Modern Restaurant Management

MARCH 11, 2025

." As we mark the fifth anniversary, MRM magazine surveyed restaurant insiders about the pandemic’s lasting impact on their businesses and the industry. The past five years have reinforced the critical intersection of digital and hospitality in the restaurant industry. Technology continues to transform restaurant operations.

Front of House 221

Front of House Loyalty Program Recruiting Customer Experience 221

Modern Restaurant Management

MARCH 21, 2025

We’ve all heard the statistics surrounding restaurant closures, from the 50 percent failure rate in the first five years to watching restaurant store-fronts change over year to year. The landscape is only getting more difficult, as evidenced by name brands like TGI Fridays and Red Lobster closing locations around the country.

Technology 221

Technology Front of House Customer Service Back of House 221

7 Shifts

NOVEMBER 14, 2024

Front-of-house (FOH) staff, like servers and hosts, will need customer service training, upselling techniques, and communication skills. Back-of-house (BOH) staff, including chefs and kitchen assistants, will focus more on food safety, food handling, and kitchen equipment use.

Training 195

Training Kitchen Safety Food Safety Customer Service 195

Modern Restaurant Management

JUNE 27, 2025

This edition of Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine's Research Roundup features the present and future of AI use in F&B, The Splintered Path to Purchase, the Datassential 500 Awards, and where chefs are earning six figures. At the same time, U.S. chain sales grew just 3.1 percent in 2024 — falling short of the 4.1

Loyalty Program 371

Loyalty Program 2025 Customer Experience Customer Service 371

Lavu

MAY 2, 2025

A well-equipped POS system helps reduce human error, improve kitchen workflows, and build guest trust. This ensures staff always have the right details at their fingertips, minimizing the chance of serving a dish with undisclosed allergens. If a recipe gets updated, the allergen information updates automatically.

Allergens 78

Allergens POS Kitchen Safety Management 78

Modern Restaurant Management

DECEMBER 18, 2024

So much data is generated at every point within a restaurant, whether fast casual or fine dining. And the digitization of operations over the past few years means that the industry is getting better at capturing that data. Foot traffic or heat mapping, menu item engagement, or consumer demographics by time of day.

2025 419

2025 Loyalty Program Social Media Fast Casual 419

SpotOn

FEBRUARY 26, 2025

Joe Nicholson was a manager and tech consultant at one of the busiest restaurants in Sacramento, CA—Tower Cafe. Now, as a copywriter at SpotOn, he helps restaurant owners and managers learn how to run a more profitable operation. Restaurant P&L statements can be downright confusing. Prime costs. Contribution margins.

Point of Sale 90

Point of Sale License Insurance POS 90

Modern Restaurant Management

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

Considering these changes, it’s critical for restaurants to meet their diners where they are and adapt to serve their evolving customer base. In a joint survey by OpenTable and KAYAK, 60 percent reported having dined solo at a sit-down restaurant within the past year.

Customer Experience 450

Customer Experience Fine Dining Seating Catering 450

Lavu

MAY 23, 2025

If youre wondering how to open a deli that stands out in a competitive food market, this guide walks you through every critical step from business planning and licensing to choosing the right equipment and location. Whether you’re a first-time entrepreneur or expanding into the deli space, this article will help you start strong.

2025 78

2025 Employee Relations Tip Distribution POS 78

SpotOn

MARCH 24, 2025

A reservation system lets guests book tables for large parties, making it easier for Uptown’s to prepare for and serve groups of 12-15. ”  When you’re serving large parties and covering a spacious restaurant, speed matters. ” It’s not just the front-of-house reaping the benefits.

Front of House 52

Front of House Customer Service Reservations POS 52

Lavu

JULY 11, 2025

These systems automatically sync orders between the front-of-house and kitchen, cutting down on wait times and miscommunication. This setup reduces peak-hour delays, allowing staff to serve customers quickly and without confusion. They ensure quicker service, minimize order mistakes, and support various payment methods.

POS 78

POS Management Management Mobile Ordering 78

7 Shifts

NOVEMBER 24, 2024

As the first and last point of contact for guests, a hostess sets the tone for every diner’s experience. Whether it’s managing reservations, coordinating with servers, or handling situations with grace, a skilled hostess brings a mix of warmth, professionalism, and operational expertise to the table.

Hospitality 195

Hospitality Seating Customer Experience Reservations 195

Modern Restaurant Management

MARCH 11, 2025

Whether it’s speeding up order times, improving inventory management, or boosting loyalty programs, every tool should serve a purpose. These changes have become permanent shifts in how they target customers, market themselves, and design their offerings." One of the biggest struggles for restaurants post-covid is staffing.

