2024

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2024 Outlook: Restaurant Trends and Challenges, Part Three

Modern Restaurant Management

Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine asked restaurant industry experts for their views on what trends and challenges owners and operators can expect to see in 2024. Read the first part, here. For the second part, click here. QSRs Shift Focus from Slow-Paced Dining to Swift, Transactional Experiences Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) are reimagining their dining spaces to prioritize speed, convenience, and personalization over traditional, slow-paced dining experiences.

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What Women Want: A Place to Watch the Game

EATER

A Bar of Their Own opened in Minneapolis March 1. Sports bars that center women’s sports are opening across the country — and doing big business “I was sick of always feeling like an afterthought in fandom when it came to public spaces to view sports,” says Jillian Hiscock, the owner of A Bar of Their Own, a sports bar focused on women’s sports which opened in Minneapolis March 1.

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Like Mother, Like Daughter: Love of Cooking Transcends Generations

SpotOn

Since the age of 7, Dayana Salazar has aspired to be like her mom, Veronica. That's a fitting start since young Veronica also wanted to be like her mom. Along with her 11 siblings, Veronica grew up in her family's restaurant, Caldos Rivera Antojitos Mexicanos, in 1980s Mexico City. Caldos Rivera Antojitos Mexicanos was a family affair, as each child played a role.

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With 'Cookie Wars' settled, Dirty Dough joins Craveworthy Brands' portfolio

Restaurant Business

The trademark lawsuit made famous on social media is now officially over. Now Dirty Dough's new managing partner has plans for growth that could bring the stuffed cookies to grocery aisles.

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Recruit and Retain New Blue-Collar Talent

Blue-collar jobs have a branding problem. One company, GEON, partnered with Paycor to find the solution. Learn how to attract, engage, and retain blue-collar employees, helping them build meaningful careers – and support your company’s goals.

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Professional Services Consultant: Revel Employee Spotlight

Revel Systems

Meet Professional Services Consultant Josh Starkey Get to know some of the best and brightest at Revel Systems® in our recurring “People POS” question-and-answer series. Our previous spotlight featured Kotryna Anilionyte , a talent acquisition specialist based at our European headquarters in Vilnius, Lithuania.

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Is the Customer Always Right?

Modern Restaurant Management

A new study challenging the long-standing mantra “the customer is always right" determined that to better support employee mental health, restaurant operators should have clear policies stating that customers' uncivil behavior will not be tolerated. “For decades, a customer could be uncivil, angry, yelling or just plain wrong, and employees were expected to deal with it because it was just part of the business.

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Reskilling, Retention and Robotics: Creative Solutions to the Restaurant Labor Shortage

Modern Restaurant Management

The restaurant industry has always been dynamic and challenging, but the labor shortage has pushed it to a critical juncture. Establishments are grappling with a complex crisis characterized by empty seats in dining areas and behind the scenes, where a shortage of skilled workers is keenly felt. To revitalize the workforce and enhance operational efficiency, it is imperative that we boldly explore innovative solutions across reskilling, retention, and robotics.

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Restaurants Can Score Big for the Super Bowl

Modern Restaurant Management

In a few weeks, bars and restaurants will be filled with hungry and thirsty football fans celebrating their favorite team. Now is the time to get your plays in order to be a winner this Super Bowl Sunday. Themed Menus for the Win : Want to show support for this year’s best teams? Provide special menu options from the cities the contenders hail from – a Philly Cheesesteak if the Eagles make it or a Cuban for Miami.

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Adopting Tech Solutions Is the Smartest Decision Restaurants Can Make

Modern Restaurant Management

Sweetgreen implemented tech solutions to improve their operations, boost sustainability , and personalize customers’ experiences. Chick-fil-A and Starbucks launched apps that make their consumers’ journeys more convenient, efficient, and enjoyable. Hot Palette Holdings uses AI to improve their forecasting, optimize inventory, and reduce waste.

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Recruit and Retain New Blue-Collar Talent

Blue-collar jobs have a branding problem. One company, GEON, partnered with Paycor to find the solution. Learn how to attract, engage, and retain blue-collar employees, helping them build meaningful careers – and support your company’s goals.

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From Consumption to Connection: Restaurant Promotion Trends for 2024

Modern Restaurant Management

At the beginning of the year, we like talking about trends. They seem like anchors for the new year. Trends create frameworks to understand where to start and what to focus on. I want to highlight trends in restaurant promotion for 2024. We will discuss how to build customer communication and what aspects to prioritize to make your establishment stand out and thrive.

