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. “This enduring customer loyalty drives the restaurant industry forward, creating clear opportunities for restaurants to enhance the dining experience through strategic limited time offers, efficient delivery and exceptional in-person service," said Samir Zabaneh, CEO of TouchBistro.
What can you expect to see on menus in 2025? From salted egg yolks and chili crunch fusions to mushroom-infused teas and freeze-dried fruit powder garnishes, Kimpton’s in-house experts share the standout ingredients, menu items and techniques that will come to the table in 2025.
A recent eBook by Softarex Technologies highlights all the main aspects of AI usage in restaurant operations, from customer service to back-of-house management. This transformation is not just about automation; it's about creating smarter, more efficient, and more personalized dining experiences.
Tableside caviar service A prosciutto cart An authentic kaiseki tasting experience and members-only Japanese whiskey lounge Tableside s’mores These are just a few examples of ways restaurants across the country are hoping to attract guest by elevating the dining experience and creating a vibe highlighted by superior food and presentation.
Solo dining – a time dedicated to eating a meal alone at a sit-down restaurant – is an opportunity for diners to practice self care over a meal, whether that be by relaxing and reflecting at the end of a long day or even by engaging the mind with a book or catching up on the news. Just the “cover count.”
Front-of-house teams juggled high guest expectations with paper logs, manual reports, and legacy systems that weren’t built to keep up with the pace of service. We saw widespread adoption of mobile payments, digital ordering, and contactless dining almost overnight. Real-time insights? Virtually nonexistent.
Consider this – the menu is the most important component of a successful restaurant and once designed it can, and should, impact every other aspect of the business. YES – the menu is that important! The menu comes first and should reflect the philosophy of the owners and chef and how the operators expect to be perceived by the public.
So much data is generated at every point within a restaurant, whether fast casual or fine dining. Foot traffic or heat mapping, menu item engagement, or consumer demographics by time of day. The question now becomes – how to make sense of that data and use it to elevate the dining experience. Data, Data, Data.
Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine asked restaurant industry experts for their views on what trends and challenges owners and operators can expect to see in 2025. At the same time, it can result in consumers creating more waste if they order more than they can eat.
Menu pricing isnt just about covering costsits about finding that sweet spot where profitability, customer perception, and operational reality meet. Understanding the Key Factors in Menu Pricing Before you develop your menu pricing strategies, its important to ground your decisions in the numbers.
Self-order and payment kiosks as well as QR code menus are streamlining front-of-house operations, improving order accuracy and speeding up service. Customers benefit from the convenience of browsing digital menus and completing payments independently, especially during busy periods.
Restaurant operators searching for something versatile that will cross the dayparts need to look no further than their breakfast menu as waffles have been breaking out of the morning. Profitability: Waffles are a low-cost, center-of-the-plate item and one of the most profitable breakfast item menu offerings.
Instead, you’ll see signage about the health benefits of plant-based eating — the “primary drivers of consumer choice are personal benefit,” says Goldman — and the menu board, designed like any one in other fast-food chains. The “ PLNT Impact Tracker ” on PLNT Burger’s website wants you to think about what you’re eating. Congratulations.
The 2024 State of the Restaurant Industry report revealed that 22 percent of restaurant operators plan to invest in technology like POS software, back-of-house systems, and data analytics in the near future. It’s no secret that restaurants with more than one location depend on standardization to thrive.
When properly deployed, they can transform the employee experience by improving daily operations, syncing front-of-house and back-of-house communication and execution, and delivering a memorable dining experience that won’t send staff to the walk-in cooler for a good cry.
I came across an old quote from Phylicia Rashad (for those my age – the lead actress in the series “Fame” from many years back) that gave me another opportunity to think about the cooks that I know and have known over the past five (nearly six) decades and why I chose to stand in front of a range. Art is the basis of human expression.”
There will *always *be something your staff can do to enhance a patron’s dining experience. As a restaurant manager or operator, you are the driving force in productivity – leading your staff and keeping customers happy. However, productivity is more easily trained than managed.
With the rising costs of goods, consumers growing more conscious of spending habits, and private equity-backed brands popping up in communities large and small, mom-and-pops are in danger of adding to the failure statistics. Today, independent restaurants can and should tap into those same tools–without the massive corporate budget.
: MRM Restaurant Survival Guide Updates , COVID-19 Resources for Restaurants , PPP Part Two and More News Restaurants Need to Know Now and Restaurant Reopening Resources. The form and instructions inform borrowers how to apply for forgiveness of their PPP loans, consistent with the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).
As a new normal emerges, it will be more important than ever to elevate the dining experience with experiences that are personal and delightful. As well, pick-up lockers located away from in-room dining could allow guests to pick up food without human contact. And this will take some time. Focus on the Endpoint.
Understanding your target market is the foundation of making smart decisions for your menu, pricing, and overall guest experience. Without a well-defined target market, restaurants risk wasting resources on strategies that dont connect and menu offerings that dont selltrying to appeal to everyone, but standing out to no one.
Heading into the winter months, restaurants will be challenged even further as the revenue streams that have been keeping them afloat during the summer and fall such as outdoor dining and patio seating will see fewer customers with inclement weather and colder temperatures.
Hospitality operators are rapidly turning to contactless ordering and payment solutions to help navigate the long road back to normal from COVID-19’s impacts. With so much focus on “going contactless”, it’s important to take steps to make sure guests feel welcome and supported in their dining experience.
