I was traveling the interstate close to midnight when I stopped by a restaurant still open in the small community of Canyonville, Oregon. My 18-year-old waiter, Kyle, graduated last year from his small high school in a senior class of 12 students. He...

Keep tabs on your flatware count   Noble Pie Parlor in Reno, Nevada, stays open until 5 a.m. on weekends, and that means one thing: the flatware is going to disappear. “In Reno the bars don’t close, technically,” says co-owner Trevor Leppe...

Tucked in the technology enclave of San Jose, California, Willow Street Wood-Fired Pizza’s three restaurants draw a hip, sophisticated and highly educated clientele. And with all of that education comes a high demand for not only healthy food, but ...

Breaking down noise and how to reduce it in your pizzeria   Recent restaurant design trends have leaned towards open spaces, high ceilings, hard floors and tables and lots of windows — all of which can wreak havoc on noise levels. Architects a...

Disposable plates and utensils may not sound like a good way to go in this day and age of green fever, but some pizza restaurant operators are saying that’s what their customers want –– and what works for them, rather than real china and metal ...

Q: My brother and I own a pizzeria and deli. We have been open almost two years and business has been OK, but not terrible. We are paying bills, payroll is covered and my brother and I are making money. I don’t think we are making profit; I feel we...

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...

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 ...

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...

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...

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...

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...