chargers, which are slower than the DC Fast Charging stations, will be able to top off their tanks, so to speak, while eating some good country cookin’ and browsing in the retail shop.

Cracker Barrel is working with ECOtality, the project manager for The EV Project, to install Blink electric vehicle chargers at select locations in “The Tennessee Triangle,” the 425-mile stretch of interstate highway that connects Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. Twenty four Cracker Barrel locations will have chargers. A guest could, if desired, drive the entire 425 miles of the Tennessee Triangle, re-charging at Cracker Barrel locations along the way.

Plans are to start installation of the electric vehicle chargers in the spring of 2011 and to be completed within a few months. Guests will be able to check the Cracker Barrel website to see which locations have installed EV chargers.

“We are very pleased that Cracker Barrel Old Country Store has become an EV Project partner,” said Jonathan Read, CEO of ECOtality. “Our goal is to make sure there are readily available Blink public chargers stations where people need them, in convenient locations. Cracker Barrel is a place that people like to visit and is uniquely located to provide a great service and convenience to the public. Cracker Barrel’s work with ECOtality will allow us to move a step closer towards creating an interconnected network of EV infrastructure.”

Twelve of the 24 Cracker Barrel locations that will have chargers installed have been identified. Located along the Tennessee Triangle, these locations will support EV drivers traveling along the corridor connecting Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga:

• Athens
• Cleveland
• Cookeville
• Crossville
• East Ridge
• Farragut
• Harriman
• Kimball
• Lebanon
• Manchester
• Murfreesboro
• Nashville – Stewart’s Ferry Pike

The other 12 sites will be in and around the cities of Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga to support more local users. Specific locations will be announced as The EV Project progresses.

Mesob Restaurant today announced the launch of its new and improved website at http://www.MesobRestaurant.com. The upgraded multimedia website is the result of one year of concentrated social media efforts and delving into conversation with Mesob’s 700+ Facebook Fans. The restaurant also wanted to gain insight into how people search on the internet for restaurant options in New Jersey, and built strong keyword phrases (i.e. “Ethiopian food”) into the restaurant’s new website content, to gain top internet search ranking.

“Our new site plays a very important role in communicating not only with our existing guests, but also engaging our future guests,” says Vickie Smith-Siculiano, Marketing Manager and PR Director for Mesob Ethiopian Restaurant. “It was important to design and build a best-in-class restaurant website that tells our story and presents our brand through relevant, detailed content and the use of bold, vibrant food photography and video that really captures the “WOW” experience of dining at Mesob.”

The new restaurant website will immerse website visitors in the Mesob Ethiopian Restaurant experience by updating engaging content regularly in-house using Joomla!, an award-winning content management system (CMS). With this new redesigned website and content management system, Smith-Siculiano can easily update the website regularly with content such as photos, music, video, documents, and restaurant news.

New features of the restaurant’s new interactive multimedia website include:

• Multimedia gallery of photos and videos
• Downloadable menus
• Social media connectivity
• Downloadable restaurant press kit
• Press release archives
• News and Events Section
• OpenTable Reservations
• E-mail signup form

The restaurant website’s new multimedia gallery now contains full color, hi-resolution color photographs of menu items, catering photos and images of the Mesob dining room. Users can also play the restaurant’s videos directly on the web page, and can enjoy regularly updated multimedia items.

Users can now easily gain immediate access to Mesob’s social media platforms directly from the restaurant’s home page by clicking on icons that will take them directly to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube and Yelp.

The News and Events section was added in response to patron requests and Facebook Fans. Mesob Ethiopian Restaurant has recently started to create events which allow the restaurant to share its ethnic culture with guests, and Smith-Siculiano wanted to ensure that visitors would be kept up to date on not only its upcoming events, but also its community involvement.

Reservations can now be accessed directly from the website through OpenTable, a leading provider of free, real-time online restaurant reservations for diners and reservation and guest management solutions for restaurants.

An opt-in email form allows visitors to join the Mesob email club and receive immediate benefits of joining. For joining the Mesob e-club, members receive an email immediately with a certificate for a free appetizer and will receive a certificate for a free dessert on their birthday. Mesob has partnered with Fishbowl, Inc., a leading provider of on-demand marketing software and services to the restaurant industry to keep email club members constantly aware of new offers, discounts and promotions.

