Topics Operations

How well do you maintain your food costs?

The money captured from the sale of food is the epicenter of every restaurant’s monetary flow. From here, the flow starts as you pay off all expenses and are left with the reward of all your hard work. In 38 years in all sorts of restaurants, I’v...
Topics Operations

Floor Dance

With so many options available, upgrading or replacing a floor can be overwhelming. But, if an operator can identify the needs of the restaurant, flooring can be a perfect reflection of design and function. “Restaurant floors should be planned and ...
Topics Operations

The Science of Servers

CRITICAL ISSUES: Employee Hiring Retention Hiring right people can make or break your restaurant It might surprise you to hear Brett Steiner’s No. 1 priority for his servers at Russo’s New York Pizzeria in Germantown, Tennessee: “School comes f...
Topics Operations

Exterior: Putting Up A Facade

Attract customers with eye catching exterior Magic occurs when the wall between you and your customers disappears. That’s the slight-of-hand trick used by architect Ed Shriver for a perfect building façade. Shriver is principal at Strada LLC, an a...
Topics Operations

Get Served!

Counter-service operations provide host of challenges for operators Energy and synergy define the dining experience at DeSano Pizza Bakery, an authentic Neapolitan-style pizzeria in Los Angeles. But the cardiac epicenter for DeSano’s pulse and temp...
Topics Operations

BYOB: Bring it in

BYOB creates an array of unique considerations When Joe Burke Jr. opened TreVi Pizza three years ago in Glenside, Pennsylvania, he was excited by liquor sales’ robust profit margins and the food-and-beverage pairings he could promote with a curated...
Topics Operations

A Hostess: Stand and Deliver

It looks like an easy job. There’s a lot of smiling involved, a lot of handing out menus, a lot of “follow me this way and I’ll show you to your seat.” But, as with most things, looks can be deceiving. A hostess is responsible for the first i...
Topics Operations

Respecting the Craft: Lean and Mean

I had to make an executive decision. I realized at the 11th hour that my kitchen at Tony’s of North Beach in the Graton Casino would not be able to handle the original menu I planned for it prior to opening. Simply put, we would not be able to exec...
Topics Operations

Seating: Going big

Manage large parties with creativity Granted, large crowds are a good business problem. Who doesn’t love being known for their pizza? That said, you and your staff may still get that deer-in-the-headlights expression when large dining parties hit y...
Topics Operations

Eating With The Eyes

Front-of-the-house display cases put ancillary products in customers’ sights Whenever Tony DiSilvestro designs a new YNot Pizza, an endeavor he’s tackled three times since opening his first restaurant in 1993, he encounters the same conundrum...
Topics Operations

Got it Covered

Be proactive and prompt with upholstery care At home, it is easy to camouflage spills, messes and mishaps to furniture. Cover a stain on the carpet with a rug Hide a nick in a table with a cloth. Bury the mess on the couch by flipping the cushion ove...
Topics Operations

Restaurant Interior: By Design

Five common dining room design problems — and how to fix them Years ago, architect Jim Lencioni recalls being called into a casual restaurant concept based in the Southeast. Despite solid marks for its food, business continued falling. In surveying...
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