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Survey Says: Restaurateurs Are Making Expansion Plans

Modern Restaurant Management

Will 2024 be a comeback year for restaurants? Despite challenges including inventory costs, commission fees and staff turnover, many restaurant owners are expressing optimism about moving forward, according to TouchBistro’s 2024 State of Restaurants Report. Ninety-four percent of operators are planning some form of expansion and more than half of the 600 U.S full service restaurants surveyed plan to introduce catering services.

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Growing a Restaurant Strategically – The Keys Are Alignment, Timing and Control

Modern Restaurant Management

Ambitious restaurateurs often want to expand quickly to capitalize on initial success. However, rapid growth without an intentional strategy frequently erodes quality, culture and profits over time. Sustainable restaurant expansion requires balancing excitement with patience and perspective. There’s an art to scaling any small business intelligently.

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Dining in the Digital Age

Modern Restaurant Management

As traffic slows, how do restaurant operators keep and capture customers? By cracking the code of restaurant app usage, according to Revenue Management Solutions (RMS). The data analytics firm did some decoding by asking 330-plus restaurant consumers what app features were most valuable – and what turned them away. ( Cracking the Code of Restaurant App Usage, November 2023 ) What Customers Value RMS segmented respondents by generation, and while preferences varied, all ages placed the most

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Top 5 Ways to Optimize Your Loyalty Strategy

Speaker: Lauren Barash, Vice President, Brand Marketing

In an ever-evolving industry, building and retaining loyal customers is critical to the success of any restaurant business. Join Lauren Barash, VP of Brand Marketing at Full Course, as she delves into the world of restaurant loyalty programs, and reveals the top five essential strategies to optimize your approach! This webinar will explore: Loyalty trends and what you should be focusing on 📊 Actionable insights and ideas to help you develop the most powerful and effective loyalty program

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Five Strategies to Leverage User-Generated Content in Your Brand’s Journey

Modern Restaurant Management

Looking around the lively atmosphere of any restaurant, there are no doubt patrons capturing and sharing fun memorable moments. These genuine snapshots—when shared on social media—can help paint an authentic picture of your business, and create a powerful word-of-mouth effect. This type of user-generated content (UGC) has emerged as a key tool in the digital marketing landscape, offering brands a genuine and engaging way to connect with their target audiences.

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The Power of Ranch

Modern Restaurant Management

Did you know that a plumber from Alaska is responsible for one of the most beloved condiments in the U.S.? The story of ranch dressing dates back to the 1940s when Steven Henson thought up the buttermilk and herb concoction. After purchasing the Hidden Valley dude ranch, he started selling his dressing and its popularity grew from there. According to a 2021 survey conducted by YouGov , ranch is the most popular salad dressing in the United States, with 51 percent of respondents indicating that t

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Welcome the Year of the Dragon With Dragon’s Beard Candy

EATER

Jimmy Pan doing his thing. | Photo courtesy of Jimmy Pan. Photo-illustration by Lille Allen Dragon’s beard candy is a staple of Chinese and Lunar New Year celebrations, but in the U.S. and Canada, a generation of candymakers are determining the best way to pass the difficult art to a new generation Even as a kid with severely limited patience, I knew the dragon’s beard candy from Jimmy Pan’s cart was worth the wait.

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Could Surge Pricing Actually Make Fast Food Better?

EATER

Getty Images Probably not, but Wendy’s thinks so Have you ever been eating a cheeseburger and fries, procured from a drive-thru, and wondered “Wow, I wish I could pay even more for this incredibly mediocre lunch?” If so, you’re in luck! Fast food chain Wendy’s has announced plans to test “dynamic pricing” at its locations across the country, beginning in 2025.

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2024 Restaurant Spending Trends to Stay Ahead of the Curve

How do you stay on top of what your customers are expecting when they step through your doors? Do you know what’s on their mind? How are you going to account for what they’re planning on doing months from now? As we head into 2024, price-related issues are still top-of-mind for restaurant customers after the inflation boom earlier this year. In this new report, we give you the latest insights on consumer spending trends, attitudes on tipping, and how you can respond.

