First-time restaurateurs need all the help they can get! But their perspective can also help you. In Restaurant Business Magazine, I was interviewed for an article: “9 Key Considerations When Opening a Restaurant.” Written by Benita Gingerella, this piece is designed to make the “tough” process of opening a restaurant easier for first-timers. Look Through Fresh … Continued
If you get 100 restaurant consultants together and ask them what they do, you’ll probably get 100 answers. So, if you are considering adding one to your team, how do you even know what you are looking for? What do you do? First, you probably worry about hiring the wrong person. Let’s get the bad … Continued
If you are an owner of an independent restaurant company, there is a good chance you have walked through your dining room wondering to yourself, “Why doesn’t anyone see what I see?” Sound familiar? I recently talked to two such operators who asked me that question incredulously. One of them wondered when the people around … Continued
“The restaurant business is one of the hardest jobs…the early-morning-to-late-night days have taken a toll — along with my sleepless nights and grueling hours.” Sound like you at your worst moment? Those are the words of Marian Harper — owner of the legendary Carnegie Deli on Seventh Avenue in New York — during her announcement about closing … Continued
Nobody ever opened a restaurant aiming to be average. Unfortunately, though, plenty of restaurants use average interview techniques, onboarding processes, and training — a sure way of ending up stuck in the middle. The best successful multi-unit independent restaurant companies recognize this and hire only the people they are looking for, designing interview techniques that … Continued
“Is it possible to say with a straight face that Señor Frog’s is a better restaurant than Per Se? Too many restaurants have become church without the singing and costumes.” That is what New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells wonders in an iconic New Yorker profile “Pete Wells Has His Knives Out”, essential reading for anyone interested in guests, restaurant reviewers, restaurants, … Continued
Now is always the right time to put together and start acting immediately on a great plan to increase revenue, profit, and the overall value of your successful multi-unit independent restaurant company. You know what would make a huge impact in your business, because it has been sloshing around in your head forever. This is … Continued
Those of us with a pile of wisdom and experience from being in the restaurant industry for decades remember when a restaurant operations manual was the size of a phone book. Those of us with that track record of career-long success also remember what a phone book looked like. Today’s workforce? Not so much. So … Continued
Last week, a manager who had worked with me — back when I was operating — asked me for advice. A 250-unit restaurant group was recruiting him to leave his current GM job with another well-known company — where, by the way, I am proud to say he has been selected GM of the year…twice. … Continued
People hate airlines — or, at best, tolerate them. But, even with their product quality and customer service ratings plummeting, their profits are at record levels. That’s sustainable in the airline business, which is essentially closed to competition, but would be catastrophic in the restaurant business. Just ask the casual dining chains. A recent New York … Continued