To say avocado is trending is an understatement Avocado, also called the Alligator Pear by the English who first encountered it, is believed to be from the Puebla region of South-central Mexico, where this delicious fruit was foraged by humans and ea...

No matter what type you prefer, there are so many fun ways to use garlic at your restaurant One of my favorite compliments is when a customer comes in with a huge smile on their face and exclaims, “I can smell your pizza all the way down the block!...

Menu Evaluation & Pricing Sales reporting is fundamental to business. Reporting is essential to making informed decisions about your restaurant. Not having a Point of Sale producing real-time reports is akin to letting a ship float without a capt...

No Country For Old Pizzas “The flow of the river is ceaseless; and its water is never the same.” – Kamo no Chomei, 1212 AD   All of us in the independent restaurant world are in constant motion. We put our heads down day after ...

A Little Saucy: Secrets to a Good Red Pizza Sauce Red sauce, marinara, pomodoro, gravy.  There are so many different ways to say it and even more to make it. A pizza maker’s sauce is one of their most important recipes and often times a very p...

Online or digital, menus need to be visually pleasing and user friendly From a basic list of pizza toppings to a well-engineered online ordering process, the right menu design can make the difference between a customer placing an order or going elsew...

Tavern Style Pizza is having a moment When I sat down to write about Tavern style pizza, I had a hard time organizing my thoughts. I thought about all the differences between them and was trying to figure out the best way to describe them all and hit...

Not that long ago in the land of pizzerias, owners and managers knew what a day off looked like. Employees were plentiful and hiring was an afterthought. Every now and then, you’d find the stack of applications behind the counter and knew you shoul...

Flavorful Fan Favorite There’s a reason sausage is America’s second-most favorite pizza topping. It brings lots of fatty flavor and oily goodness to a pie. In addition to holding its own as a standalone topping, it also pairs well with so many di...

Throughout the last 12 years of my career I’ve put a lot of thought into how to increase my pasta sales. Historically, pasta sales were less than 25 percent of total menu item sales (while stromboli and NYC style pizza are what our East Coast eater...

Oceans of Flavor My love affair with Southeast Asian cuisine happened in 1984, when my Navy Squadron, VQ-1, were tasked with flying near Iran, but on the way to the Gulf of Oman, our spirited yet hedonistic crew suddenly found an “unexpected” war...

Menu Appeal There is more to the versatile eggplant than its most familiar restaurant menu item, Eggplant Parmesan. This meaty ingredient has a place across your menu.  Its bounty is often found next to squash and zucchini in stores. But, technicall...