Some social media advice. A group of Manhattan restaurants band together to fight decreased traffic. And a couple of soldiers are surprised they caused a stir by naming their restaurant after their platoon’s nickname.
Idea #1: Ignore Yelp. “I would have no hair on my head if I even read Yelp,” says Grant Halliday, director of operations for Harvest Restaurants. That and more advice on dealing with online critics, here.
Idea #2: Don’t joke on Twitter. It’s can be so hard to be subtle or to convey a sense of humor online. Especially when you make a joke about a drug that might have led to cannibalism. SOHO Kitchen and Bar in Ohio City, Ohio, recently tweeted “summer cocktail tip: for an element of unpredictability, try rimming your margarita w/ bath salts.” “Bath salts” are the name of a new synthetic drug blamed for the recent face-eating assault that garnered headlines in Florida and nationally. Slammed for its joke, the restaurant returned to Twitter to apologize.
Idea #3: Hyper-local restaurant week. Restaurants along 2nd Avenue in Manhattan have endured five years of disruption due to construction for a new subway line. In an effort to combat the hit to business—which the owner of 100-plus-year-old Heidelerg Restaurant called “the worst disaster in our history—25 restaurants have banded together to offer the 2nd Avenue Restaurant Week. Diners will be offered either a three-course meal for $20.16 or 20% off their order. Wish them luck.
Idea #4: Naming your restaurant “Bastards” is a bad idea. Nicholas Velez and Calvin Spencer served in Iraq with the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines infantry unit, the “Magnificent Bastards.” So when they got home and opened a sports bar they named it after their band of brothers. "I didn't really think there was going to be a real big stir in the community," Velez said. He was wrong.
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