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You can have a crowd-pleasing menu, loyal regulars, and a packed dining roomand still watch your margins disappear. Too many restaurant menus are built on intuition and aesthetics, not real numbers. What Is Menu Engineering and Why Should You Care? Because not every dish thats popular is profitable.
Amid these potential disruptions, operators need a fresh approach to managing food costs. Extreme Weather: By 2035, experts predict that higher temperatures alone will push up worldwide food prices by between 0.9 To keep food costs under control, real-time insights are key. percent annually. Think of it as an adaptable tool.
Create a SpecialMenu. Design a prix fixe or specialsmenu that’s festive for the holiday. Customers are looking for something to celebrate and be excited for, so making your menu reflect this will help mark the day and add to the specialness. Why not offer your specials for the weekend or a week?
Successfully navigating fluctuating food costs, especially with volatile ingredients like eggs, requires a multi-faceted approach, Mike Stasko Jr., What are the best practices for dealing with food costs for recipes when necessary items are fluctuating in price? How can you avoid rising prices on egg-focused menu items?
Many restaurant operators have misconceptions about average order volume (AOV) and how it works, making statements like: I need more customers to make more money. For example, lets say you have 50 orders in a day that total $2,000 in revenueall you need to do is divide the total revenue by how many orders you have for the day.
Improve Seasonal Menu Offerings When it comes to the holidays, consumers love to tuck into festive favorites. It’s the perfect season for experimenting with new menu items that align with previous seasonal trends. On the other hand, no restaurant wants to risk overordering.
Around 33 to 40 percent of food goes to waste each year. A large chunk of that comes down to complex problems in global food supply chain management that most restaurants have little control over. What restaurants can do, however, is re-think how their direct food supply is managed – from transport to inventory control.
When youre updating your online menu or online ordering system, its tempting to just copy over the dish names from your restaurant menu and call it a day. Well-written menu descriptions dont just tell guests whats in a dish; they entice customers, set the tone for your brand, and can increase sales.
Menu pricing isnt just about covering costsits about finding that sweet spot where profitability, customer perception, and operational reality meet. Somewhere in between is the number that makes sense for your food costs, your market, and your restaurants unique position. Set prices too low, and youre leaving money on the table.
Keeping menus updated across various online ordering systems and third-party delivery apps can feel like a never-ending game of catch-up. Manually updating menus across multiple online ordering channels is tedious, time-consuming, and prone to mistakes. What is Menu Management Software?
While there was a brief dip in consumer awareness of menu price increases in late 2024, the spring of 2025 has seen a moderate rise, affecting dining habits and consumer perceptions of value. “With rising prices tied to eggs and imported goods, restaurants will need to think creatively about their menus,” Fink said.
This will also allow the operator to concentrate on the operational and menu aspects, ensuring that both customer service and menu innovation remain exceptional and continuously evolving. People are looking for authenticity and transparency, so highlighting where your ingredients come from or how food is made can go a long way.
This "Super" special edition of Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine's Research Roundup has a Super Bowl theme. MVP Menu Performances More than 200 million people tuned in to the Super Bowl last year—many with a plate of wings in front of them. Toast analyzed data from restaurants on Sunday, Feb.
A growing number of chefs are shifting their attention to independent operations that focus on foods with wider appeal that need a commitment to excellence. Cheese should be from a local or regional cheesemaker and let the customer know where it came from and why its so special. Everybody loves food that you can hold in your hands.
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. That’s where the NEXT Flavor Report comes in.
Remember when guests used to walk in, grab a menu, and browse through every page? Now, they're on their phones before they arrive, checking your reviews, looking at food photos, and getting recommendations based on their past orders. Let's put this in restaurant terms.
Nowadays, running a successful restaurant takes more than great food and good service. Another way to get local backlinks is from local news articles, food bloggers, or restaurant directories to boost your visibility in search results. Make sure to add high-quality photos of your food, interior, and staff.
In this column, Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine looks at newly introduced menu items from top brands. Sweetgreen launched Green January, an opportunity for customers to jumpstart a healthy routine in the new year through real, fresh food. SONIC® Drive-In is introducing a new Under $2 Craves menu. Golden Menu.
Restaurants continue to face labor and supply chain issues, plus rising food costs. Review and Revise Your Menu Offerings. Before Restaurant Week kicks off, craft a menu that is friendly to both your bottom line and your customers. Offer Easy Online Ordering. And that’s not different during Restaurant Week.
Foot traffic or heat mapping, menu item engagement, or consumer demographics by time of day. Restaurants are already experimenting with using AI to handle drive through orders to allow human employees to focus on customer interactions in the restaurant.
In this guide, youll learn how to use ChowNow tools along with a handful of other effective strategies to increase order volume, boost your current customer traffic, and grow your overall sales. Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to stay top-of-mind with customers and remind them its time to order again from your restaurant.
