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With 59 percent of customers hanging up after calling in and waiting for a minute or less, according to Linga, restaurants are missing out on a lot of business. The most common asks are to make a reservation, ask a Frequently-Asked-Question (e.g., menu, hours, etc.), or place an order (for takeout).
Guests spending hundreds of dollars for a memorable meal and making reservations months in advance just to garner a seat. Out of season do something interesting with tomatoes (oven roasted, marinated, sun-dried tomato paste, etc.) Finally, take care to wrap this work of art correctly. Make the tomato an experience.
It’s about taking friction out of operations—so staff can spend more time focused on hospitality, not paperwork. AI Is the New Secret Sauce in Restaurant Operations First, let me take a moment to say – AI isn’t just ChatGPT or image generation. This isn’t about replacing people with machines.
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.
While it's crucial to stay informed, stepping back and allowing experts to take charge can be key to overcoming these challenges. 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.
Across the globe, and largely amongst younger age groups, more and more people are choosing to go out to eat by themselves. With solo dining on the rise globally, consumers are fundamentally changing the way they dine out. With solo dining on the rise globally, consumers are fundamentally changing the way they dine out.
Nowadays, running a successful restaurant takes more than great food and good service. With 90% of diners checking a restaurant online before visiting, you also need a strong online presence to attract and boost reservations. If your website isn’t optimized for mobile, you could be losing out on potential customers.
The right restaurant newsletter doesnt just share updates; it keeps customers invested in your brand, your menu, and your next move. Its your chance to turn casual diners into consistent regulars, promote new menu items before they even hit the table, and build a real sense of community around your restaurant.
In this guide, youll learn: Why restaurant apps matter in 2025 and how its the consumer driving the changes The different types of restaurant apps How to make the most of your own branded restaurant app and its many benefits Lets take a closer look at why every restaurant should use apps in 2025. Reservation and table management apps.
Here, co-owner, director of operations, and wine director Ryan Bailey explains what it was like taking over such a large restaurant. But what it did allow us to do was space out our tables 3-plus feet so guests felt comfortable dining indoors. On menu structure The old space was all consistently one menu.
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.
Valentine’s Day is often a busy time for restaurants, but many are now dealing with various challenges amid the pandemic, like no indoor dining or limited capacity as well as more customers opting for carry out. Make Your Menu the Main Course. Emailing or texting customers directly keeps your restaurant top of mind for customers.
Restaurants will also explore delivery options beyond costly third-party partnerships, and hike delivery menu prices to make the channel more lucrative as off-premise demand holds steady. Following are some of the major restaurant trends to watch out for in 2022. Simplified Menus. Health-Conscious Food Will Dominate Menus.
Too many missed reservations? A smart reservation and waitlist system can help. With a modern cloud-based POS, restaurants can streamline order taking, reduce human error, and improve the overall speed of service. Plus, their reliance on high fees forces restaurants to either raise menu prices or accept smaller profits.
If you don’t have a social media strategy for your restaurant , you’re missing out on potential revenue. A well-thought-out social media marketing strategy can earn you additional customers and increase your overall income. Don’t make patrons work to find out more information. But how do you get started?
Last Year, By the Numbers Whether you're celebrating a romantic evening out or opting for a cozy night in, one thing is clear—Valentine’s Day is big business for restaurants as diners splurge on premium meals, wine and desserts. percent of all bookings for Valentine’s Day so far this year, up from 7.2 percent in 2024.
New concepts, ghost kitchens, and delivery-only brands are popping up constantly, making it harder for any single restaurant to stand out. If your restaurant isnt showing up in search results, maintaining strong reviews , or engaging on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, youre missing out on a huge segment of potential diners.
percent menu-price inflation rate. With households increasingly treating dining out as a luxury, every menu item and service interaction becomes a potential make-or-break moment. Red Robin climbs 3 percent to 78 thanks in large part to its focus on menu and food. At the same time, U.S. chain sales grew just 3.1
Get Ready for Reservations (or Don’t). The first big decision you need to make for any major holiday is whether or not you’re going to accept reservations. For example, by accepting reservations you’ll allow a select few parties to skip the wait, ensuring that they’ll have a great spot and a great time.
Restaurants that rank higher in local search results get more foot traffic, online orders, and reservations. Fortunately, you can take steps to improve your ranking and that first critical step is filling out your Google Business Profile. Follow these steps: Stay calm and professional: Dont take it personally or argue.
From managing reservations at the host stand or firing orders straight to the kitchen from table side, tablets are changing the way restaurants run. To really get the most out of your tablets, you need to be strategic about how you choose them, use them, and train your staff. Lets break down what to look for in a restaurant tablet.
If you don’t stand out from the sea of options for diners, you may not bring enough guests through the door to stay afloat. Naturally engaging for the senses, videos attract attention in a sea of content, get diners interested in your menu, and encourage visitors. The restaurant industry is highly competitive.
Nine out of 10 people who own a smartphone use it for information regarding their location, which allows vendors to access relevant and timely data in a nonintrusive way. Promote Online Ordering and Reservations. Online menus are one of the best ways to utilize technology within a restaurant.
