If you were expecting to find MonkeyDish.com, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what’s on your screen. Monkeydish.com is now RestaurantBusinessOnline.com, with new features that make the website of Restaurant Business magazine a true business tool for restaurant operators. Here are 10 of the major changes and additions you’ll discover:
- Approach. In extensive research, restaurateurs told us loud and clear that what they need most is help in running their businesses. The idea is not to rehash what’s happened, the usual rear-view mirror approach, but rather to look through the front windshield and advise where ahead to turn.
- Dashboard directives, instead of an armchair read. Rather than follow the model of a gazillion other sites, we lead with measures, benchmarks and a heads-up to economic and legislative bumps ahead, presented in a dashboard format. It’s displayed in full on the home page, but also appears on every page that follows, to keep you apprised as you browse.
- It’s the economy, smartie. Today’s restaurateurs need to understand the economic and consumer forces shaping the larger world, before they feel the effects in their kitchens and dining rooms. We deliver legislative and economic news feeds compiled in partnership with Congressional Quarterly and Roll Call, the same source used by lawmakers and lobbyists nationwide. You’ll know what they know about what’s happening economically and legislatively.
- Food cost changes before they happen. Get a handle on your food costs by using our tool for tracking the pricing trends for key restaurant commodities, including poultry, beef, pork, eggs, corn, coffee and flour. The gauge enables restaurateurs to project where costs are heading and adjust their menus accordingly. The information is updated continuously, providing the industry's most current and insightful directional data.
- Horizontal and vertical. Operators told us they want to know what’s happening in all market segments, not just their own. Every story and feature is meant to inform every type of operator. But if visitors want to check what direct competitors are doing, they have that option through pages devoted to the six ways they may categorize their operations.
- Intuitive navigation. The website is organized to parallel what operators told us was their mental checklist of issues and broad areas of interest. They can quickly find best practices relevant to the topics on their mind: Business Trends, Boosting Sales, Improving Operations, Controlling Costs, Menu Development and Economic Issues.
- Voices of experience. Restaurant Business has the most seasoned and celebrated editors in the business. Their depth of knowledge and distinctive voices are shared through three (and counting) blogs: Peter Romeo's Restaurant Reality Check, Kelly Killian's Mean Cuisine and Pat Cobe's Clean Plates & Empty Glasses.
- A digital library. Access the issues of Restaurant Business or a particular story from the digital archive. The library extends back further than ever, though we apologize for not going all the way back to our start in 1902.
- A user-friendlier recipe database. Explore Recipedia, Restaurant Business’ proprietary recipe library, now remastered with an enhanced, user-friendly presentation.
- Adaptability to any device. Tech geeks call it responsive design, the automatic adaptability to whatever device you’re using to view the website, be it a smartphone, tablet or football stadium Jumbotron.
Stay tuned for more new features coming soon. In the meantime, let us know what you think of RestaurantBusinessOnline and what else you’d like to see by emailing us at restaurantbusiness@cspnet.com. Enjoy!
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