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Restaurants Can Now Call Themselves ‘Palestinian’ on Google

EATER

Food at Ayat, a Palestinian restaurant. | Adam Friedlander/Eater NY After years of requests, Google now lists “Palestinian” as a restaurant category, instead of just “Middle Eastern” The ability to accurately describe one’s restaurant is of the utmost importance to restaurateurs. But for years, Google — a crucial source for business listings — did not include “Palestinian” as a restaurant category, despite allowing restaurants to use “Israeli,” “Lebanese,” and other country-based descriptors.

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How Food Stylists on ‘Feud’ Brought La Côte Basque Back to Life

EATER

A dessert tray on the Feud set. | Tamara Reynolds On “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans,” being seen lunching is everything. We spoke to food stylist Tamara Reynolds about creating the restaurant — and meals — at the center of that world. There is a reason Truman Capote titled his thinly veiled exposé of New York City’s society women and their secrets “ La Côte Basque.

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Why Does ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ Still Celebrate Toxic Chef Culture?

EATER

FOX Image Collection via Getty I After 22 seasons, Gordon Ramsay’s show remains a safe space for unhinged workplace aggression There’s a point in most Hell’s Kitchen episodes where Gordon Ramsay stops dinner service. There’s a problem: The beef Wellington is raw. Or the scallops are raw. Or the salmon is raw. It upsets Ramsay so much that he’s forced to chuck the beef against a wall or punch the salmon, the full force of his fist making raw fish shards fly everywhere.

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Noodles & Company names Drew Madsen CEO, plots menu overhaul

Restaurant Business

The former Panera Bread president has served on the board and was interim CEO since November. He has launched a return to roots, aiming to embrace an identity as a culinary comfort kitchen.

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Win More in 2024: Your Guide to Restaurant Marketing Success

Your Guide to Restaurant Marketing Success Start maximizing ROI and doing more with less with Olo’s ultimate guide to restaurant marketing. In this guide: Strategies to level up in 4 key areas: data, audiences, content distribution, and loyalty Interactive checklists to help you track your progress throughout the year Tips for leveraging guest data across your entire business What you’ll learn: Level 1 | Beginner: Learn how to collect guest data, build a healthy subscriber list, launch personali

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These are the big menu trends to watch in 2024

Restaurant Business

After scouring dozens of end-of-year industry reports, we gathered the predictions that rose to the top. Here’s what the forecasters say will most impact menus and operations in the year ahead.

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Subway pushes its franchisees to remodel their restaurants

Restaurant Business

CEO John Chidsey told operators this week that they should remodel their locations or get out of the system. And he told franchisees who have remodeled to put some pressure on those who haven’t.

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The National Restaurant Association's new chairman has a mission, and you're part of it

Restaurant Business

Jeff Lobdell, president of Michigan-based Restaurant Partners Management, believes that greater industry unity is key for restaurants to overcome the various issues they face.

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James Beard Foundation launches campaign to speed federal action on climate change

Restaurant Business

The chef-led initiative underscores climate impact on independent restaurants based on research from José Andrés’ Global Food Institute at The George Washington University.

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Unlock Restaurant Success: Mastering 7 Vital Employment Laws

As a restaurant leader, your plate is full with responsibilities, from staff management to serving up delicious dishes. But amidst the hustle, there's a crucial area you can't afford to overlook – employment laws. In this comprehensive eBook, we'll unveil the seven essential employment laws every restaurant leader must master. We'll break down the intricacies of each law, showing you how it directly impacts your business.

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Chipotle boosts benefits for its Gen Z workforce

Restaurant Business

The fast-casual Mexican restaurant chain announced a series of financial and mental wellness benefits as it ramps up hiring for what it calls "burrito season.

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As CosMc's takes off, McDonald's operators want a piece of the action

Restaurant Business

The Bottom Line: But where that action should take place is the question. Many operators believe the brand should be a testing ground for McDonald's own beverage program.

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Meghan Markle Returns to Her Lifestyle Maven Throne

EATER

Photo by Gary Miller/Getty Images The Duchess of Sussex may soon start selling you marmalade and kitchen towels If you are living under a rock, you might not be aware that the British royal family is mired in chaos at the moment. In the midst of King Charles’s cancer diagnosis and the swirling conspiracy theories surrounding the “missing” Princess Kate, who’s scarcely been seen in public since Christmas 2023, self-exiled royal Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex and wife of Prince Harry, is hop