Men Prefer Restaurant Gift Cards

The National Restaurant Association revealed that men would prefer to receive gift cards to restaurants this Valentine’s Day. A survey was conducted on desired Valentine’s Day gifts. The study revealed that the majority of people surveyed would like to receive a restaurant gift card. Nearly half of the men surveyed said they would like such a gift.

While many people choose to celebrate Valentine’s Day with a special meal at a restaurant, by giving a gift card as a gift it is a way of extending the holiday to have a special meal another day.

Stock-up for Fall

The fall season is upon us and to me that means cool, crisp weather, trees with beautifully colored leaves, trips to the local orchard for apples and pumpkins, tailgates and football games and evenings outside by the fire.

Make sure you are ready for this season by stocking up on a few restaurant equipment and restaurant supply items from Serv-U. Serv-U’s concession equipment and concession supply department has everything you need to stock the concession stand at your local school or park district. From popcorn poppers, to hot dog cookers, to nacho chip warmers – Serv-U can help you find the right concession equipment for you needs.

Don’t forget to pick up an insulated beverage warmer for seasonal beverages like hot apple cider or pumpkin spice coffee. Serv-U also has bakeware and pastry supplies for baking apple and pumpkin pies. 

Get Set For New Years Eve

Do you have everything you need to celebrate New Years Eve? It is still not too late to get the New Years Eve party supplies you need from Serv-U. 

New Years Eve Party Favors are a great way to liven up the party. Serv-U’s New Years Eve party pack includes top hats, derbies, tiaras, blow horns and serpentine throws. The favor pack includes favors for 100 people.

Serv-U also has disposable champagne glasses. The glasses feature a rigid styrene 2-piece plastic construction. Each case includes 50 disposable 4 oz. glasses.

You can also turn to Serv-U for wine and champagne buckets and stands. Choose from three different styles of wine bucket stands. Wine buckets are sold with or without stands, and can accommodate up to two bottles of wine.

Serv-U is placing all Corect measured liquor pours any size & color on sale for 2.49 each! As we've talked about in previous blog installments, a measured liquor pour is a simple but effective means of increasing bar profit and customer satisfaction by ensure the same quality drink everytime.

So from now until Dec 31st, 2009, or while supplies last the Corect measured liquor pours are all on sale for 2.49 with collar or without in any available pour measurement or color. Call 800.797.3788 to inquire about overnight or second day shipping availability or purchase online via the following list:

Corect 1oz pour with collar - CPIB-2010
Corect 1oz pour without collar - CPIB-1010
Corect 1-1/2oz with collar - CPIB-2112
Corect 1-1/2oz without collar - CPIB-1112
Corect 1-1/4oz with collar - CPIB-2114
Corect 1-1/4oz without collar - CPIB-1114
Corect 1-1/8oz with collar - CPIB-2118
Corect 1-1/8oz without collar - CPIB-1118
Corect 7/8oz with collar - CPIB-2078
Corect 7/8oz without collar - CPIB-1078

Also Serv-U has 1 Colorama 100 Person New Years Eve Party Favor kit. Assortment includes: 50 - Full-size plastic Top Hats and Derbies, 50 - Printed Tiara's w/Fringe, 100 - 9" Printed Horns and 400 - fire proof Serpentine Throws.

If you have addition questions, feel free to contact us via phone at 800-797-3788 or click the picture of the customer service representative at the top left corner of each page of the site to launch a live chat.

Luring a large crowd to your bar or restaurant on New Year’s Eve means launching the next sales year with a boom in profits. Special menus, live music and a festive setting are all important but you can’t have a proper New Year’s Eve celebration without champagne and the restaurant equipment to serve it. Stocking up on the proper bar supplies guarantees a great, champagne-drenched celebration.

Here at Serv-U, we offer an extensive array of glassware to make your holiday celebration first-class. Our flutes range from 4 ½ oz. to 6 1/4 oz. in size. They also come in a variety of styles, from the affordable standard flute to high-end sheer rimmed champagne glass. Take time to explore our selection of glassware and find the shape best-suited to your celebration.

Perhaps you want to entice your patrons by offering a complimentary toast when the ball drops? Disposable champagne glasses are ideal for midnight treats.

If your customers care to indulge in a bottle with their dinner, Serv-U can provide the tableside service equipment to keep the champagne chilled. Stainless steel buckets keep your bubbly ice-cold, without condensation on the outside. When you can afford the space, placing a stand for the bucket alongside the table creates an air of elegance in the environment. Remember that ideally your champagne should be served at a chilly, 45 degree temperature!