Loyalty Program 471

Loyalty Program Mobile Ordering Customer Experience Online Ordering 471

Modern Restaurant Management

MARCH 11, 2025

Even though local and state orders prohibiting or severely restricting restaurants’ ability to serve customers and generate and revenue, standard business liability policies did not provide coverage, and many policies had a pandemic exclusion. Landlord/Tenant Disputes : in my practice, I have seen a huge increase in lease disputes.

Mobile Ordering 418

Mobile Ordering Kitchen Safety Fine Dining Food Safety 418

QSR Automations

JANUARY 31, 2025

Bridging the Front and Back of House into a Seamless Restaurant Operation ConnectSmart Host is your ultimate front-of-house solution, offering smart table management, waitlist tracking, reservations, and guest communication tools. In the ever-changing world of hospitality, efficiency is the name of the game. The result?

Waste 52

Waste Front of House Operations Back of House 52

SpotOn

DECEMBER 30, 2024

These include rent, utilities, licenses, equipment, repairs, credit card processing fees—anything that's not labor or COGS. We all know it. Restaurant profit margins are pretty low. But not entirely because of inflation, labor shortages, and high food costs. Generally, a good profit margin for restaurants is 10% or higher.

Operations 52

Operations Loyalty Program Online Ordering POS 52

EATER

JANUARY 31, 2025

Chef Tyler Florence serves meals to first responders in Los Angeles. Within a day, World Central Kitchen helped to mobilize a cohort of Los Angeles-based chefs to serve residents impacted by the fires. Like so much that week, things quickly and repeatedly changed.

Food Truck 290

Food Truck Small Business Point of Sale Back of House 290

Perfect Daily Grind

JULY 4, 2025

The new printer is capable of high-quality resolution of up to 1200 x 1200 dots per inch, and can print across the front, back, sides, and bottom of coffee bags. With the new equipment, MTPak Coffee now offers a minimum order quantity of 200 pieces and a one-week turnaround time after design approval. lb over the next 15 months.

Pricing 77

Pricing Café 2025 2024 77

Lavu

MAY 2, 2025

Managing food allergens isnt just a best practiceits a legal and safety necessity for todays restaurants. With increasing awareness of food allergies, allergen management in POS systems has become essential to ensure customer safety and streamline kitchen operations. This reduces the chance of errors or miscommunication.

Allergens 78

Allergens POS Management Management 78

Modern Restaurant Management

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Restaurants have been pivoting to reach and serve customers in new ways, and retailers have been seeing the lines blur between brick and mortar and e-commerce. . In this edition of MRM News Bites, we feature real-time data on consumer behavior and the move to #cutoutcutlery. SpotOn Secures $60M Funding. SpotOn Transact, Inc.

Serving 517

Serving White Paper Food Recycling 517

Modern Restaurant Management

NOVEMBER 15, 2021

Today’s restaurants face obstacles on many fronts. Restaurant managers will need to identify and implement training solutions that accelerate onboarding and equip new employees to positively impact the bottom line as quickly as possible. Simplify Front of House Processes. Optimize Food Safety Protocols.

Training 489

Training Front of House Food Safety Back of House 489

Modern Restaurant Management

JULY 15, 2021

To have a successful restaurant, the owner or manager must be skilled at managing both front-of-house and back-of-house functions. To help increase these profit margins, restaurant owners sometimes focus more on changes they can make to front-of-house, such as increasing their prices or boosting liquor sales.

Front of House 450

Front of House Back of House Seasonal Menu Food Order 450

Modern Restaurant Management

AUGUST 29, 2022

Leveraging a physical-digital-physical framework ensures that restaurant management is maximizing their digital assets, human labor, and capital equipment investments. Today, the sophistication of IoT technology available to the restaurant sector is at an all-time high. —so the data can be leveraged to identify areas of risk.

Operations 473

Operations Food Safety Kitchen Safety Front of House 473

Modern Restaurant Management

DECEMBER 30, 2022

Automating the Front of House. Front-of-house staff can be hard to recruit, are less tenured, and have high turnover. Ongoing staffing challenges have led restaurants to embrace technology solutions, especially for front of house roles. Redefining the Role of the Manager.