A chief reason is due to caution or uncertainty exhibited by conscious consumers, with 48 percent saying they are taking the ‘wait and see’ approach and holding back on spending in 2024. Moving to Multichannel Dining Experiences Dining out is… back? So, what’s the solution?
With each delivery and/or pickup order it’s a good idea to include a coupon or gift card that can be used in the future only during a dine-in visit. This will keep your establishment top of mind for guests that may be avoiding dining inside a restaurant right now but will be craving (no pun intended) to do so in the future.
Menus are shifting quickly to digital screens, promising operational efficiency and a consistent brand experience from dine-in to drive-thru. While there are clear benefits to an all-digital menu system, to get the most out them, you must first take a step back to re-examine what your menu means to you.
More recently, as chefs have been working up seasonal menus to highlight local specialties and homegrown bars have been remixing native spirits, Sri Lanka drew millions of tourists in 2024 , announcing the islands comeback on the global stage after a few years of economic uncertainty. Travel around and youll be rewarded.
Youre delivering a great dining experience, yet foot traffic remains inconsistent, online engagement is low, and new customers arent coming in as often as youd like. This includes hours of operation (including holiday updates), your website link, phone number, and menu. Here are two ways to make a big impact on your local SEO.
Whether its a loyalty program, strategic promotions, or email marketing campaigns, great marketing isnt just about attracting new customersits about keeping the ones you already have coming back. 4 Reasons Why You Cant Ignore Restaurant Marketing in 2025 Restaurant marketing in 2025 isnt just a nice-to-haveits a necessity.
This can help restaurants meet mandated accessibility requirements and guests’ safety concerns, while simultaneously reengineering the overall menu for a better, more modern experience. Here are three ways that digitizing menus can help improve accessibility. Think about it. Get Rid of PDFs. For example, QR codes (remember them?)
Since the pandemic, restaurants have endured a plethora of issues ranging from fluctuating dining restrictions to supply chain issues to rising food prices. Demand for Dining Out Isn’t Going Anywhere. But arguably no issue has proven to be as constant and bedeviling as the labor shortage.
You need ideas that will wow new customers and get the regulars excited to come back in. In-house promotions Leverage customers presence in-store by using flyers, table tents, A-frames, and mentions at the bottom of receipts. Are your regulars ordering the same drink and entree every time they come in?
Tacos are served up at Maizajo, where corn tortillas are made in-house. I loved the menu design here so much that I kept checking out the merch T-shirts, stickers, and more and ended up nabbing a brightly colored tote bag as a souvenir. Subscribe now. Ive just returned from three glorious, food-filled days in Mexico City.
We’re seeing younger buyers investing in dining experiences that blend food, convenience, and atmosphere with their values as shoppers. For fast casual and QSRs, is your menu up to date? Are you showing the latest available menu items? Supply chains, while showing more stability, are fraught with uncertainty.
While there is no single answer as to how best to do so, if we look back at the pandemic’s impact thus far, it’s clear that the ability to effectively pivot offerings and communicate with your customers is critical to a restaurant’s survival. Be Transparent About Safety. Think Beyond Your Four Walls.
Every day, youre juggling staff, food quality, inventory, customer service, purchasing, and moreall while trying to cultivate a dining experience that wows your customers enough to keep them coming back. Its tough, and cant be done passively. Great restaurant operations dont happen by accident.
Have you ever walked into a restaurant, excited for a great meal, but the server can’t answer your questions about the menu? Without the right training, even the best menu or ambiance can fall short due to poor service, leading to dissatisfied customers and lost revenue. Focused training also speeds up the onboarding process.
Front-of-House. He visits your restaurant’s app and orders his favorite dish on the menu. Outside of off-premise options, contactless technologies can keep customers safe as they return to dine-in at restaurants. Then they are guided to scan a QR code to access the menu. Let’s come back to Henry.
In the kitchen – work responsibilities are divided into oversight and action positions – the number depending on the scope of the restaurant menu and the size of the operation, but basically there are chefs, cooks, and support staff. This includes back waiters, bus personnel, and bartenders.
This edition of Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine's Research Roundup features delivery data, tariff troubles, summer dining trends, and Beer Serves America. The report analyzed data from more than 30,000 QSR restaurants that generated a total of 4.5 billion transactions and $67 billion in sales in 2024. labor costs at 3 percent.
You love seeing them come in, and you say hello, but is that enough to keep them coming back for years down the line? You love seeing them come in, and you say hello, but is that enough to keep them coming back for years down the line? But first, why is customer retention such a big deal? Thats huge!
Customers expect to browse menus, place orders, and pay for their meals with just a few taps of their phones. Since 2014, online ordering has grown 300% faster than dine-in and now accounts for roughly 40% of restaurant sales. In 2025, the US online food delivery market is expected to reach $424.9 billion in revenue.
From there, well walk through the other major cost categories and share practical strategies to help you cut back without sacrificing quality or guest experience. This doesnt mean cutting corners and sacrificing the customer experience; its about knowing where your money is going, spotting leaks early, and fine-tuning whats already working.
While the restaurant and foodservice industry added back 1.7M Off-Premises Dining Enhanced by Improved Technology. Additonally, ninety-six percent of operators experienced supply delays or shortages of key food or beverage items in 2021 – and these challenges will likely continue in 2022. million by the end of 2022.
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