The new menu section showcases five downloadable restaurant menus, including Lunch, Dinner, Brunch, Desserts and Beverages. This is a new feature of the website, as many patrons have requested menus and current pricing, not previously available on the web.

The first-ever Mesob Ethiopian Restaurant press kit, designed by Smith-Siculiano, includes a restaurant fact sheet, a press release archive, reviews and testimonials. With a recent appearance on ABC News and increased media coverage, Smith-Siculiano ensured the new website had this feature for the media, with recent increased demand for this instant access.

“For a small, suburban, ethnic restaurant to have such a great year in this economy, something is really working,” says Mengistu, owner of Mesob. “Since we started a regular marketing program that includes internet marketing, social media and public relations, we are able to learn more than ever about our customers and future customers. We are at the point where we need to have the most engaging and up-to-date website with requests for more information about our restaurant offerings, and we feel our new website is the perfect solution.”

MESOB ETHIOPIAN RESTAURANT is located at 515 Bloomfield Avenue, Montclair, NJ (973-655-9000). It’s a favorite for both vegans & meat lovers with its authentic Ethiopian foods and its dedication to using the freshest, non-preservative ingredients including imported Ethiopian spices. A highly “social” restaurant, Mesob can be visited at http://www.mesobrestaurant.com and http://www.facebook.com/mesob.

Whether you’re feeling happy, daring, funny or sunny, the iconic, retro cool Mr. Men and Little Miss characters from the 70s have a way of capturing your mood.  Arby’s is bringing these lovable characters, including Mr. Happy and Little Miss Sunshine, into the digital age with a brand new web application. Visitors to Arby’s Facebook page will be able to choose a character and find out which Arby’s Value Menu items best suit their moods.  

Here’s how the Mr. Men app works:

• Access the Arby’s Mr. Men application free at facebook.com/arbys
• Click on any of the following options:
  • See The Mood Of The Web — Find out what people across the Internet are feeling at that exact moment. The proprietary code scans blog comments for up-to-the-minute sentiment or “mood”
  • Share Your Mood – Pick a Mr. Men or Little Miss character that matches your mood and then share with friends via email, Facebook and Twitter
  • Find the Value Menu Item that Best Suits Your Mood — Pick a Mr. Men or Little Miss character that matches your mood and find out which Arby’s Value Menu items suit you best

The Mr. Men app is a social media application that was created by the Innovations group at Initiative, a media and marketing agency that works with Arby’s.

“We’re very excited to bring these nostalgic and lovable characters to Arby’s fans through digital channels as well as in-store,” said Kristina Jonathan, VP of Digital & Social Media, Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc.

With the introduction of this app, Arby’s continues to expand its social media presence.  In July 2010, Arby’s launched its first social media application called Arby’s Juniorize. This app enables people to interact with Arby’s icon, Arby’s Junior, have him send preset or customized audio/video messages and morph themselves or friends into their own version of Arby’s Junior, 10-gallon hat and all.

Arby’s Value Menu, which launched earlier this year, offers many of Arby’s signature items, including oven-roasted, freshly sliced Roast Beef sandwiches, Curly Fries and Jamocha Shakes, for prices starting at just $1.

To get the Mr. Men app, visit http://www.facebook.com/arbys.  Make sure to follow @Arbys on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Arbys.

On Tuesday evening, caffeine behemoth Starbucks finally unveiled its revamped Web hub, a landing page that’s only accessible from its in-store Wi-Fi networks in the U.S. Teaming with the likes of Yahoo (the main technology partner), The Wall Street Journal, GOOD, The New York Times, iTunes, LinkedIn and Foursquare, Starbucks has packed the new site full of news both local and mainstream (including content that would normally be behind paywalls), free music download promos, local information like weather and bike trails, and movie trailers.

It’s an interesting concept. Starbucks calls this the Starbucks Digital Network, or as senior vice president of digital ventures Adam Brotman called it in an interview with CNET last week, “the digital version of the community corkboard.”

But what’s almost equally as interesting is what Starbucks isn’t calling it.

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Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar was recently recognized by Hospitality Technology magazine and presented with its 2010 Breakthrough Award. The restaurant was recognized for its innovation in workforce management with its use of TANDBERG videoconference technology to create the Fleming’s Video Network. Jennifer Capler, Vice President of Training & Development, and Craig Sheppard, National IT Training Coordinator, were on hand to accept the award in San Diego, California.

