With customers cutting back on how much they spend on food, restaurants are hoping their thirst will be as strong as ever. Restaurants are hoping that customers will continue to order expensive drinks, or maybe even more than usual, to make up for spending less on food.

Many business owners are seeing that customers who are sick of cutting money everywhere are deciding to splurge on themselves when it comes to their beverages. The fact that Starbucks is able to sell a cup of coffee still is probably a very promising sign for them. And with fall and winter, and the cooling in temperature, just around the corner this is a great time for restaurants to rethink the way they do beverages.

Now's the time to get your business going with new and exciting coffees and hot drink items. Bust out the flavored brews and loved liquors, people will be ready and willing to sample your new drink menu as long as you make it sound and look appealing. Broadcast your new cold weather drinks all over your restaurant, have your staff talk them up, and make them look great when they come out to the table. Your Serv-U representative can help you find great mugs and glasses for all of your new drinks as well as new ways to serve your standbys.

So gear up for fall and help your business by redoing your drink menu, your customers, and your bottom line, will thank you.

Have you ever used the Internet to find reviews of a restaurant you were considering eating at? Have you ever used it to look at reviews for your restaurant or business?

If not then it is about time you did. Web sites are popping up almost daily now that enable anyone and everyone to say whatever they want about your business: the good, the bad, and the painful. While you cannot control what is put on these sites (and it just makes you look bad if you try to argue with what is written) it is important to know what is being said about your business.

You should know if there is something going on in your restaurant that is making people go home and log onto their computers to write about you. If it is something that is making that big of an impression than you need to know about it so that you can fix it. If your staff is bad, your atmosphere is off, or a food item is bad you should know. You cannot fix a problem if you do not know it exists.

It isn’t always bad things that are written either. Sometimes people are so pleased with the food or service that they receive that they want to let everyone know. It is important to know these things also, so you know what to continue doing and what staff members to commend.

Finally, it is always a good thing to know what your web presence is, especially the part you cannot control (go here to learn more about the part you can control). You never know who is dismissing your business simply based on what they have read online.

 
The best way to find out if your business is mentioned online is to simply Google the name, after that you can look for reviews for your area and on general review web sites. You can find these sites using Google as well, but here are just a few that I found:

http://www.restaurantcritics.com/

http://publicrestaurantcritic.com/

http://dine.com/cgi-bin/public/main.cgi

http://www.foodbuzz.com/

If you sell gift cards or certificates it is pretty likely you have had an internal debate over how long to let the cards and certificates be good for. Well, if you live in one mid-western state that is no longer a question you will have to ponder. The governor of Michigan signed a measure this week that states that all gift cards must be good for at least five years after they are purchased and must have an expiration date printed on them. The measure also makes “inactivity” charges and other equally shady charges illegal and prevents stores from changing the terms on the card after it has been purchased.

This article brings up the good point that some companies might be irritated by this measure. After all, a gift card that is never redeemed allows the store to make money (the purchase of the card) without having to do anything (for instance have a cashier ring up a purchase). But they great side of this is that there will not be any more confusion over how long the card is good for. I know the feeling of finding a gift card shoved into a drawer or the console in the car and wondering if it is still good or if there have been any fees taken out of it, in many instances I’ve just thrown the card away, especially if it is not to someplace I would have gone anyway.

Gift cards and certificates are great ways to get people into your restaurant who might not have come before. Many people will buy gift cards to their favorite eateries for friends or family member who have never been there before to encourage them to try it out. This is a great way for you to see an increase in business without having to spend money for advertising. Many businesses have realized how much business these cards bring in and have started offering incentives to people to buy them. Over the last few holiday seasons many restaurants have started running specials where the person buying the gift card gets another gift card (usually for around $5.00) for free. Many of these restaurants push the idea of using the bonus gift card as a “gift to yourself” to encourage people to not only stop in to pick up gift cards but to also sit down for a bite to eat. This practice also works to encourage people to buy more cards at their business, and in many cases these cards are good for multiple restaurants that are owned by the same company.

So, while the holidays are still a few months away, this is a great time to start thinking about your holiday gift cards and how you will promote them. By thinking about them this early in the year you will have plenty of time to decide how many to order and what they should look like as well as ensuring they have an expiration date on them. Serv-U has many great types of cash registers to ring those gift cards and certificates up on, as well as everything you need to make a meal worthy of those cards. So give your Serv-U representative a call today.

