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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.
A huge part of this experience is the customerservice they receive at every contact point within the restaurant – and even after they’ve left. Here, we share practical and actionable ways to enhance your establishment’s customerservice.
Restaurants can also generate custom booking links, allowing diners to make a reservation or join the waitlist directly from their preferred social media platforms. Diners who join a Yelp Waitlist can now see real-time waitlist progress from their iPhone lock screens, including their place in line, estimated seating time, and table status.
Born in the 19th century as modest spots serving workers affordable fare like onion soup and crepes, bistros have become symbols of France’s culinary soul. Even rural cafés in distant locales have adopted the bistro blueprint: hearty food served in a welcoming space.
Guests spending hundreds of dollars for a memorable meal and making reservations months in advance just to garner a seat. Now, make sure that the vegetables on the sandwich are at their peak and reflective of the season: dont serve raw tomatoes outside of July and August. Make the tomato an experience.
From small towns to bigger cities, you’ll find spots that have been serving for years alongside newer places gaining attention. Each one has built a solid reputation for serving food people keep coming back for. Customers often mention the ribs, wings, and sides like smoked cabbage and baked beans as standouts.
Heres how to craft an experience that leaves customers delighted and eager to return. Efficient Seating and Ordering Process Minimize wait times and ensure smooth transitions from arrival to seating. Staff should be knowledgeable, offering helpful suggestions based on customer preferences and dietary needs.
The Untapped Power of Music In an era of fierce competition in the restaurant and hospitality sectors, curating an unparalleled guest experience isn’t just beneficial, it’s essential for turning reserved seats into lasting memories. It greets guests, sets the rhythm of service and quietly guides spending.
Transformative Techniques Bartenders are experimenting with the foundations of a cocktail by using techniques like sous vide for prep and serving, forced carbonation for effervescence and clarified citrus to augment beverages before they even reach the mixing stage. This follows a new love of customization, indulgence, and comfort in the US.
Quick-service restaurants maintain a steady customer satisfaction score of 79 (on a 100 point scale), while full-service restaurants — despite slipping 2 percent to 82 — remain one of the highest-rated industries in the Index, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI®) Restaurant and Food Delivery Study 2025.
Each meal can be served as a platter, sandwich, or family pack, and comes with homemade sides like mac and cheese, coleslaw, and baked beans. The setup is casual, with indoor seating and a bar that serves local craft beer. They also make their sauces and desserts in-house.
Whether you’re in a small town or a big city, you’re never too far from a place serving up BBQ that locals swear by. These are the places people keep coming back to, not just for the food but also for the experience and the way they treat their customers.
For restaurateurs, the message is clear: in 2025, your space is no longer just where food is prepared and served. We're seeing a clear trend towards designs that can grow with the business – operators are incorporating signature elements (that are now business tools) that customers will recognize across locations.
After all, it’s not just the quality of your food that can keep customers coming back — 73% of diners base their satisfaction on the quality of service they receive. How do you handle customer complaints and turn negative experiences into positive ones? How do you handle disputes between customers and employees?
If your business isnt keeping up with the changes, you risk falling behind and not meeting modern customer expectations. For operators, restaurant apps mean higher sales, greater customer retention, and smoother day-to-day operations. Online ordering and delivery apps. Here is an example of a restaurants branded app.
Nowadays, running a successful restaurant takes more than great food and good service. From improving your Google listing to leveraging customer reviews, these tips will show you how to boost your visibility and drive more traffic to your restaurant. To do so, you must have an optimized website and engaging social media profiles.
By optimizing how quickly tables are cleared and reseated, restaurants can serve more guests during peak hours and improve overall profitability. Whether you manage a busy caf or a full-service restaurant, these actionable tips can make a significant difference in your daily operations. However, turning tables must be done tactfully.
You risk long wait times and a drop in service quality. Aim to keep labor costs between 20% to 30% of total sales, depending on your service style and local wage laws. This does not include things like rent, labor, or marketing, just the costs directly tied to the food and beverages youre serving. Too many people on the floor?
The demand for earlier reservations provides restaurants the opportunity to get creative when it comes to driving traffic for second and third seating’s with memorable experiences, dynamic pricing, or late-night specials. We also recommend that operators maximize their space by offering varied experiences throughout service.
Meats are served as plates or sandwiches, with sauces available on the side in both mild and spicy versions. Customers often talk about the friendly service, clean setup, and how consistent the food is each time they visit. The restaurant uses wood-fired pits to smoke brisket, pulled pork, ribs, sausage, turkey, and chicken.
Begin by observing how staff and customers navigate the restaurant at different times of the day. Look for underutilized corners, walls, or other spaces that could serve additional purposes, such as hosting extra storage, decorative elements, or seating options. Wall-mounted fixtures can serve dual purposes.
Menu pricing isnt just about covering costsits about finding that sweet spot where profitability, customer perception, and operational reality meet. Too high, and youll drive customers away. Your menu pricing needs to match the experience youre offeringand what your customers are willing to pay for it.
Does the energy feel flat, and the customers look bored. Get some fresh customers through the door and start the neighborhood talking about whats happening in your restaurant again. You need ideas that will wow new customers and get the regulars excited to come back in.
