This issue of Trend Watch has a common theme: Restaurant Labor. Employees are one of the largest expenses in running a restaurant. Competition is heating up and businesses are trying to squeeze every penny of profit out of their restaurant. So it isn’t surprising that there are technology solutions stepping in to help. Robot Burgers […]
Experience matters for your restaurant. When there are so many dining choices and new restaurants seem to pop up daily, you need an edge to compete. How can you differentiate your restaurant? A new study from the Ohio State University and the University of Chicago might provide an answer. According to study authors Robert Smith […]
Columbus State Community College’s Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts program has consistently been highly rated, both in Ohio and nationwide. And today, the college took a giant leap into the future by breaking ground on a brand new facility. The new building will be christened Mitchell Hall, named for one of Columbus’ favorite sons, restaurateur […]
Opening a restaurant or expanding your bar service – but not sure how much glassware you need? We’ve got you covered with our glassware calculator. All you need to do is enter the number of seats in your establishment and we’ll calculate the amount required based on your business type. Do you know the different types […]
Online advertising has become an important part of restaurant marketing. With unprecedented reach and targeting options, online ads seem like a great way to reach potential customers. And often, that’s exactly what happens. But research has shown that sometimes online restaurant marketing can actually benefit the advertiser’s competitors more than it helps the advertiser itself. […]
As temperatures rise during the summer months, it seems like refrigeration problems are an all-too-frequent companion to the summer heat. And it’s not your imagination. Your refrigerated units do have to work harder in the warmer months. But by choosing an appropriate product for your specific type of business and usage, you can get much […]
Do you love Amazon’s Alexa so much that you miss her when you go on vacation? Well, that could be a thing of the past with the introduction of Amazon for Hospitality. The introduction of the new service will put voice-enabled Amazon Echo devices in hotel rooms. The in-room devices will be pre-programmed for a variety […]
School’s out and kids everywhere have begun looking for summer jobs. This can be both a blessing and a burden for the foodservice industry. Teen workers can help fill in shift gaps at wages that are attractive for employers. But managing teens is not without its share of potential problems. Fortunately, a little advance planning […]
Did you have a lemonade stand as a kid? Did you have a permit? These days, not having a permit could get you busted. This very thing happened recently in Denver. The police showed up and shut down a lemonade stand that was being run by two young boys aged six and four. Even worse, […]
A ghost kitchen (sometimes also called a “ghost restaurant“) is a foodservice operation that is meant for delivery only. In other words, these businesses have no dining room. In many cases, you cannot even do carryout from these businesses. It is a delivery only business and it is tightly aligned with new online food delivery […]
Television personality, author and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain has died at age 61. The cause of death has been reported as suicide. CNN confirmed Bourdain’s passing with a statement: “It is with extraordinary sadness we can confirm the death of our friend and colleague, Anthony Bourdain. His love of great adventure, new friends, fine food […]
Thirty-five years ago, in 1983, The Wasserstrom Company was named Dealer of the Year by Foodservice Equipment Specialist magazine (that would later evolve into the current Foodservice Equipment & Supplies magazine). We thought it was fitting to revisit this milestone as we hit the quarter century mark. Many of the faces shown in the article have […]
Fast food favorite Wendy’s has announced a new plan for sourcing its tomatoes to provide the freshest produce in the business. Wendy’s is already well-known for its “fresh, never frozen” beef (and their sassy social media jabs at rival McDonald’s). Now the fast-food giant is announcing its plans to source vine-ripened tomatoes for its North […]
You may have heard the term “Food Hall” thrown around recently. But unless you have one in your town or have visited one yourself, you may be a bit confused as to what exactly constitutes a food hall. The term “food hall” has its roots in the UK where it is used to describe a […]
The European Commission is proposing a ban on 10 single-use plastic items that it says make up 70% of the trash that ends up in European waterways and beaches. While this is not a measure that is aimed exclusively at restaurants and other foodservice providers, those types of businesses will clearly be the most affected. […]
Recently, we published an article about pre-fabricated building methods and pondered if this was the future of restaurant construction. Well, as it turns out, it may just be a trend that owes a lot to the past. Just ask Larry Cultrera. He is a connoisseur of the diner as an American architectural art form. “Companies […]