As the economy keeps nose-diving down businesses are struggling to find ways to get people in the door.  Recent attempts have included Denny’s campaign to get younger customers in during the overnight hours, Starbucks offering discounts and free beverages, and Burger King unleashing healthier options for kids. All of these acts are an attempt to get people to think of these businesses and decide to spend some of their hard earned money there, which is something many people are not doing much of right now.

The important thing to remember when coming up with a campaign to get people into your business is to really think about what your customer would like. The Starbucks promotion is a great example, because they are giving away the exact product that brings customers in. A Starbucks customer is usually a pretty loyal one, but many people only go to Starbucks once a day, usually in the morning. However, if they know they can try a free iced drink (which is one of the promotions Starbucks is running) they would probably be more inclined to swing by Starbucks on their way home. People are usually very inclined to make the effort when there is the possibility of a freebie (I know I am),

No matter what plan you come up with to get customers into your business your Serv-U representative can help you get everything that you need at a great price, so give them a call today.

Are you looking for a creative way to get customers into your restaurant? How about having a recipe contest? Shows such as Iron Chef America and all of the Challenge shows on the Food Network have brought the idea of cooking contests to the forefront. When you also consider such food competitions as the Pillsbury Bakeoff and The National Chicken Cooking Contest, which both have large monetary prizes, it is easy to see that these contests are taking off. But don’t worry, you don’t have to offer your customers thousands of dollars to enter a recipe, putting their recipe on your menu, even for a short amount of time, is likely to bring in more recipes than you could imagine (just look at how excited the contestants on The Next Food Network Star got when they had the chance to have their recipe served at Red Lobster).

No matter what kind of restaurant you have there is a competition that would be perfect for you (this web site provides some great ideas). And it is easy to come up with some quick, straightforward rules and guidelines for your competition (this site provides some good baselines, as do the rules for other contests). All you need to do is pick a meal or ingredient that you would like to feature, create your rules, publicize your event with signs and advertisements in your local paper, and get ready to judge a lot of recipes.

Once you have some recipes you like you can either make them yourself to taste them or make it into a big event. A cook off competition, like what is featured on Food Network Challenge, would be a great way to get your restaurant’s name out and get people to know your business. There will be hoops you need to go through for this, so be sure to talk to your health department, but the attention it will bring to your business is worth it. Once you have the winning recipe you are going to feature make sure you publicize when you will be serving it, so people will know when to come in and eat.

Once you get them in the door, wow them with your ambiance, great service, and incredible food and they will likely turn into repeat customers. Your Serv-U representative can help you gather all the materials you need for the cook off and for everyday cooking and serving at your restaurant, so give them a call today.

An interesting trend is starting to emerge in the food world: flexitarianism. This term refers to a person who is not a declared vegetarian but who sometimes eats meatless meals. A flexitarian feels at home just as much in a steakhouse as they do one of the newly emerging salad restaurants. These people, also known as part-time vegetarians, say they embrace meatless meals because they are healthier and a nice alternative to heavy, meat-based meals.

According to this article, meals that are popular with flexitarians tend to be based around hearty ingredients, such as beans and mushrooms. Stuffed Portobello mushrooms and enchiladas made with black beans are both mentioned as dishes that are popular with flexitarians. The article says that menu items such as these have helped to show many typical meat eaters that vegetarian dishes are not the bland, tasteless items they are portrayed to be. As vegetarians become more plentiful more and more restaurants are starting to add meatless options to their menus, and more options means that there are more possibilities to entice meat eaters to choose something else.

As more people convert to the flexitarian lifestyle, and vegetarianism for that matter, more customers will be looking for these options on restaurant menus. While it may take a little more thought and preparation to add these items to your menu, it can be very beneficial. Flexitarians and vegetarians are not the only people who will benefit from these items; anyone who is worried about their health or who wants to have a healthy meal will be thrilled to see these items on your menu.

Your Serv-U representative can help you get everything you need to prep, serve, and store healthy meals that will please all your customers, whether herbivore, carnivore, or flexitarian. So call, email, or chat with a representative today.

There’s grumbling coming from many restaurants today and it is not from hunger. More and more parents, and even some kids, are grumbling about the items offered, and not offered, on kid’s menus in many restaurants. Many parents, like him and her, are calling for changes to the traditional menu that so many are used to. They want to see more fruits and vegetables, less fried foods, and more items similar to what the adults eat, but in a smaller portion.

