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Catering to solo diners is more just than seating them as restaurants would any other customer. Good operators understand that the party of four that spends $250 over three hours on a four top isn’t more “valuable” than the solo diner that spends $70 in sixty minutes on a two top, or a solo seating experience.
Restaurant industry challenges are pushing operators to be more creative and efficient with many opting for more multifunctional spaces – especially in a fast-casual setting. At Maria Empanada, a fast-casual Latin concept the team is working on right now, the to-go boxes are artfully displayed, blending function and branding seamlessly.
Courtesy of Sabine Caf Rich Fox of Sabine in Seattle says leaning more casual has helped his bottom line A version of this post originally appeared on May 28, 2025, in Eater and Punchs newsletter Pre Shift , a biweekly newsletter for the industry pro that sources first-person accounts from the bar and restaurant world.
Allowing designers to adjust everything, from seating and kitchen workflows to lighting and décor. How Design Technology Improves Space and Guest Experience Every square foot counts when redesigning a fast-casual eatery or a fine dining venue. They thought it reduced miscommunication and redesigning in the planning stage.
While swicy took the front seat this year, Rubix’s proprietary research found that 5 percent more Gen Z respondents reported having frequent sweet and salty cravings over sweet and spicy. Pickles also had a very real moment this year thanks to the viral Chamoy , so time for restaurants to give the people what they want.
In cities like New York, you’ll find eateries that mirror the bistro’s casual sophistication, while Tokyo’s intimate wine bars reflect a similar ethos of warmth and simplicity. Similarly, the rise of casual fine dining echoes the bistro’s knack for blending refinement with accessibility.
The majority of operators say increasing traffic on-site and getting diners back in their seats will be more important to their restaurant's success in 2025. This is especially important to 90 percent of fine dining operators and 87 percent of casual dining operators. Restaurants aim to attract more in-person diners.
A good patio setup isn’t just about adding seats, it’s about creating an extension of the guest experience that works just as hard as your dining room. And for more casual outdoor setups – think outdoor bars, beer gardens, or counter-service patios – QR code ordering is a no-brainer.
The last thing any restaurant should do is make the customer feel like they are being pushed out of their seat for the next guest. Maximizing table turnover is crucial for restaurants to optimize their seating capacity and increase their profitability. However, turning tables must be done tactfully.
Fast casual restaurants are popping up faster than you can say "build your own grain bowl." " They're somewhere between a full-service casual dining restaurant and a quick-service restaurant or fast food chain. Looking for tips on starting your fast casual restaurant?
For this, flexible seating arrangements are the key – from cozy booths to communal tables and counter seating, offering options that cater to individual preferences ensures that solo diners feel comfortable and valued. First impressions matter. Creating an inviting ambiance is critical for attracting (and retaining) solo diners.
No doubt, while several restaurant chains in the quick service space (QSRs) have seen double-digit, same-store sales growth, COVID-19 has provided an additional untimely blow to the casual dining space that cannot transition as nimbly to a takeout-only model. providing and requiring PPE; taking reservations only for seating).
Here are a few examples of restaurants with names that ooze concept: Parm: Casual Italian, known for their Chicken Parm Sandwiches. Umami Burger : Casual burger spot with an empaths on flavor. Conversely, a casual neighborhood sandwich shop may name their sandwiches after local heroes or landmarks. Fast-Casual Restaurants.
For example, a casual restaurant usually has a higher turnover rate. This should include all tables available for seating customers. Optimize seating arrangements: Arrange tables in a way that maximizes the use of available space without compromising customer comfort. casual dining vs. fine dining).
" Bo Peabody, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of restaurant reservation and rewards app Seated , Board member of Boqueria Restaurants, and Co-Owner of Mezze Restaurant Group , suggests: Beyond spacing out tables, take advantage of outdoor space if you have it available. . "Social " To learn more and register, click here.
Key figures on the restaurant workforce include: Roughly 50 percent of restaurant operators in the fullservice, quickservice, and fast-casual segments expect recruiting and retaining employees to be their top challenge in 2022. Roughly half of U.S.
If possible, restaurants should consider expanding into casual and comfortable outdoor seating arrangements that can feature a more pre-pandemic feel. Other practices can be updated to enhance the feeling of personal service; for instance, table settings can be placed as guests are seated.
Not to mention that after practicing social distancing for over a year, not everyone will be thrilled to go back to tight seating arrangements indoors. Apart from always being more profitable, large fast casual chains could exploit the situation and simply buy out the out-of-business bistros located at the nicest downtown corners.
Remember when food trucks redefined street food in the early 2010s or when small plates turned casual dining into an adventure of endless flavors? Sidewalk seating emerged as a lifeline for restaurants and diners alike. Live music, local artwork, and communal seating turn them into social hubs where dining becomes an event.
The 31-year-old, fast casual, farm-to-table chain was doing well, prior to COVID-19. Guests would be seated at every other table or booth so as to maintain a safe distance. Bar seating will be removed and reconfigured to allow six feet between bar stools. And, customers temperatures may be checked upon entry.
A rendering of Perkins Griddle & Go fast-casual concept. Simultaneously, the company also created a fast-casual version of Perkins called Griddle & Go, another nod to younger, on-the-go customers. The spinoff is just 1,500 square feet and will focus on takeout, though it also seats 65. Sign up here.
If a QR code is already on the table when your guests are seated, you don’t have to worry about getting fresh menus to them right away. Fast casual eateries that have seat-yourself service are perfect candidates for the QR code menu.
