SOCIAL: How to Create Instagram-Friendly Restaurant Design
Research shows that 35% of diners have chosen to eat at a restaurant because they saw it on social media, with Instagram yielding 10% of that influence (and growing). Due to Instagram’s visual nature, many of its users tend to assess eateries based on their photographic appeal. As a result, many restauranteurs have begun designing their restaurants with Instagram in mind, and they’ve gotten it down to a science.
DID YOU KNOWS…
US Brewery Boom
The U.S. brewing scene took a long time to recover from prohibition and as recently as 1978, the country only had 89 breweries. As the following infographic shows, the recovery has been nothing short of spectacular with the bitter taste of 1970s flavor frustration giving way to a far milder frustration -- too much choice! After the craft beer boom really took hold over the past decade, the number of breweries has exploded, reaching 7,450 by 2018, according to The Brewers Association.
Comparing ’45 and ’18 Nukes
August 6 marks the day the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb named "Little Boy" on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, Nagasaki was also the target of an atomic bomb named "Fat Man." The first device had a 15 kiloton yield, equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT. The bomb dropped on Nagasaki was larger at 22 kilotons. Today's ballistic missiles are far more powerful with a yield of up to 800 kilotons.
Sacrifices Must Be Made
What would you do to catch a MLB foul ball? Would you be willing to shower your neighbors in chips and melted cheese? One Texas Rangers fan was more than willing. As a foul ball came near, he reached out with his baseball helmet full of chips and queso to catch the ball. He was successful, but at the expense of his fellow fans around him. Oof!
EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK FOR THE WIN
Why it matters to you: Mitigate management biases with digital management tools.
We all have natural biases that impact our decision making as restaurant managers. Unfortunately, those biases can sometimes influence decisions that affect your staff unfairly. However, that doesn’t have to be the case when you employ technology to help you manage your business. Take scheduling as an example. By using scheduling software that supports the way you deploy your labor, you can remove the impact of personal bias. Scheduling software that automatically assigns employees based on their availability and not manager preference can completely eliminate any of the favored choices made by individual managers for the staff they prefer.
Of course, that’s not the only place digital management tools can be used to address bias. For example, with a digital based communication tool, you can deliver direction and feedback while simultaneously allowing your team to communicate back to you. Anytime you lend voice to your staff you are going to dramatically impact your retention. The simple gesture of giving your team a way to provide constructive feedback to you on their job satisfaction or concerns, demonstrates to your team that your listening and engaged with their experience. Since Millennials and Gen Zers are telling us this is important to them, there really is no reason to hesitate in giving to them.
[Source: Modern Restaurant Management]
BREAKFAST FOR DINNER, YUM!
Why it matters to you: Try serving breakfast items all day, you might be pleasantly surprised at their popularity.
We don’t often talk recipes here on The Daily Rail. Generally speaking, we assume that our operators know what they want to serve and won’t welcome our insight. Well, that flew out the window when we saw this awesome recipe for breakfast eggrolls on the Delish website. And let’s be clear, the recipe itself isn’t that interesting, but the idea of breakfast foods is a fascinating idea. In fact, when McDonald’s offered breakfast all day, they experienced a momentum building growth burst that has led a turnaround of the entire chain since. While we have discussed this previously, this recipe sure looks like a great place to start an introduction.
You don’t have to start with a sophisticated item like from scratch “egg” rolls, but trying including a breakfast sandwich or platter to see if there is an appetite for breakfast all day at your restaurant. We suggest you add these test items to your late-night menu in order to determine if that appetite is specific to that revenue period and expand its availability. Given that so many of your guests end up searching for breakfast foods after leaving your restaurant, you might capture some revenue on these low margin, high profit items like eggs and toast.
[Source: Delish]
