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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“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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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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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 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.

“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.

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.

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

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.”

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.