Technology 520

Technology Front of House 2023 Cash Management 520

Modern Restaurant Management

MARCH 30, 2021

This will enable operators to establish non-traditional gratuity pools that can now be used to create higher wages for back-house staff such as line cooks, dishwashers and janitorial without increasing their operational labor spend. .” per hour when you can schedule one dishwasher, and require front-house employees (on the tipped $2.13

Tip Distribution 520

Tip Distribution Front of House Technology Back of House 520

Modern Restaurant Management

MARCH 1, 2022

Even with this good news for restaurant operators, many challenges still remain – particularly around staffing in both the front and back of the house. The landscape of the restaurant industry has changed forever due to Covid and the operational complexities that the pandemic introduced. And according to Technomic, Inc.,

Front of House 576

Front of House Loyalty Program Back of House Training 576

Modern Restaurant Management

MARCH 24, 2023

Training your staff in best practices for serving gluten-free dishes is one of the best proactive measures you can take to avoid such conflicts, as well as to demonstrate your commitment to ensuring the safety of gluten-free diners. Meeting the needs of gluten-free consumers also extends beyond the front of the house.

Training 449

Training Front of House Kitchen Safety Allergens 449

Modern Restaurant Management

JUNE 23, 2022

Consumers visit a fast food or quick serve restaurant (QSR) with a goal in mind: secure a tasty meal incredibly quickly. Technology has permeated the quick serve restaurant industry and job functions – from point of sale (POS) to complying with food safety standards. Who makes the magic happen?

Food 474

Food Food Safety Front of House Fast Casual 474

Modern Restaurant Management

JANUARY 24, 2022

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. Hospitality is greater than the sum of its parts.

Technology 558

Technology Front of House Back of House Online Ordering 558

Modern Restaurant Management

SEPTEMBER 14, 2022

You are sitting in your favorite restaurant and have placed an order on a tablet at your table. After a few seconds of placing the order, a notification appears on your messaging app. Ding* ‘Your order is being prepared by Chef Bot 19 and will be delivered to your table in approximately 19 minutes. Let’s Start With the Why.

Front of House 528

Front of House Mobile Ordering Loyalty Program Back of House 528

Modern Restaurant Management

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

Restaurateurs are facing a herculean effort just to produce and serve great food in this environment. Contactless ordering and payment involve a significant change in front-of-house operations for your guests and your staff. But we also want to deliver a hospitable experience because we know that’s what guests crave.

Hospitality 576

Hospitality Ordering Front of House Customer Experience 576

Modern Restaurant Management

JULY 23, 2024

In addition to more wide-ranging compliance requirements like general health & safety guidelines and local labor laws, there are food and beverage-specific safety regulations , requirements for specialty licenses (such as those to serve alcohol), and unique stipulations on labor compliance, many related to the employment of minors.

Restaurant Law 508

Restaurant Law Employee Relations Kitchen Safety Customer Experience 508

Modern Restaurant Management

JULY 15, 2021

General managers, owners, chefs, and front-of-house must now rely more heavily on digital tools in the restaurant. ” A new episode of The Main Course , our podcast series with MarketScale, is served up every Tuesday and Thursday. “I’m really impressed with the way restaurants have adapted. .

Front of House 493

Front of House Fast Casual Mobile Ordering Fine Dining 493

Modern Restaurant Management

JULY 22, 2020

At the same time, restaurant owners may be concerned about the time, expense, and profitability of serving gluten-free dishes. Myth #1: Serving a Gluten-Free Menu Is Too Expensive. You will also need to invest in a few pieces of dedicated equipment like toasters and cutting boards.

Serving 427

Serving Food Truck Front of House Loyalty Program 427

Modern Restaurant Management

FEBRUARY 15, 2022

With a critically shrunken talent pool, restaurants are racing to fill positions in every part of the business — front of house, back of house, and corporate teams. Across the United States, businesses are suffering from unprecedented staffing shortages in the aftermath of COVID.

Technology 563

Technology Loyalty Program Fast Casual Email Marketing 563

Modern Restaurant Management

DECEMBER 22, 2022

Miso Robotics provides intelligent automation solutions for foodservice that solve some critical back-of-house kitchen operations. With our partnerships, we’ve had the opportunity to create, pilot, and implement more automated solutions that are ideal to serve the needs of our partners. Across the U.S.,

2023 471

2023 Front of House Back of House 2022 471

Modern Restaurant Management

APRIL 9, 2024

Restaurants know this, and it’s why they are focused on connecting the back and front of the house. We’ve seen this trend take off at many quick-serve or fast-casual chains, where displays and screens provide entertainment value for patrons as they wait for their meals or decide if they are staying for dessert.

2024 508

2024 Mobile Ordering Front of House Back of House 508