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Reality Check

Peter Romeo

The blog from award-winning journalist, RB Editor-at-Large Peter Romeo. Peter taps into his decades of experience covering the restaurant business at a variety of publications to discuss any number of issues related to the operations and general direction of restaurants.

Operations

What's necessary to reopen? Depends on where you are

 By Peter Romeo on Apr. 27, 2020

The requirements or recommendations for resuming dine-in service vary widely from state to state, if they exist at all. Here's a sampling, along with some of the few near-constants.

Financing

Senate’s $320B PPP re-up draws restaurants' fire

 By Peter Romeo on Apr. 22, 2020

Small-business groups applaud the reallocation, but question why the loan process wasn’t fixed.

Operations

All of a sudden, there's talk of reopening

By Peter Romeo on Apr. 14, 2020

States are coming together to plot a restart of the economy. But restaurants may be on the sidelines for a while.

Operations

Is Cheesecake Factory making it?

By Peter Romeo on Apr. 06, 2020

Per-unit sales are running at about a third of the volume of pre-COVID-19 days, but that's still $3 million in annual per-store revenues. And costs have been aggressively cut.

Topics

Coronavirus heroes and villains

By Peter Romeo on Mar. 30, 2020

The COVID-19 crisis is as much a test of character as it is of financial resilience. And some parties are clearly failing.

Workforce

Unions move on restaurants despite a big oops

By Peter Romeo on Feb. 11, 2020

So what if they can’t keep a restaurant open under the very conditions they’re demanding?

Operations

Talk of the industry this week: On-premise dining

By Peter Romeo on Jan. 15, 2020

Or at least that was a major theme at the ICR Conference, where three dozen chains aired their strategies and financial results.

Leadership

Story time with Ruth’s Chris CEO Cheryl Henry

By Peter Romeo on Jan. 14, 2020

The steakhouse chief took a different approach to highlighting her charge’s strategy. Gather around to hear the account.

Operations

Did delivery drive Granite City into bankruptcy?

By Peter Romeo on Dec. 19, 2019

Or was consumers’ abandonment of shopping malls the culprit? Add in heightened competition and you have the perfect storm that tripped up the brand, the chain’s leadership says.

Operations

Weekend defibrillator report: News that should jolt any restaurateur

By Peter Romeo on Dec. 06, 2019

Here are some guaranteed shockers that might have slipped past.

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