50 Great Ideas
38. Gum disposal
The White Chocolate Grill in Naperville, Ill., provides slips of paper that say “gum” in the sugar caddies for patrons to dispose of their gum before eating. Gross? Maybe. Necessary? Yes. No more wasting the restaurant’s sweetener packets looking for a place to stash gum.
50 Great Ideas
9. Breakfast diner does nighttime-only menu
To make the popular breakfast option feel and even sound more like a dinner spot, Black Bear Diner launched a nighttime-only menu of four homestyle entrees, with additional options on the weekends. After 4 p.m., servers sport different uniforms, lights are often dimmed and restaurants play what headquarters describes as “ambiance-setting evening music.”
When guests are seated at Granite City Food & Brewery, each diner gets a coaster printed with an icebreaker such as “What’s the worst lie you ever told your mother?” that the server must ask the guests to answer. It’s one of several things servers have to do under the concept’s new image, designed to be more “fun.”