Through the use of this technology Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse has been successful in reducing the cost of traveling for its restaurant operators and executives. Additionally, TANDBERG is available to restaurant guests seeking an effective communications tool that allows them to interact with people in other parts of the country, whether it’s for business purposes or a special social occasion. All restaurants have a private dining room that is equipped with TANDBERG’s capability to communicate with all 64 Fleming’s locations and also any other video conferencing system in the world.  The network has been designed to utilize the industry standard protocols which allow calls from non-Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse locations as well.  Known for its ease of use and reliability, TANDBERG also has the capability to play PowerPoint presentations, DVDs and slide shows on a large LCD screen.  

According to Capler, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse recently hosted an Interactive Wine Dinner for wine enthusiasts across the country using the video network at each of its 64 locations.  This unique event provided guests with the opportunity to enjoy a delicious dinner and signature wines from the award-winning Caymus Vineyards while listening to the owner and winemaker, Chuck Wagner, converse with Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse Director of Wine Marian Jansen op de Haar and Executive Chef Russell Skall.  Through the live video feed from Northern California they collectively responded to guests’ questions from across the country.

“We were thrilled to provide to our guests cutting-edge technology to enhance the overall Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar experience,” said Capler.  ”These technological advances have opened new doors, allowing our wine lovers to directly connect with key winemakers and enthusiasts.”

Domino’s Pizza, Inc. (NYSE: DPZ) has given its revolutionary Pizza Tracker tool an auditory upgrade! Beginning today, customers who order online from Domino’s will not only see, but hear their order being made – thanks to the introduction of a brand new feature.

The upgrade also allows users to customize their order tracking experience. After an order is placed at www.dominos.com, customers can choose from six themes – each one giving the Pizza Tracker interface a distinct look and voice.

Depending on the theme, Pizza Tracker might sing, cheer or even sweet talk the status of customers’ orders from the moment it is prepared to the second it is out the door or ready for pickup.

“We’re continuing to add to the convenience of Domino’s online ordering and Pizza Tracker, now allowing customers to leave their computers and still follow the ordering process – as long as their speakers are turned up, of course,” said Chris Brandon, Domino’s Pizza spokesperson. “Adding this element is our way of making sure we are creating the most convenient and innovative ordering experience possible.”

Domino’s is rewarding lucky customers who tune in to Pizza Tracker this week through the “Track and Win” sweepstakes. Domino’s will give away one iPod shuffle per day and one $15 iTunes gift card per hour to customers who place their order online from Oct. 18 through Oct. 25.

Pizza Tracker has been a popular feature of Domino’s online ordering system since it launched in 2008. Domino’s celebrated surpassing $1 billion in online sales in February 2010.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE 48 CONTIGUOUS UNITED STATES (D.C.) 13 YEARS AND OLDER. VOID IN AK, HI AND WHERE PROHIBITED. Sweepstakes ends 10/25/10. For Official Rules, free method of entry, prize descriptions and odds disclosure, visit www.dominos.com. Sponsor: Domino’s National Advertising Fund Inc., 30 Frank Lloyd Wright Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48106.

The recipe is his. He developed the “Better Ingredients, Better Pizza” promise, too. John Schnatter, the Founder of Papa John’s, has done a lot to turn the pizza company he started inside the broom closet of his dad’s tavern 26 years ago into the world’s third-largest pizza chain.

One thing he’s never done, though, is order a pizza online. Until now.

Recognizing the impact online ordering has had on the company’s growth the last decade – Papa John’s was the first pizza company to introduce online ordering in 2001 at www.papajohns.com and the brand has since transacted more than $2 billion in online sales – Schnatter marked the rollout of the company’s revamped website this week by placing his first order from his home in Louisville, Ky. – with a big assist from his 12-year-old son, Beau. Watch the video at Papa John’s Facebook page.

“When I started Papa John’s 26 years ago, I never dreamed customers would one day be ordering pizza by computer,” Schnatter said. “Now it looks like online and mobile web ordering will surpass phone ordering, and likely in the not too distant future. With the launch of this new site, I decided that it was time to try it for myself, but I made sure I had an Internet expert on-hand: my son Beau. It was easy.”