In the short term, it’s QSR that will experience labor improvement, then fast-casual. Restaurant design footprint will fundamentally change with more BOH kitchen size needed and less FOH seats as more people gravitate toward digital and delivery. Restaurants will become increasingly casual. Suzannah Gerber of Haven Foods.
Quick service restaurants will continue to outperform casual dining establishments as their drive-through formats enabled them to remain open throughout the pandemic, Fahy said. But casual dining restaurants still did a significant job of rapidly pivoting from 90-100 percent dine-in to curbside pickup, To-Go and delivery. "This
Casual Dining velocity has grown by 158 percent over the same period, suggesting many of the Casual Dining business models were able to maintain sales to some degree through pandemic restrictions. In fact, 30 percent of recent casual dining visitors think there is an opportunity to improve the quality of the beverage offer.
One of the key functionalities within many QSR and fast casual mobile apps these days is the ability to order ahead and select curbside pickup. This puts the customer in the driver’s seat and removes the reliance and uncertainties on timeliness of delivery offered by third parties.
Restaurant segments represented include fine dining, casual dine, fast casual, quick service restaurants and bars. Though many restaurants have begun to reopen, restrictions limiting seating coupled with consumers’ reluctance to return to in-restaurant dining means many restaurants are months away from operating at a profit.
Even a casual corner bistro can easily book up. For hotspots like Septime or Frenchie , you should call or check online weeks ahead; for more casual dining, call a day or even just a few hours in advance. Le Cheval d’Or The crew at Le Cheval d’Or run a casual operation including an early dinner seating at 7 p.m.
On the surface, you may not think a roadside diner or downtown café would have much in common with a fast-casual chain, not to mention an elegant stand-alone restaurant where couples and families celebrate over a two-hour, five-course meal. But the truth is they have a lot in common when it comes to selecting their furniture.
Make all touchpoints of your restaurant feel like the cool, casual, fusion, or fine dining establishment it is. They should all work together to create a smooth customer journey, from their initial search on your website to when they sit down with their meal. Here are a few things to get right: Create a mission statement.
Paul Wahlberg is Chef/Co-Owner of Wahlburgers, a casual dining restaurant and bar founded by the chef and his brothers Mark and Donnie. Kyle Collins is Marketing Director for Patina Restaurant Group, formed by Nick Valenti and Joachim Splichal as a bicoastal boutique restaurant and food service company. Kyle Collins. Chef Paul Wahlberg.
Konro is a Japanese-inspired concept known for a 10- to 14-course tasting menu, served at a chef’s counter with only 10 seats. News independents chefs Lisa Jennings is a veteran restaurant industry reporter and editor who covers the fast-casual sector, independent restaurants and emerging chain concepts. Sign up here.
million to help the casual-dining burger chain pay down debt. They are also getting two seats on the board. JCP Investment Management and Jumana Capital Partners are investing $8.3
introduced "Perkins Griddle Go," a fast-casual concept for quick on-the-go meals, in 2024, with the first store opening in late October. percent MoM Casual Dining Hit Hardest April saw a -6.4 Family Dining & Fast Casual Also Down Family Dining: -3.2 percent MoM Fast Casual: -0.9 Perkins American Food Co.
From seating diners and helping them order quickly to processing payments, let’s explore some proven ways to improve your restaurant’s table turnover rate. Suppose your restaurant has 20 tables, and during the dinner service from 6 PM to 9 PM, you seated 60 customers.
Outside of fine dining establishments (which constitute only a small percentage of restaurant businesses), customers no longer want to be dependent on a host to seat them or a server to take their order or process their payment. Well, that puts fast-casual out of the running. Too bad for you, that precludes casual-plus.
First-time Chicken Salad Chick (CSC) franchise owner Claibourne (Clay) Rogers was introduced to the fast-casual concept in 2015 when she served as an account director at the brand’s public relations firm, Fish Consulting. If a guest is wary to come inside to order, we happily take their order outside.
The normalcy of customers coming in the doors for a night of dining or even a casual lunch feels like a vision of the distant past. Adapting Your Footprint for Outdoor Seating. Unequivocally, restaurateurs and entrepreneurs in the food industry have been among the hardest hit, economically speaking, by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a study among casual dining restaurants , 91% of respondents said that an appealing ambiance prompts them to visit a particular establishment. You can also implement a waitlist system during peak hours to help manage overflow and make sure that guests are seated as quickly as possible. After all, among the 28.7%
Reports show that 81 percent of fine dining establishments, 78 percent of family restaurants, and 77 percent of fast-casual spots added curbside pickup, pivoting away from dine-in services after March 2020. On top of that, nearly half of all restaurants offered delivery services during the pandemic.
Now, McDonald’s and other fast food and fast casual giants are betting on the “digital kitchen” — sleek, compact stores that harness automation and digitalization to have diners ordering through mobile apps or digital kiosks — to get diners in and out in record time.
Full service restaurant concepts fall into two broad categories: casual dining and fine dining. Casual and fine dining restaurants offer different menus and experiences to guests and require different expertise and operational knowledge for success. 10 Differences Between Casual and Fine Dining 1.
Especially for the QSR and fast casual markets in which customization drives value for customers, standard POS systems won’t be able to keep up with heightened demand. In QSRs and fast casual restaurants, the low-hanging fruit is self-ordering technology, especially as a solution to labor challenges.
They will incur new expenses for necessities like protective items and heightened cleaning protocols, while modifying dining rooms to reduce seating will cause independent restaurants to lose up to 50 percent in revenue if they are able to reopen at all.”. But visits to casual restaurants remained lower than normal.
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