What diners first see: After clicking on your GBP in the sidebar, customers will see your restaurant listing, including photos, hours, reviews, contact information, your location, menu, and links to your restaurant website and online ordering system. Add high-quality photos. family-friendly,” “vegetarian options”) 2.
Many operators also noted that the cost of implementing new health and safety measures – such as providing PPE for staff and upgrading their HVAC systems – was another major expense that wiped out any revenue gains in 2021. In most cases, new menu offerings involved adding takeout and delivery options.
For a deeper dive into brand messaging, strategy, and authenticity, creating unified guest experiences, and the orchestration of physical and experiential touchpoints, Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine reached out to The Plaid Penguin’s Founder and Sir Idea Man Joe Haubenhofer. The work doesn’t stop with launch though.
With deep roots in the restaurant industry, we’ve worked with our clients to test a number of strategies to take on Restaurant Week as an opportunity to attract new customers. 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.
He visits your restaurant’s app and orders his favorite dish on the menu. Henry takes his phone, scans the QR code, and indicates that he’s arrived. Then they are guided to scan a QR code to access the menu. Speaking of the host stand, let’s take a deeper look at your guest and waitlist management technology.
For instance, at GoTo Foods, we’re taking a “four-wall” strategic approach, where our brands offer personalized messages and tailored experiences for customers within physical locations, creating a cohesive, omnichannel connection that extends beyond digital touchpoints.
On Valentine’s Day, restaurants fill up quickly with reservations from couples eager to spend a romantic night together. Create a Prix Fixe Menu. A prix fixe menu features a fixed multi-course meal that is served to all customers on a specific night, often for holidays like Christmas and Valentine’s Day.
These are tools that can help you streamline operations, easily schedule staff, and make sure you never run out of ingredients for your best-selling menu items. It allows AI to understand and respond to human language, which is how virtual assistants can answer customer questions or take online orders.
Having already adjusted to the rise of takeout and delivery, now restaurants are figuring out how to reopen for dine-in service while navigating social distancing and other health guidelines. But we have already seen how signs and banners have helped communicate takeout services over the past few months. The best part?
Still taking payments the old fashion way? " Using single-use, paper menus? Worse, paper menus don’t give you the ability to change things on the fly when food items run out. This Isn’t Your Father’s Digital Menu. Start off with your menu and focus on rebuilding your customer base.
Many cities and states have implemented lockdown rules, and there are new sets of policies and procedures to follow, from reduced capacity to take away only. Many restaurants are moving to family-style options, meal prep options, or even setting up a menu a la carte style. Take a look at what you have, and what you can provide.
Staff Appropriately When restaurants cut employees or reduce tables, they don’t end up with fewer expenses–they end up with burned-out, disgruntled team members who aren’t operating at their best. Consider enabling your employees to take specific actions from their phones, like checking their tips, schedules and payroll.
You can also use sales trends to adjust menu pricing and share customer-favorite menu items, helping you get the most out of high-demand dishes. Data can help you create a menu that contains more of your customers favorites so you can phase out underperforming dishes. Optimize your menu based on sales trends.
In this guide, youre going to learn: The key components of effective restaurant operations management Common challenges restaurant owners face (and how to solve them) Best practices to run a more efficient and profitable restaurant Lets explore what it takes to manage restaurant operations like a pro. What is Restaurant Operations Management?
One example is OpenAI’s Operator, a tool that can perform web-based tasks like making a restaurant reservation or ordering food from a delivery app. Edge computing “Computing that takes place at or near the physical location of either the user or the source of the data.” They are getting into restaurant reservations.
The menu, which includes the ever-popular fry bread taco, tells a story of connection, innovation, and respect for legacy and Indigenous culinary traditions. While it embodies resilience and survival, born out of government rations during forced relocations, not all Native people view it as a cherished tradition.
Customers can also be more hesitant to dine out as their everyday expenses are going up. We’ve come up with several tips that can help save your business money while improving it at the same time: Use technology to reduce labor costs : Through online management systems, waitlist kiosks, and QR codes that lead to your menu or website.
These challenges are impacting menu availability, raising the prices of menu items, leading to short staffs, increasing wait times for diners, and changing operating hours and offerings. Digital waitlists and reservations help consumers minimize wait times at restaurants to get seated sooner upon arrival.
” As consumers begin to eat out again when restaurants reopen, the question will be less about the food, and more so about what steps the restaurant has taken to ensure the health and safety of guests. We will also see a rise in use of virtual waitlist and reservation platforms across restaurants. Going Contactless.
In contrast, customers are entering 2023 with higher expectations for stellar experiences when they do choose to spend money on dining out. In the back of the house, AI can automatically anticipate inventory shortages and suggest quantities for restocking that are consistent with predicted reservations. Personalization with Data.
One such solution has been shrinking restaurant menus. This past year, 60 percent of restaurants reported reducing their menu size , citing a 23 percent drop in the number of items. A smaller menu might limit ordering options but not the ability for restaurants to wow their guests.
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