To celebrate the launch of the new website and “Papa” John Schnatter’s first online order, between now and October 24 customers will receive a FREE order of cheesesticks with any online purchase of a large specialty pizza at regular menu price at papajohns.com. Since Papa John’s became the first pizza chain to offer online ordering in 2001, the brand has garnered the highest online sales average per restaurant in the country.

Features of the newly launched papajohns.com website include:

• Pizza Builder Graphics – Allows customers to put together their own pizzas through an interactive pizza-making application, showing them a visual of their finished product that matches in-restaurant topping specifications.
• Papa Points Online Loyalty Program – With the launch of the only online pizza loyalty program, customers can earn points towards free pizza with each online purchase. Once enrolled, customers earn one point for every $5 spent online; when customers accumulate 25 points, they receive a free pizza with their next online pizza purchase.
• Quick Click Ordering – For the quickest online experience, customers have the option to select their pizza directly from a list of the most frequently ordered items.
• Future Orders – Allows customers to order their pizza up to 28 days in advance.

According to NPD Group/CREST® year-to-date through August 2010, the percentage of Papa John’s traffic originating from Internet orders outpaces all other major pizza chains.

In addition, had pizza chains been included in Internet Retailer magazine’s recent ranking of the top online sellers in 2009, Papa John’s online transaction levels would have merited a Top 5 spot next to brands like Apple, Wal-Mart and Amazon.com.

“Papa John’s customers already love ordering their pizzas online,” said Jim Ensign, vice president of digital marketing at Papa John’s. “Our new site will make online ordering even easier, will reward them for ordering online like no other pizza company with our Papa Points loyalty program and with the Pizza Builder feature, will give them creative ways to interact with our pizza like never before.”

Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) is the world’s third largest pizza company. For 10 of the past 11 years, consumers have rated Papa John’s No. 1 in customer satisfaction among all national pizza chains in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Papa John’s also was honored by Restaurants & Institutions Magazine (R&I) with the 2009 Gold Award for Consumers’ Choice in Chains in the pizza segment. Papa John’s is the Official Pizza Sponsor of the National Football League and Super Bowl XLV, XLVI and XLVII. For more information about the company or to order pizza online, visit Papa John’s at www.papajohns.com.

It was an easy choice for Trish Hertog: Pay $12.95 a day to surf the Web at her hotel, or log on free at Starbucks.

She chose Starbucks.

“Before I even walked in the door to Starbucks, I checked to see if it had the sign up that says ‘free Wi-Fi,’” said Hertog, of Minneapolis, who was in Columbus on a business trip.

“Any place that I choose to eat or go, it has to have free Wi-Fi, or I won’t go,” she said as she sipped her coffee. “I even bought something here because I kind of felt obligated since I’m sitting here using their Wi-Fi.”

It seems that Wi-Fi has become an expected free amenity at restaurants and coffee shops – and companies that want to keep customers are providing the service.

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Ordering lunch online is nothing new — from pizza to salads to subs — scores of eateries have offered web-based menus for years. But now some restaurants are finding the way to a hungry customer’s heart is through a highly interactive website, so they can customize their order, and enjoy it in a matter of minutes, without actually having to talk to a single person.

One chain making the most of recent technological advances is Specialty’s Cafe & Bakery, based in San Francisco. With 32 cafes located in mostly downtown or financial districts, the owners were looking for ways to help their busy customers get the most enjoyment out of their lunchtime experience.

Instead of a hot new chef, they teamed up with software programmers and developed what many in the industry consider to be the gold standard of ordering cafe food online.

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BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. (Nasdaq:BJRI) today announced the launch of its new website at www.bjsrestaurants.com.

“Our new site plays a very important role in communicating not only with our existing guests, but also our future guests,” said Matt Hood, Chief Marketing Officer for BJ’s. “It was important to build a best-in-class website that tells our story and presents our brand through relevant, detailed content and the use of bold, vibrant photography that really captures the ‘WOW’ experience of dining at BJ’s.”

The menu section showcases BJ’s menu and beverage offerings through an interactive media gallery, and incorporates the latest in social media marketing functionality by allowing guests to share their favorite items with friends on Facebook.

Key features of the new website also include:

• Improved location information including interactive dynamic maps
• An insight into the world of BJ’s beer via a brewer blog
• A ‘Kids and Families’ section including BJ’s KidsLink Website

The new website also launches a brand new BJ’s Gifts & Gear e-commerce capability that offers guests the opportunity to purchase BJ’s branded merchandise. For a limited time, guests will receive a $10 courtesy card redeemable at any BJ’s restaurant with every online purchase. 