Check out Serv-U’s extensive selection of bar equipment to find the supplies you need to give your customers a festive experience and yourself a high profit margin on the last day of this year’s calendar!

Whether it’s a Christmas stout, celebration ale or holiday lager, now is the season customers seek out frothy glasses of seasonal beer. When your customers want to drink and be merry, it’s important to note that serving up beer in the proper glassware just makes it taste better.  Serv-U carries a variety of barware, each suited to cover certain varieties of beer. Browse this guide, before ordering you bar supplies to ensure that the beer you serve gets an optimum presentation.

Goblets are ideal for big sips and best suited to Belgian IPAs and strong dark ales. These glasses maintain head beautifully and those with bottom etching provide a constant stream of bubbles and make an excellent addition to your bar supply.

Flute glasses are not limited to champagne. The long and narrow body is perfect for showcasing a lively carbonation or a beautiful color. The shape also gives the drinker a strong, aromatic front. Flute glasses are the bar supplies best suited to fruit beers. 

Mugs are known for their “clink-ability.” Because the glassware is heavy and the handle is reliable, this large-volume design is a fun shape. Mugs are perfect for American and English ales and stouts.

Mixing glasses, often referred to as “pint glasses” are popular for their easy gripping and stacking. The thick base and sloping sides also make the glasses durable. Mixing glasses are useful when serving porters and lagers from the bar.

Pilsner glasses are easily identified as the bar glassware used for light beers, but are best suited to their namesake, the pilsner. These glasses showcase color, quality and carbonation. The pilsner is a fluted trumpet shape, easily confused with nonic glasses or bulge pilsners, which have a slight hourglass shape. Nonic glasses are ideal for wheat beers, as they improve aeration.

When holiday party guests discard their gloves and mittens, the best caterers are ready to offer toasty beverages for their cold hands to cup. It’s a challenge to keep the mugs full when hosting a sizeable event, which is why most caterers rely on large commercial percolators.

Serv-U offers percolators that are perfectly suited to brewing anywhere from 10 to 110 cups of hot coffee, however this is the perfect season to experiment with putting your percolator to work for more festive purposes. You can make your kitchen equipment serve double duty during the holiday season with recipes for hot mulled cider and spicy holiday punch.

Mulled Cider for 40

In percolator basket combine: 1 ¼ teaspoons allspice, a 6 inch cinnamon stick, 2 ½ cups brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Pour 10 quarts of apple juice or cider into the part of the percolator reserved for liquids.

Percolator Punch for 60

In percolator basket combine: 2 tablespoons allspice, 2 tablespoons whole cloves, 2-6 inch cinnamon sticks and 4 sliced lemons. Pour 6 quarts unsweetened pineapple juice, 6 quarts cranberry juice cocktail and 3 quarts cold water into the potion of the percolator reserved for liquids.

Percolators don’t just vary in their serving capacity, you also have a choice of materials and styles. There are basic aluminum coffee makers and fancier stainless steel models for more upscale events. Keep in mind that brewing time for percolated beverages is about 1 minute per cup. If you want cider for 60 guests, start percolating about an hour before they arrive!

It’s an unfortunate fact that holiday season coincides with flu season. If you’ll be feeding the crowds this year, it’s important to put a focus on safe food handling so that diners leave your restaurant still feeling festive.

One of the best ways to prevent food poisoning is placing an emphasis on proper hand washing. Taking time to train your employees in technique could save you from contributing to the spread of food borne illness. Here are a few tips and tools to ensure healthy handling:

-Employees should wash their hands after using the washroom, touching their hair or clothing; sneezing or coughing; eating, drinking or smoking; taking out the trash; or busing tables.

-Crank up the heat on your sink. Use water as hot as you can comfortably stand, ideally 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

-Soap dispensers should be well stocked and employees should aim for a quarter-sized amount of liquid soap.

-Apply lots of friction to your palms, fingers and fingertips and don’t forget to scrub your forearms.

-Wash for about 20 seconds, or the amount of time it takes to sing 2 choruses of Happy Birthday.

-Rinse the soap off your hands and wipe them thoroughly with clean paper towels.

-Use the same paper towel to turn off the faucet and promptly discard it in the trash.

Enforce the rule of no bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods and the practice of hand washing by hanging up signs to remind your employees.

Even the cleanest hands are not as safe as disposable gloves. Investing in a box may be the best way to ensure that your employees are not spreading food borne illness to holiday patrons.