Their complaints aren’t coming simply from being sick of the site of chicken fingers and French fries. Parents are responding to the increase in childhood obesity and unhealthy eating habits. This recent article sheds light on the fact that obesity is now starting to be an issue with children as young as two. A main reason for this is the unhealthy eating habits of today’s families. So many people are so busy running from place to place that they simply stop at a restaurant and order whatever jumps out at them off the menu. Unfortunately, many places only offer high fat foods, which don’t offer much nutritional value on their menus.

Happily, some businesses are starting to see that a change is a necessary event and that it can be profitable. Many companies are starting to offer choices for side dishes in place of the traditional French fry, such as vegetables, fruit, or yogurt. Another option that is popular among parents is offering the same dishes as the regular menu, but in smaller portions. This is a great option for parents who want their children to eat regular food, not food considered to be “child friendly,” and have healthy, tasty options available to them.

It’s easy to add new and exciting offerings for children to your menu. You can simply start by offering options such as vegetables as sides with the traditional main courses. It's easy to add more options by simply offering items that are included on the regular menu in smaller sizes. You can place the items on a smaller plate, possibly even in an interesting pattern, to please the child and encourage them to eat. Your Serv-U representative can help you create interesting ways to serve food that kids will enjoy and parents will love because they are healthy, tasty, and come from your business. 

MSNBC today detailed a few tips for making a business deal—while dining out.  While it might be sound advice for business pros, it’s also a useful read for any restaurateurs looking to attract the business crowd.

The article is written from the perspective of a businessperson looking for a suitable eatery, and offers a few clues about what kinds of restaurants fit the bill.  Places that are likely to garner the attention of the business crowd tend to be somewhat upscale, but still comfortable.  They also aren’t too loud, and offer exceptional customer service (including perks like reserved tables for the regulars)—along with consistently good food.

What I found most interesting about the article, though, was the history behind today’s tradition of business-meal-deals.  If you’d like to know where the term “power lunch” came from—or find out why the “three martini lunch” has fallen out of fashion—you’ll find this article an entertaining read.

An emerging trend in the food world is the raw food diet. The diet consists of eating foods that are unprocessed and uncooked. Those who follow the plan do not eat anything that has been cooked above 116 degrees, which is the temperature at which foods begin to loose some of their nutrients and enzymes. While this diet has been popular with people, including vegetarians, vegans, and those who want to eat as healthy as possible, for awhile it is starting to become more popular in the mainstream.

Raw food restaurants are starting to appear more frequently across the country. Two of the newest offerings are in Boston and near Orlando. These restaurants feature dishes made of vegetables, fruits, and nuts that are often replicas of traditional cooked foods. An example is a gnocchi dish made from nuts at the restaurant in Boston (gnocchi is typically made from cooked potatoes).

Raw restaurants are popular with vegetarians, vegans, those who want to eat healthier, and even those who just want to try something different. People who frequent these establishments know that they are trying something that is new and still developing and are eager to find out what it is all about. There are many items on most of the menus that people recognize and there is a selection of items to sample, including appetizers, desserts, and drinks.

While you may not be ready to open a completely raw restaurant it is easy to incorporate raw items into your menu. Start slowly, possibly by increasing your salad offerings, and gradually work up to more items. Look around at what successful raw restaurants are doing for inspiration and ask questions of those who are already experimenting with raw offerings. After you’ve gathered your ideas and have decided to add raw items your Serv-U representative can help you get all the tools and utensils you need to incorporate the raw trend into your restaurant.

With the slumping economy and people being more careful with how they spend their money restaurants are having to come up with innovative ways to bring in customers. One method being tried out across the country is to gear the theme of their restaurant toward their target audience.

An article earlier this month in The Dallas Morning News discussed a local restaurant that had changed its theme to one that catered to people (mainly men) who wanted to relax and have a good time with their friends.

The restaurant in the article had a lodge-type feel, which was accomplished by putting animals on the walls and serving a heavily meat themed menu. The owner also put television sets all around the restaurant to broadcast games and other big events on, which he believed would help to draw in men during busy sport seasons.

Other restaurant owners follow the same pattern when trying to draw in their target audience. Whether it is a seafood restaurant with fish nets on the wall or an Italian restaurant with red and white tablecloths, restaurant owners know that the looks of their business are important to their customers and can help bring them in again and again.

It’s easy to cater to your target demographic if you have the right furniture, decorations, table settings, and menu items. If you think your business could use an update to help get your target audience call your Serv-U representative today. They can help you get everything you need to have the restaurant you want.