June 9, 2016

Today's Specials

NICE GUYS FINISH LAST

With twenty-eight years as a professional cook and chef, several best-sellers and multiple food/travel shows under his belt, Anthony Bourdain has seen his fair share of the restaurant life and culture. He sat down with Adweek recently to answer a bunch of questions ranging from show promotion to his thoughts on latest restaurant trends. As always, he had a lot of interesting things to say, but we pulled the highlights for you.

We especially liked his comments on the cry to boycott Chick-fil-A and the rise of Youtube food stars.

DOMAIN TO GO (Sponsored by .Bar & .Rest)

Why it’s important to you: Your domain name is a critical piece of your digital identity

Let’s face it. Having a super long website domain is a sure way for guests to not remember it. And there are are some pretty long URLs out there, especially in our industry. If you want guests to remember how to find you on the web, you want a clean URL that’s short and memorable.

Fortunately for bars and restaurants, there are two new domains perfect for creating a short & memorable URL — .bar & .rest. Don't undervalue the benefit of a good website domain. Be sure to take the survey, too, to let the registry know what you think!

Did you knows…

HOUSING COSTS

The hourly wage needed to afford the rent on a two bedroom apartment is $20.30. That is almost triple the Federal minimum wage and 30% more than the average hourly wage nationally ($15.42).

The map was provided by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) and it shows quite clearly that the cost of housing is far outpacing what people earn on average.

CRUSTACEAN CONTRACT

Legal Sea Foods is attempting to lure four-time NBA scoring champion Kevan Durant to the Boston Celtics by offering him an endless supply of king crab legs. Why crab legs and not New England lobster? Durant’s a big crabs leg guy. We dig it… and we’re not just saying that ‘cause we’re from Boston.

SPORTS SCANDAL

Maria Sharapova joins an illustrious group of athletes that have been found to rely on performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). The tennis champion was suspended for two years after testing positive for a recently banned substance she took for a heart ailment. No question she is the among most high profile athletes to be suspended for the use of these banned substances.

We have compiled a list of our favorites. Here are our top five biggest cheats in recent sports history…

Photoshop from the Daily Sports Pages — Photoshop from the *Daily Sports Pages*

Alex Rodriguez got 211 games and it took the threat of losing the balance of his 300 million contract to get him to come clean… oh and a DEA investigation that also threatened to send him to jail.

Lance Armstrong got a lifetime ban from cycling along with having all seven of his Tour de France victories negated. He finally came clean in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

You might say that Jose Canseco’s book Juiced created the crisis in baseball that eventually caught A-Rod and many others in it’s web. When it was released, both his admissions and accusations were dismissed by the baseball establishment. Problem is, most of what included proved out to be the truth. Plus he is so damned entertaining.

Possibly the only thing Canadians have to actually apologize for.

When you are the fastest man alive, you probably have to do a lot to insure no one catches you. For Canadian Ben Johnson that wasn’t limited to special water aerobics or ballet. Just three days after winning the Olympic Gold in the 100m sprint, he tested positive for anabolic steroids.

Shawne Merriman's career could be described as lights out after he was busted for steroid use

If you remember Shawne Merriman, it’s because he was a total bad-ass with one of the best football nicknames ever, Lights Out. Unfortunately for his opponents, he achieved that nickname by using steroids and was suspended from the NFL’s San Diego Chargers in 2006. While he played six more seasons, he was never his Lights Out self, due to….injury?

SOMEBODY BRING ME SOME WATER [Song]

Why it’s important to you: Bottled water is a profit opportunity for your soft beverage program

Is it still a trend when it’s been happening for 15 years? A report from Beverage Marketing finds that consumption of bottled water increased 120% from 2000 – 2015. This growth occurred as consumption of carbonated beverages dropped by 16%. Bottled water has not only taken a bite out of soda, but is also seen as an alternative to juice, alcoholic beverages and even tap water, according to Beverage Marketing’s CEO, Michael Bellas.

Ok, so this where we say, “I told you so!”

In a blog we posted recently, we extolled the value of a thoughtful soft beverage program. Now is a great time to revisit your approach and take advantage of the dollar profits that water and other non-soda options present. You may remember our example. A soda that you charge $1.99 for costs you about 15 cents. Profit $1.84. A 16.9 oz bottle of Aqua Panna (awesome Italian still water from the San Pellegrino source) will cost you about 75 cents, but you will charge $3 for it. Profit of $2.25. Oh, and yeah there are no free refills. It might be time to suggest bottled water again as guests order their meals.

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

Why it’s important to you: No everyone can know just hard you work.

The amount of ignorance and misinformation about what it takes to succeed in our business is mountainous. We have all heard a guest say, “I would love to own a restaurant” and now they can… if they play SIMS 4 and buy the new pack called Dine Out. Imagine the joy of a guest managing an angry customer of their own after having just cleaned vomit from the bathroom, proceeded by managing a couple of no-call, no-shows for tonight’s shift. If you don’t know it, the SIMS is a virtual reality game where players can experience a simulated life with varying interactions with simulated characters.

The virtual restauranteurs will be responsible for “scolding staff” if they don’t perform well, train them to improve their work and even “show them the door” if they can’t be salvaged. After watching the trailer for Dine Out you can decide how much it resembles what you do every day. As we have told you in the past, you are a rock star and almost no one comprehends what you are responsible for daily. While this new pack for SIMS 4 maybe be a fun simulation, to be sure, the only thing they will miss is everything.

FRANK-LY SCARLET, I DON’T GIVE A DAMN

Why it’s important to you: Credit card fees are a hidden cost that has grown steadily as purchases with cash have dropped

In the wake of the 2008 market crash, congress passed the Dodd-Frank bill. The effectiveness of this bill has been debated ad nauseum, but there is no debate about one element: It regulates the way banks can charge their clients for services. Recently, the Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) told CNBC he wants to repeal Dodd-Frank because too much regulation of our banking system is stifling growth and hurting the economy.

If Dodd-Frank is repealed it will pave the way for banks to unilaterally raise the rates you get charged for credit card fees. Unsurprisingly, the advocates for our industry rose up in opposition of this thinking. The National Restaurant Association responded quickly along with the National Retailers Foundation, condemning even considering a repeal of Dodd-Frank. Laura Chadwick, director of commerce and entrepreneurship for the NRA, said in a statement, “This measure placed limits on the fees banks charge to process debit card transactions and injected a degree of competition, transparency and fairness where there was absolutely none before.”

It’s unlikely that a repeal effort will succeed, but be assured if it does, the basic costs of credit card transactions will go up. Given that as much as 80% of your sales are done on debit and credit cards, that could mean a big jump in your costs. As an aside, we couldn’t help but think Rep. Hensarling was either having fun on TV or couldn’t keep a straight face. Decide for yourself.