How many times have you arrived at a party, only to find that the buffet has already been picked over--the mini-quiches are cold, the cocktail weenies lukewarm and the serving utensils scattered? Don’t let your guests suffer the same fate this party season! By investing in quality chafing dishes to serve up holiday hors d'oeuvres, you ensure an appetizing spread that can survive even the lengthiest soirée.

Chafers are the best way to build a buffet table that looks both professional and inviting. Guests have easy access to hot food, since the dish has its own fuel source. Depending on the setting—high, medium or low—your liquid chafing fuel will burn for 3, 6 or 8 hours, maintaining food temperatures from the first bites of the party to guests’ final nibbles. The fuel is used to heat water that in turn heats the serving dish but there is no direct flame on the food pan, so your meatballs can marinate without being burned.

If younger guests or health and fire department codes make maintaining an open flame too much of a concern, an electric heater is another option. Two electric heaters will keep a full size 8-quart chafing dish warm; no matter how many times your guests open up the lid to indulge in extra helpings.

With a chafing dish, you can stuff your mushrooms and bake your tarts in the foil pans ahead of time to minimize energy spent on food prep during the party. Just before everyone arrives, fill the lower water pan with about 2” of hot water and place the food pan into the chafer. During the party, the two 4-quart pans allow you to reload one pan, while leaving another behind for guests to continue to enjoy. One chafer can also work double-duty by housing two different types of food—buffalo wings in one pan and barbeque chicken wings in the other.

After the guests are gone, clean-up is easy; the pans can be placed directly into the fridge and reheated in the oven.

Alternatively, the chafing dish can be used to keep your salads and shrimp cocktails cool. Placing ice in the water tray, rather than using fuel or electricity, keeps food fresh and cold for hours.

For a stylish presentation, the chafer can be displayed on a beautiful wrought iron stand. You can also compliment the stainless steel chafing dish with elegant buffetware.

Compared to a standard serving platter, the chafer is an ideal piece of kitchen equipment to present favorite appetizers while saving you the time and energy needed to a give your guests top-notch service.

Taking on a meal as important as Thanksgiving dinner requires major planning and preparation. More important than stuffing, yams or even pumpkin pie is the centerpiece of your table – the turkey. If it’s your first time trying to perfect the holiday poultry, compiling an arsenal of turkey cooking supplies may seem overwhelming. However, a simple roasted bird requires only a few basic kitchen supplies.

Roasting Pan The roasting pan you purchase to cook your turkey may not be a piece of kitchen equipment that you use on a daily basis, but the proper pan is a valuable addition to your stock of cooking supplies for holidays. Selecting the right roasting pan ensures a moist and golden bird. When buying a roasting pan, look for a shallow depth, heavyweight pan with handles. The pan should have good heat conducting qualities so the bird cooks evenly. Stay away from dark roasting pans; those will burn the roasting juices at the start of the roasting period, resulting in a subpar gravy. Fit is also important—the pan should just hold the turkey. If a leg extends over the pan, drippings will fall on your oven, but if the pan is too large you risk burning the juices.

What’s a turkey without basting? Throughout the roasting process, you will need to paint the turkey with a basting sauce using a basting brush. Both white nylon and bleached boar bristle brushes will work well to coat your poultry with a buttery sauce and are able to withstand oven temperatures of up to 500 degrees. While the turkey roasts, a basting spoon can be used to scoop up the juices and redistribute them on the skin. Serv-U offers stainless steel basting spoons in a variety of lengths. All spoons have easy-grip contoured handles with a thumb notch. Slotted and perforated varieties are useful for straining out solids to be discarded when the roasting process is complete.

A burnt or undercooked turkey can be the downfall of an otherwise outstanding Thanksgiving meal, so be sure to check the temperature of your bird, with an accurate meat thermometer. The Taylor brand is known for its precision temperature technology to alert you when the meat reaches 180 degrees.

Finally, when the roasting process is over, it’s time to sharpen up that knife and dig in. Carving the turkey is a much-anticipated process that should be approached with care in order to preserve the flavor and the texture of the meat. You are best to choose a sharp, thin bladed carving knife. Stain-free steel blades provide a clean and durable option for slicing your turkey.

By using top-quality equipment the fruits of your holiday roast should be plentiful. The centerpiece of your Thanksgiving meal will be a cornucopia of thighs, wings, and breast meat, well worth the investment in quality kitchen supplies.