And no, increasing restaurant sales doesn’t mean turning your restaurant staff into pushy upsellers trying to squeeze a few extra dollars out of every order. Create Limited-Time Offers That Drive Action Limited-time offers (LTOs) give potential customers a reason to order now, not later.
The right promotion at the right time can reignite business, whether that means a packed dining room on a slow weekday or reconnecting with loyal customers who havent ordered in a while. Are you trying to increase your direct online ordering ? If youve got a big outdoor patio, maybe a summer evening special event is the best move.
Are you doing all the right thingsserving amazing food, delivering top-notch service, crafting perfectly balanced drinksbut the tables still arent filling up like they should? The problem isnt your food or serviceits visibility and customer engagementand were going to help you fix that. Upload high-quality photos.
A well-crafted email can remind a past guest to stop by again, encourage reservations for a new seasonal menu, or even boost online orders with a limited-time discount. A well-timed email with a special offer, new menu item, or exclusive promotion can be the nudge they need to place another order.
How do you handle multiple tables and orders at once? What would you do if a customer tried to use an expired coupon or special offer? How would you recommend menu items to guests to enhance their dining experience? Have you ever handled a situation where a customer asked for a dish not on the menu? What did you do?
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.
Every online order, email sign up, and reward program interaction generates valuable insightsbut if that data just sits there, youre missing a major opportunity. Think about it: What if you could automatically send a special offer to a customer who hasnt ordered in a while? Restaurants collect a ton of customer data.
The magnetism of the kitchen dates to those early days of growing up in a home where food played an important role, not as much as some, but enough to leave an indelible mark on my life. I think, even if these items weren’t on a menu, I would find a way to bring them into the fold.
Known for their health-conscious menu and convenient prepared meal options, the restaurant has built a loyal following of locals looking for food that fits into their busy lives. Pricing and menu control were constant issues. It was hard to update your menu through some third-party services.
If this means deleting menu items, don't be afraid to do it. Maybe the menu item needs a better menu description. If there is a menu item listed as "Roasted Turnips," it may not be a top seller. Good words sell food. It's incredible how quickly a menu item sells simply by changing the location.
Whether through supporting local charities or participating in food drives, local restaurants can become go-to places for customers who want to support their community. Add high-quality photos and videos regularly, posting as soon as new dishes are added to your menu. Use local keywords in your social media posts, too.
By analyzing customer preferences, dining habits, and feedback, AI chatbots can send personalized messages to engage customers with new menu items, exclusive offers, and meal recommendations. Automated Ordering AI-powered chatbots can handle customer orders, reducing the need for human intervention.
Whether that be via restaurant operations, menu improvements, or services, there are quite a few criteria that restaurant owners constantly juggle to create the perfect balance. Below are six best practices to implement so you can improve the efficiency of your restaurant or food service operation: 1. Reduce Your Food Waste.
A bar is a profitable business option if you’re looking to enter the food industry. Start by tracking all the income your bar generates, including sales from drinks, food, and any additional services. On the other hand, for lower-cost items like beer, you can bundle or offer happy hour specials to drive more volume and profit.
Before you ask or expect your team to be accountable, demonstrate it by following through on your commitments and openly addressing mistakes when they happen, whether it’s a scheduling oversight or a missed inventory order. ” Instead of: "Follow proper food safety procedures."
With the Super Bowl and March Madness coming up, restaurant owners should be preparing now in order to capitalize on the influx of online orders. Use data to identify popular menu items and promote them during the Super Bowl to drivesales. This can help increase sales and also encourage repeat business.
Are your regulars ordering the same drink and entree every time they come in? An easy way to collect customer emails is through your online ordering system. 1) Pop-Up Collaborations Partner with other local businesses, like a bakery, brewery, coffee shop, roastery, or food truck, for exclusive menu items or drinks.
2020 threw unprecedented challenges our way, causing chaos throughout the food and beverage industries. In order to survive, restaurants needed to rethink the way they do business with many turning to technology to keep them afloat. Go All Out with Online Ordering. Digitize Your Menu. Build Strong Virtual Relationships.
Independent restaurants have always been cornerstones of community, providing anything from comfort foods to places to unwind, but despite their vital role in society, adapting to the challenges continues to be a struggle. Embracing innovation without losing the personal touch that makes independent restaurants special. The challenge?
If youre one of the thousands of restaurants that added online food delivery in recent years, you might be wondering: is it actually helping my business grow? These metrics give you a clear picture of your delivery performancefrom order volume and customer retention to delivery speed and profitability.
Introduction Hey there, fellow food enthusiast! Ever noticed how ordering your favorite meal has become as easy as pie? That’s the magic of online foodordering systems. The benefits of online foodordering system go beyond convenience. No more waiting on hold or repeating your order multiple times.
Everything from food to labor is getting more expensive, which means restaurant margins are tighter than ever. The right marketing strategy helps you get the most out of every dollar by increasing customer retention , boosting order volume, and encouraging repeat visits. Even if your food is incredible, youre not operating in a vacuum.
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.
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