All BJ’s Restaurants feature an extensive menu with over 100 menu items that includes BJ’s signature deep-dish pizza, award-winning handcrafted beer and famous Pizookie® dessert. BJ’s highly detailed, contemporary decor and unique video statement, including BJ’s 103″ plasma display as well as several high definition flat panel televisions, creates a high energy, fun and family-friendly dining environment for everyone to enjoy. Hours of operation are from 11:00 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday and 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. currently owns and operates 100 casual dining restaurants under the BJ’s Restaurant & Brewery, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse or BJ’s Pizza & Grill brand names. BJ’s restaurants offer an innovative and broad menu featuring award-winning, signature deep-dish pizza complemented with generously portioned salads, appetizers, sandwiches, soups, pastas, entrees and desserts. Quality, flavor, value, moderate prices and sincere service remain distinct attributes of the BJ’s experience. The Company operates several microbreweries which produce and distribute BJ’s critically acclaimed handcrafted beers throughout the chain. The Company’s restaurants are located in California (50), Texas (19), Arizona (6), Colorado (4), Oregon (2), Nevada (4), Florida (6), Ohio (2), Oklahoma (2), Kentucky (1), Indiana (1), Louisiana (1) and Washington (2). Visit BJ’s Restaurants, Inc. on the Web http://www.bjsrestaurants.com.

When Carmel Ruggeri opened the doors of her new Sydney restaurant yesterday, the Twittersphere almost certainly lit up. After all, almost unbelievably, the restaurateur has built her entire business on the back of it.

From wine suppliers to website designers, photographers, and even tweets from celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, Ruggeri has built the business in 140-character instalments.

“It’s quite funny when I really start to think about it how many people I’ve found on here,” she says, referring to suppliers, supporters and followers who have already booked for tables via Twitter. “It’s mind-boggling. I don’t think people realise the true power of Twitter.”

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Fans of Bojangles’ World Famous Chicken ‘n Biscuits now have the opportunity to join the company’s new E-Club and begin receiving Bojangles’ news and special offers via e-mail. This includes a made-from-scratch reward just for joining. Customers can sign up for the E-Club at participating restaurants or by visiting www.bojangles-eclub.com.

“Bojangles’ fanatics, commonly referred to as Bo-Natics, are already extremely enthusiastic about our brand as well as our unique and flavorful products, but we wanted to give them yet another thing to get fired up about,” said Bojangles’ Senior Vice President of Marketing Randy Poindexter. “Our customers are an extension of the Bojangles’ family, and the E-Club gives us a chance to do something special for them, starting with the offer of a free Bojangles’ biscuit when they sign up.”

For E-Club members registering online, it’s Bo Time within 24 hours. Registrants will find a coupon in their inbox redeemable for their choice of a delicious Bojangles’ made-from-scratch sausage, steak, country ham or Cajun filet biscuit. E-Club members will get yet another coupon for a free Bojangles’ biscuit on their birthday and can earn a free BoBerry biscuit when they refer a friend who joins the Bojangles’ E-Club.

Currently all 189 company-owned restaurants are participating in the program along with 123 franchise locations, with more expected to be added in the near future. A list of participating locations as well as more information about Bojangles’ E-Club can be found at www.bojangles-eclub.com.

Whether it’s the Truckstop Fries with chipotle cheese sauce, Disco Fries with melty mozzarella and slow cooked pot roast and gravy, or just straight up with a side of ketchup, Houlihan’s restaurants across the county are giving away free Frites for every Foursquare check-in.

Houlihan’s upped the ante for loyal guests who become Mayor of their local Houlihan’s restaurant; the user with the most check-ins at participating Houlihan’s restaurants will receive a free Small Plate, up to $6, featured on the new, flavor-packed menu of 30+ tapas-like dishes.

“Sure, we want to reward guests for telling their friends that they’re eating at our restaurants, but we carefully thought about which menu items they’d actually want to talk about and recommend to their social networks,” said Jen Gulvik, Vice President of Marketing and Creative Director for Houlihan’s Restaurants, Inc. “It’s one thing to get a new guest through the door for a freebie with common items like chips and salsa for example, but we see more talk value in items like our Pickle ‘Fries’ served with dipping sauces or Goat Cheese and Artichoke Poppers. We’re growing our base of brand advocates, not just check averages.”

