Specialty bar menus — craft cocktails — can be a knockout sales technique There are many things that can help your pizzeria thrive. A solid menu, quality ingredients, a welcoming atmosphere and attentive service can bring in new customers and kee...

Apply offensive and defensive tactics to pest control That four-letter word –– PEST –– can strike fear in the heart of any restaurant owner. Fighting vermin can seem like a never-ending war. And face it. If you’re worried about pests invadi...

Phone etiquette is important for customer service and repeat sales   Even in today’s world of online and mobile ordering, there is still a place for the phone. Some customers prefer a pleasant human over a speedy internet connection. Others do...

Sleeping at the base of the snow-capped Wallowa Mountains on the Historic Oregon Trail is Baker City, a picturesque town of 10,000 people. But on Friday nights in summer, this hamlet wakes up to music on the outdoor patio at Paizano’s Pizza. Two-an...

Mia Figlia (pronounced, “Mee-ah Fee-lee-ah”) is Italian for “My Daughter.” When John Boudouvas gave his Chicago restaurant that name in July 2010, it was to reflect “the two loves of his life” –– his daughters, Ellena and Angelina. An...

The fine line between helpful and harmful   My first job in the food business was at Chili’s in Clark, New Jersey. As a busboy, I was pretty much working for the waiters. The more of their tasks I covered, the more they tipped me at the end of...

Stamp out these five potential problems to make a better first impression Customers walk in hungry and toddle out satisfied — hopefully to return again and again. This cycle is the core of a successful pizza business. But what happens when the cust...

How to manage the logistics of customer wait times   Olive oil and fresh basil, spinning dough and sparkling drinks: the sights and smells of a pizzeria delight customers — and frustrate them. Waiting to be seated, waiting for the order and wa...

Expediting orders takes consideration, planning   We live in an accelerated world where patience is frequently in short supply — a reality placing increasing pressure on pizzeria operators and their staffs when it comes to speeding up thru-put...

Can you serve both the over-21 crowd and families?   You would think that an Irish tavern in New England, which opened its doors after Prohibition was repealed in the 1930s, would place a high priority on alcohol sales. You would think wrong. In...

Giving your product away for free to build sales may seem like a business oxymoron. But as the old saying goes, you have to spend money to make money. And although there is no such thing as a free lunch, food sampling is the next best thing for opera...

Dining room expansion gives you plenty of options Eight years ago, when competing pizza chains choked his business, Jim Jacobs renovated his dining room, adding a lunch buffet at Pisanello’s Pizza in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The result was magic. ...