Family Dining

The week’s 5 head-spinning moments: The little things

Taco Bell sets breakfast goals, Outback’s Tim Gannon assumes a new mission, Famous Dave’s exits the interior-design business and an acquisition puts a little-known consumer heartthrob on a fast growth track. If that’s news to you, read on.

Menu design that makes dollars add up

While tablet menus may be hot, a good old-fashioned fill-in-the-blank paper menu, just like the ones you’ll find at sushi restaurants, can be a good way to drive up the check if you offer charcuterie, says RB’s Token Millennial.

New efficiency standards for commercial refrigeration equipment, published in a final rule by the U.S. Department of Energy in April, may ease the pain.

In today’s ordering process, tablets, Bluetooth printers, apps and other advances spell efficiency.

Should the bar be considered a section and be included in the table rotation? Or should guests only be seated at the bar if they ask to sit there? Advice Guy clarifies the issue.

Alcohol sales in chain restaurants and bars will rise 2.7 percent next year, a positive, albeit moderate, acceleration from 2014, according to the latest forecast from Technomic.

Technology and social media fueled many of the year’s marketing successes and missteps at restaurants. A couple of operators, though, found new life in old tricks, doubling down on discounting and resurrecting in-demand LTOs.

Consumer and business technologies are clearly converging, throwing restaurateurs a bit of a curve. Make that a curve in signs, TVs and other display possibilities.

If trends always unfolded in linear fashion, any restaurateur could latch on for a ride. This week was a reminder that market tendencies are more likely to zig and zag like a rodeo bull with anger issues. Consider these examples of restaurateurs trying to stay astride the trends despite some neck-jarring changes in direction.

Anthony Schmidt, beverage director for San Diego-based CH Projects, needs clear ice in a variety of shapes and sizes for drinks at two of the cocktail bars in his portfolio.

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