For the past few years, Houlihan’s has methodically entered the social media space. The brand quietly formed its own social network of ‘HouliFans’ in early 2008, inviting select customers into an innovative online community called ‘HQ.’ The site engages customers with company leadership in forums where ideas and upcoming plans are shared for feedback, along with disseminating food, beverage and music-related content consistent with the brand’s hip personality. HQ’s 10,000+ HouliFans are also a resource for crowd sourcing and ultimately, greater building brand loyalty and sales via members-only tastings and exclusive events. Fans partake in word-of-mouth campaigns for rewards such as kitchen gadgets, professional cookware, and even trip packages.

In early 2009, Houlihan’s emerged on Facebook not with a corporate Fan Page, but a profile for their cheeky in-store coaster persona named ‘Coaster McGee’ (www.facebook.com/coaster.mcgee) whose quips like “I like lovers like my coffee…rich and hot,” built a following of loyal guests that appreciate the brand’s sarcasm. Houlihan’s later formed an ‘official’ company Facebook page as well, and this month, launched a campaign to donate $1 to Vh1 Save the Music Foundation for every new ‘Liker,’ in September, up to $30,000. (www.facebook.com/houlihans)

At least a half-dozen North Texas bars and restaurants have begun using software that allows patrons to pay their bill, including tip and tax, with their smart phones.

Called TabbedOut, the software is the latest incarnation of what for years has been the Holy Grail of the restaurant industry: a secure, cost efficient way for consumers to ante up without having to watch their credit cards disappear with the server into a back room.

  With the rapid growth of smart phones – think iPhone , Droid and BlackBerry – experts expect to see restaurant and bar patrons increasingly reaching for mobile money instead of a wallet.

“We’re looking to change the way people pay at restaurants and bars,” said Rick Orr, co-founder and chief executive of Austin-based ATX Innovation Inc., which launched TabbedOut in Austin in January and expanded to Dallas in the spring. “That’s the only part of society where the customer … is forced to hand over their card to someone they’ve never met. We put the power in the hands of the consumer on a device they own.”

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The Burgerville QSR chain is using a branded YouTube channel, Burgerville TV, to combine its fresh, local, sustainable food brand message with the support of grassroots community efforts that contribute to the accessibility of sustainable food.

The new branded channel is hosted by president/CEO Jeff Harvey, who introduces the brand-posted videos offered.

In an introductory “Meet the president/CEO” video, Harvey talks about Burgerville’s philosophy and explains that Burgerville TV will let customers in on the behind-the-scenes practices and decisions that go into its menu offerings.

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Smartphones have made it simple to find a restaurant at the last minute. The gastronomic triumvirate of Urbanspoon, Yelp and OpenTable each have well-designed mobile apps for Android, BlackBerry and iPhone users, and they’re all free.

For a reservation, though, there once was pretty much just one choice: OpenTable. It can be a lifesaver when you call a restaurant on the road, only to be told that OpenTable is the only way to reserve. (Crazy but true.)

Some restaurants, smaller ones in particular, balk at OpenTable’s equipment and service fees, though, so the selection can sometimes fall short.

More choices are on the horizon. Urbanspoon, which made a name for itself with an ingenious iPhone app that greatly simplified a restaurant search, late last year offered restaurants mobile apps for taking reservations more cheaply than on OpenTable.

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Tony Crolla has won plaudits and prizes for the quality of his log fired pizzeria, La Favorita and for the Italian cuisine on offer Vittoria on Leith Walk and Vittoria on the  Bridge.

Now he is ensuring the dining experience extends well beyond the three venues by become the first Italian restaurants to interact with customers on their favourite online venues.

Tony has launched both Twitter and Facebook pages for La Favorita and Vittoria, giving his customers the chance to keep up to date with the latest restaurant news, events and offers.

The social media sites also give his customers a platform where they can express their views on the restaurant, inviting them to make suggestions and improvements, ensuring that they get the ultimate dining experience.

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Will electronic media eventually eradicate paper products? The transition is eventual, however one restaurant in Australia is taking the digital step early by ditching its paper-based menus and wine lists. Instead, it will offer customers an iPad running a special application designed to not only list the establishment’s menu, but apparently their ingredients. and other useful information.

