Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Today's Specials:

USER EXPERIENCE: Don't Be a Restaurant One-Night Stand

Tired of guests hitting your seats only to never visit you again? You may be missing some clear signs that you have problems affecting your guests' experience. Discover the red flags rethink your approach to customer mistakes.

DID YOU KNOWs…

Wendy’s Shades McDonald’s

You don’t want to get in the way of Wendy’s Twitter account. Just recently Wendy’s called out McDonald’s on Twitter after the announcement that McDonald’s will switch to using unfrozen beef. Wendy’s had a few things to say about the topic. Click here to see.

.@McDonalds So you’ll still use frozen beef in MOST of your burgers in ALL of your restaurants? Asking for a friend.
— Wendy's (@Wendys) March 30, 2017

The internet never rests...

@Wendys @McDonalds pic.twitter.com/nDVetkL2bP
— GifJif (@GifJifApp) March 30, 2017

Scar-Jo Loves Chefs

Scarlet Johansson revealed that she secretly has a crush on celebrity chefs, specifically Gordon Ramsay and Anthony Bourdain. The actress said she’s attracted to both chefs for different reasons. It’s all about taste.

April Fools’ in Food

April Fools’ Day was last Saturday, and food brands took advantage of the trickery with posting pranks on social media. Here are 11 brands that kept us guessing over the weekend. Oreo is the clear winner.

PEOPLE PAYING TO WORK FROM YOUR RESTAURANT

Why it matters to you: a new industry trend may make lunch shifts much more profitable.

Many operators are still trying to combat the slow mid-day lunch shifts that often generate little profit. A few restaurants are jumping on a new trend that transforms their establishment into an office space during day-hours. A start-up company called Spacious Inc. looks to help working professionals find a reliable working environment with internet, cell reception and available seating. In return for converting restaurants into a day-time office space, they receive a new source of revenue during the work day.

The restaurant industry has struggled with lunch sales for quite some time and the rising rent costs are only making matters worse. Converting their space into a usable area for professionals to work is a great way to boost revenue. Especially noteworthy, is the fact that people working are welcomed to order food and drinks for an opportunity to make further profit. The only negative to the office-restaurant environment is that according Bloomberg, due to high turnover some establishments still may not be able to afford the astronomical rent increases in New York. Many restaurants have seen success from partnering with Spacious Inc. and is expanding.

DOES BANNING KIDS BUILD PROFIT?

Why it matters to you: what can we learn from the North Carolina restaurant that banned kids?

In the past, we’ve discussed the controversy of banning kids from dining in restaurants. A restaurant in North Carolina is facing backlash after the owner made a policy that bans kids under the age of five. The “classy and intimate” establishment told the local paper that allowing kids in their restaurant caused them to lose both money and customers. However, now that kids have been banned, the restaurant is now doing better than ever. They’ve seen a “dramatic increase” in reservations from roughly 50 to now 80 per day.

The process of banning children from restaurants is viewed a few ways. Critics call it “discrimination” whereas supporters believe the policy makes for a more comfortable dining experience. It becomes difficult to make a distinction between fine-dining restaurants and family-oriented ones. If banning children from eating at your restaurant seems too aggressive, yet you’re trying to target an older demographic; some restaurants have seen success with not offering kid-friendly menu options. Therefore, the restaurant provides a subtle hint that they’re looking to attract a specific type of customer.

MOST REASONABLE CUSTOMERS

Why it matters to you: some guests can be really great for a variety of reasons.

Working in the restaurant industry, we meet all types of customers. Most often we talk about the most difficult customers that come into our restaurants featuring horror stories. This week we’re exploring the other side, great customers. Thrillist recently featured an article describing stories of restaurant customers who might be saints. On the list of anecdotes was one of a woman finding a caterpillar in her salad and not losing her cool. Others include customers that have treated everyone to drinks or have tipped very generously.

While most of the time we ramble on about how annoying guests can be but sometimes there are truly great ones. The most understanding guest most likely have worked in the restaurant industry and fully understand the process. One of the great aspects of working in restaurants is the caliber and amount of people we meet on a day-to-day basis and just how unique each interaction could actually be. Many times these interaction can be easily overlooked.