By the time you finish this article, youll know how to approach restaurant marketing the right way and not waste time doing guesswork, crossing your fingers, and then hoping you see new customers walking through the door. Customers have more choices, higher expectations, and countless ways to discover (or overlook) your restaurant.
From small towns to busy cities, you’ll find local spots that have been serving for years, often with smokers running all day and recipes passed down through generations. 30 – Jomax BBQ Source: Jomax BBQ Jomax BBQ in Metter is known for its no-frills, wood-smoked barbecue served in a rustic, cabin-style setting.
This edition of Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine's Research Roundup features delivery data, tariff troubles, summer dining trends, and Beer Serves America. In recent years, consumer behaviors have drastically changed to now preferring delivery services and an increased willingness to pay a premium for a seamless experience.
How do you balance seating arrangements to maintain fairness and efficiency? What steps do you take to handle special seating requests, such as accessibility needs? Describe a time when you had to handle a long line and impatient customers. 60% of customers would dine at a restaurant more frequently after a positive experience.
Considering these changes, it’s critical for restaurants to meet their diners where they are and adapt to serve their evolving customer base. As more and more people partake in the experience and more restaurants implement measures catered specifically to solo diners, a customer-centric approach is key.
Chimes of chatter between khalehs and other aunties playing an acts-of-service tug-of-war surrounding the bountiful sofreh spread out across the table. The crackle and pop of a sun-kissed golden layer of crispy tahdig, in its final moments above a steady flame, ready for its debut with a strong flick of the wrist onto a silver serving tray.
Located off Interstate 65, it serves from a walk-up window in a gas station parking lot, offering a menu packed with barbecue staples and Southern favorites. While the focus is on barbecue, the menu also includes items like fried shrimp and rib-eye steak, giving customers more to choose from.
“Back in the day, you were served a restorative—a soup made from barley and onion with beer or whatever herbs you had at the time,” says Gordon. For the last 12 years, she worked in hospitals serving the senior community in particular. “This restorative became the modern restaurant.
Every region adds its own touch, and each place has built its name through word of mouth, steady quality, and loyal customers. 30 – Robb’s Smokehouse Source: Robb’s Smokehouse Robb’s Smokehouse in Shawnee serves up traditional Oklahoma barbecue with a focus on wood-fired meats and homestyle sides.
Perkins, the 68-year-old chain best known for its bakery case, recently began serving boba and frozen margaritas, while its younger sibling Huddle House, 61, is rolling out smash burgers. And, like the rest of family dining, they have been losing customers. That means you can now get boba at Perkins. By Joe Guszkowski on Jun.
17, 2025 Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Greenlanes have no dine-in seating. Every now and then, Greenlane customers might find the 6-foot, 6-inch person working the drive-thru window looks a lot like Tampa Bay Buccaneer tight end Rob Gronkowski. We like to surprise the customers, especially after we open a new location.
Look at your financials — steady profits, a loyal customer base , and strong staff retention are all signs of readiness. Customers expect the same quality, ambiance, and service they experienced at your first location. Your training should not only cover skills but also emphasize culture, customerservice, and teamwork.
It represents the direct costs of producing your menu items and servingcustomers. Table Turnover Rate Explanation of Table Turnover Rate Table turnover rate measures how often a table is occupied by different customers during a specific period. A higher rate indicates more customersserved and potentially higher revenue.
" They're somewhere between a full-service casual dining restaurant and a quick-service restaurant or fast food chain. Fast casual restaurants offer customers a dining option between fast food and full-service restaurants. Counter service Fast casuals offer either limited service or self-service.
Restaurant review sites aren’t just for diners—they’re also savvy tools for restaurant operators to gather customer feedback and help control the narrative around their dining experience. Below that, you’ll see a “what’s the vibe” section where customers can post images of inside, outside, food, and anything else they find interesting.
In today’s fast-paced dining environment, quick-service restaurants are under pressure to serve more customers in less time—without sacrificing quality. As customer expectations rise, reducing wait times has become more than a convenience; it’s a competitive advantage.
On the other hand, leading origins, such as Vietnam, are scaling up to meet demand for more cost-effective options as customers’ pockets tighten. The supermarket chain will refurbish 150 in‑store cafés with modular seating, digital kiosks, revamped menus, and energy‑efficient equipment. Schneider has served as CEO of Nestlé since 2017.
With rising ingredient prices, labor shortages, and tighter margins, operators must find strategic ways to reduce restaurant costs without compromising quality or customer experience. Increasing restaurant profits allows you to invest in upgrades, like better equipment or a nicer place for customers to eat.
If you want to learn how to open a deli, follow these key steps to establish your brand and get the tools you need to servecustomers great food and experiences. Delis and sandwich shops continue to be popular with customers because they provide versatile, quick dining options. Start by identifying who your ideal customer is.
We didn’t just want to serve different coffee – we wanted to change the conversation,” Dario says. “By It’s often necessary to educate customers about what a quality cup of coffee means and why it needs to cost more than €1,” Zach says. It’s not just about coffee or food – it’s about memory, emotion, and perception.”
In the fast-paced world of food service, every second counts. Long wait times can lead to frustrated customers and lost revenue. Whether you’re running a quick-service counter or a full-service restaurant, the right tools can significantly enhance your speed of service. times faster than traditional methods.
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