“The thirst for knowledge from consumers these days is massive,” said Chris Lucas, owner of the Pearl restaurant located in inner-city Richmond. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s ingredients, origins of produce or wine, and particularly Old World wine, this platform can provide as little, or as much, information as each customer wants. This is not a gimmick. I really reckon this is going to set a precedent.”

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Report from the Department of Inevitabilities: Michael McCarty, the 57-year-old owner of the eponymous New York City restaurant that feeds $36 Cobb salads to the expense-account-fortified media elite, is getting into the content generation business.

This year, he launched a blog and a YouTube channel that airs, for instance, videos with the sommelier. Like any who’s who in media, Mr. McCarty has started contributing to the Huffington Post. A recent entry described a dinner party he cooked for his son’s college buddies. (His son called him, said, “Wassup this Saturday?” and Mr. McCarty served wild salmon and white wine to a crew more used to Taco Bell and Budweiser.)

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An Australian restaurant has ditched printed menus and now hands diners the latest tech-craze, Apple’s touch-screen iPad computer, from which to choose and order their meals.

Risking damaging wine spills and customers taking an iPad “to go”, the Global Mundo Tapas eatery at the Rydges Hotel in North Sydney introduced its new menus this week – within a week of the iPad’s Australian release.

“One of the points of difference for our restaurant was to have a unique menu,” the hotel’s general manager Craig Simpson said on Friday. “Everyone’s excited about the iPad and we’re jumping on the back of that.”

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Since it opened in Midtown Miami, Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill has been well known in the local “twitterverse” for its interaction with followers and diners. Responses are so immediate and personalized you have to wonder if someone’s hiding somewhere in the restaurant monitoring it all. No one is. The person behind the tweets, Joanna Cisowska, is based in New York at the corporate offices of SushiSamba and Sugarcane. And she makes it no secret that she’s a little crazy about Twitter, a tool she hadn’t used much before she started tweeting for Sugarcane.

Cisowska credits Lee Schrager with helping popularity on Twitter. “He came to the restaurant the second or third night we were open and he tweeted about the chicken. That started a huge conversation about the chicken on Twitter. So a big thank you to him.”

Here’s what she told Short Order about her Twitter responsibilities and why she won’t give up tweeting for Sugarcane. She made sure to specify that she does have a life.

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“We’re pretty small and nimble. Up until [four] weeks ago, I was a one-man show for our digital marketing efforts,” said Natalie Bass, Houlihan’s digital marketing manager. Last month, it brought in a contract worker to assist.

With 100 restaurants, Houlihan’s competes with the likes of Applebee’s, which has more than 2,000 restaurants, and T.G.I. Friday’s, which has more than 900 restaurants – and presumably bigger marketing budgets.

Developing a digital marketing strategy at Houlihan’s has meant making tough choices. Houlihan’s did not plunge into developing a branded Facebook page or Twitter account – it just launched @houlihans and plans to roll out a national Houlihan’s page on Facebook in the coming week. The company’s initial social efforts centered on an invite-only online community, called HQ, established in January 2008. And a year later, Houlihan’s expanded into mobile promotions with its Foody Call Club.

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With evidence mounting of  flagrant abuses of PCI-DSS security standards, two attorneys are on the verge of announcing the official filing of a national lawsuit against one of the hospitality industry’s biggest point-of-sale (POS) technology providers and one of its system resellers.  The targets of the upcoming legal action will be Restaurant Data Concepts, Inc. of Warwick, Rhode Island – creators of the POSitouch™ system – and CC Productions of Hoboken, New Jersey, the reseller. POSitouch technology is installed in more than 20,000 restaurants nationwide.

According to the attorneys preparing the lawsuit, Charles Hoff (the Law Offices of Charles Y. Hoff, PC, Atlanta) and Shiel Gallagher (Gallagher & Gupta, PC, Chicago), the companies allegedly sold and installed POS systems that contributed to identity thefts at multiple restaurant locations.  Gallagher and Hoff are still being contacted by new plaintiffs who wish to join the lawsuit, and there is hope that RDC and CC Productions will decide to resolve the situation before it goes to court.

“Frankly, I have seen all kinds of abuses of PCI standards in the industry, but this is as flagrant as it gets,” said Hoff.  “POS vendors have a responsibility to do their part to ensure that their customers use only PCI-certified system applications. These systems should never store sensitive customer credit card information that could be stolen by hackers.” In addition to his hospitality law practice, Hoff lectures on PCI-DSS issues to the restaurant industry and is called in by restaurant associations to assist their members when security breaches occur.  

Hoff and Gallagher have issued notification letters about the developing lawsuit to restaurant associations in all 50 states so that they may alert members.

PCI-DSS is a comprehensive set of technological requirements and consumer protections created primarily by the major credit card companies as part of a PCI Security Council to safeguard merchants from internal security breaches and identity theft. POS system vendors must follow these standards, and any businesses accepting credit cards for payments (such as restaurants) are contractually obligated to use equipment and software from PCI-DSS compliant vendors.  The penalties for retailers that have their systems breached can be massive, even if the problems are the fault of the hardware and software vendors.

At the core of the allegations in the developing lawsuit:

1) POSitouch’s POS system failure: The facts emanating from a forensic audit reveal that POSitouch sold a system that was non-compliant with PCI-DSS.

2) CC Productions’ mismanagement: This POSitouch reseller engaged in flagrant violations of PCI standards that gave rise to the security breaches.  When companies such as CC Productions engage in the support and management of a merchants’ POS application system they need to ensure that they are not engaging in suspect actions that open up the ports so that hackers may penetrate the entire system through malware.     
 
“POSitouch and CC Productions have not been responsive to our efforts to resolve this situation on behalf of their customers,” said Gallagher. “We know there are many more restaurants across the country that have used these companies and could potentially be facing similar frustrations. Our goal is to give all of these customers a voice and resolve the issues that are putting diners at risk.”

While the exact amount of the identify theft losses to banks, the financial losses to the restaurants, fines, investigatory costs, fines imposed by the credit card companies and other costs attributed to fixing the computer systems’ security breaches are still being tallied, the lawsuit is seeking compensation to repay the penalties levied by the credit card companies and the massive costs to track down and repair the POS system problems. According to the attorneys, damages “could run well into seven figures.”

“There are many restaurant owners who are not aware that there may be a potential crisis lurking in their systems and that their businesses and customers may be at risk due to these companies,” said Gallagher.

Restaurant owners using POSitouch and/or CC Productions who are concerned about risk exposure can contact Gallagher and Gupta – (312) 841-1141, positouchclaim@gallagherpc.com.

Rare is the restaurant that doesn’t have a website these days. Even rarer is finding a good one. Elegantly designed and / or witty sites that deliver accurate information swiftly are at a premium. Earlier this month I had to gently point out to a Michelin-starred venue that someone had misspelled ‘restaurant’ in 28-point font on their homepage. That is how seriously many restaurants treat their websites.

Precisely what errors, on a website, might put you – the potential customer – off, may well be a matter of taste. Personally, I can tolerate the odd spelling mistake and, even, the occasional out-of-date menu. Neither inspires confidence, but restaurants are hectic places. Peripheral details can be overlooked. Plus, I am not sure there is a direct correlation between someone’s ability to cook my tea and their punctuation. They’re very different skills.

More damaging, to my mind, are websites which whether by omission or clunky design lack basic information. Lee Rosy’s Tea is a nice cafe and Aumbry an interesting restaurant, but how would you know, when neither website carries a menu?

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Domino’s is the latest big brand to incorporate Foursquare as a promotions tool. The Ann Arbor, MI-based company has launched an initiative in the U.K. where customers who use the geo-social application can earn free pizzas by accruing “check-ins” at store locations, according to a report yesterday in New Media Age.

“Check-ins” record how many times people use the mobile app to show they’ve arrived at a retail store, nightclub, restaurant, etc. When patrons check in more than anyone else and become “mayor” of a Domino’s location, they could get a free pizza. The quick-serve giant’s 553 U.K. and Ireland locations will reward a pizza to the current mayors once a week on a designated day.

In addition, every Foursquare user will get a complimentary side dish when spending more than 10 British pounds. Domino’s piloted the program in a group of stores before deciding to roll it out nationwide, according to the NMA article. The pizza brand’s U.K. digital agency, Vexed, reportedly orchestrated the deal.

Whether or not Domino’s plans to roll out similar Foursquare promotions in the U.S. remains to be seen.

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