Location, Location, Location

It's (past) Football Time!

It's almost here - that time of year when your business picks up again naturally.  So do you have your game plan?  Do you know what promotions you'll be running for the local Friday Night Football pre and after game crowd?  How about your college and pro football fans?  Why should they frequent your restaurant during the games over your competition?

With only a few weeks left you don't want to loose a potentially strong weekly customer base or the opportunity to host Fantasy Football draft parties.  Your successful season this year will build upon itself following years too.

Once you have your plan make sure your staff and customers are all aware that you are excited for the season and want their loyalty each week for the next 4 month!  

It's time now to plan for your Halloween promotion!

 

 

Beggars CAN be Choosers

by Ronna O'Toole  

What if you could capture an audience of patrons that would literally beg others to take them to your restaurant?  Beg I tell you!  Wouldn’t you be crazy not to want that?  (You should soooo want that.)  What if these people are highly influential people?  People who are relentless until they get their way?  People who are not afraid to throw themselves on the ground and use tears to get what they want?  We are not talking about spoiled CEOs here…we are talking about the ever influential, relentless, won’t stop till they get what they want…child.  Don’t ever think they don’t matter when it comes to the bottom line because they really, really do.  Kids know what they want and aren’t afraid to let their parents know it and as you know, when the kids are happy the parents are happy.

The children’s menu is important sure, but it may not be the driving force behind getting children to beg to come to your restaurant.  Kids will eat what they will eat.  It is embarrassing, but my child begs to “go to that place that serves the spaghetti with cut up hotdogs in it and ketchup squirted all over it”, not for the food (I hope) but rather for the fish tank in the back and the way the server treats him where we are there…catering to his every tiny whim. 

If offering balloons, a treasure chest, a candy dish at reception or random party hats can fit into your concept then just do it!  No questions asked…everyone is happy.  You might even go as far as bring a free “appetizer tray” to the table with popcorn, Cheerios and apple slices on it.   Even if you are not the type of place that normally caters to children there are still things you can do to make the dining experience memorable for the ever important tiny person.  Get yourself some crayons and paper and bring them to the table right away for gosh sakes!  It costs nothing and saves that nine year old the hassle of tracking down your busy servers, begging for scraps of paper and their precious pens. 

 Upscale places where a “family fun corner” is not a suitable option can also benefit by the capturing “kid” audience.   You don’t even have to have a children’s menu if your staff is trained to guide the child on appetizers that could make a meal or are willing to say “yes” without hesitation to scaled down portion sizes.  There is even room for innovation at really upscale places, like a “Tiny Tot’s Tasting Menu”.  One of my children’s favorite fine dining restaurants brings out a tableside “S’mores” station at the end of the meal, complete with their own little flames for roasting marshmallows.  The set up is a small price to pay to gain a loyal customer base.

 So yes, kids can be demanding and at times high maintenance but if you treat them like any other highly influential guest by respectfully anticipating their needs, you can rest easy knowing that there are small people everywhere  throwing themselves on the ground begging to eat at your restaurant!

5 Tips to Sell More Drinks

Your bar or nightclub may be falling short in selling additional drinks and at a higher price point, which means loss of revenue and loss of tips. Nightclub & Bar spoke to Tim Kirkland, author of The Renegade Server, and CEO of Renegade Hospitality Group and he shared these five tips for selling more drinks and selling more expensive drinks:

1. Identify the Premium Purchaser

Servers often approach a table and ask “Can I get you something to drink?” which is a mistake, says Kirkland. If the first and second people order an iced tea, the chances are the other people at the table will order the same thing—even if they’d been thinking of a premium beverage, he explains.

Instead, says Kirkland, “approach the table and allow the premium purchaser to identify themselves.” Ask the table, for example, ‘It’s hot outside, who could use an ice cold beer?” That premium purchaser will place his or her order for a higher priced drink, and the trend will continue around the table.

2. Start High

“Servers often cheat themselves out of premium purchases,” Kirkland says. “If a diner asks ‘What kind of beers do you have?’ they’re into expensive beers.” When asked this question, most servers will start at the bottom with Miller and Bud, but this is a mistake, he says.

Instead, servers should say the bar has an impressive beer list and start at the top with the imported craft brews. When they’ve heard the prices of the most expensive drinks, it makes the mid-range ones sound inexpensive. If servers start with the least expensive, those drinks then seem pricey.

3. Two For The Price of One

Do not promote two-for-one marketing once a customer is inside your bar. “This kind of marketing is designed to drive traffic through your doors,” Kirkland says. “Once someone is in the bar that special has already done its job and it’s the server’s job to sell something else.”

Two-for-one offers also mean smaller tips, since customers tip on the check amount (one drink), not on the work the server does (two drinks).

4. Timing Is Everything

Bartenders and servers typically offer the second drink at the wrong time, Kirkland says, and it shouldn’t be when someone’s drink is half or a third full.

Drinkers decide whether to have a second drink by looking at how much their companion still has left. They then make a quick calculation as to whether they can drink another one in the time it will take their companion to finish it. “Then the law of diminishing returns means the second one doesn’t go down as fast so the server can ask the other person if they’d like a second drink,” Kirkland says.

“Sell to the empty glass when the companion glass is as full as possible. It’s all about timing.”

With groups it’s a mistake to ask ‘Are you guys ready for another round?’ Kirkland says, because that means a time commitment for everyone. Instead ask one person with an empty glass if s/he wants another drink. That person will see if there’s a full glass at the table, and if there is, will typically order another drink, and this can lead to an entire new round.

5. Female Followers

Men typically know what they’re going to drink before they enter a bar but most women don’t, says Kirkland. So, when you design a specialty beverage, you should design it to appeal to women.

“The way to do that is with color, garnish and glassware. It should look fun, funky, frivolous, fruity. Even a wheat beer gets an orange slice if it’s going to a lady.”

Most bars order product like it's 1899

by Ian Foster
Vice-President, National Accounts for Sculpture Hospitality

Most bars don't give much thought to ordering. It's seen as one more boring chore that they need to do every week. As a result, ordering is usually poorly done. When we first start working with a new client, we find that they have $10,000+ in dead-stock that will just be sitting on their shelves for months or years - and some of which will never sell. And yet, despite the huge amount of over-stock, most bars run out of something every other week and have to borrow it or buy it at the supermarket (which is not only a hassle but a license violation in most states/provinces).

Let's look at the most common ways that bars order, from dumbest to smartest:

A no-no: Letting your liquor rep order for you

When I first understood that some managers just let their sales reps do their order, I couldn't believe it. Sales reps are paid mainly on commission and bonuses. The more you order, the more money they make. So of course they are going to err on the side of over-ordering. We've also seen that at the end of a quarterly bonus cycle, clients who let their rep order end up with gigantic orders obviously designed to help the rep meet a bonus sales goal.

Liquor reps also get a "spiff" from a liquor company when they get a bar to order a new brand. So, guess what, if your liquor rep decides what you order, you will get every new product that comes along. Most of these bottles end up on a "dead-stock" stockroom shelf and our auditing team is told "don't count this shelf." Those bottles, which the bar paid for, generally sit on that dead-stock shelf for years until one day the owner gets tired of looking at them and throws them all away - more money wasted.

Slightly better: Your manager guesses what to order

In most establishments, the bar manager walks around the stockroom with a clipboard and estimates what should be on the order. A conscientious manager who is paying attention can do a reasonable job.

The problem, though, is that there is no way for the manager to really know how much of each brand they are using. The manager just doesn't have the data. Occasionally, the manager is going to get the order wrong.

If they under-order, it is a major problem. You can't be out of Fireball or Crown Royal or Grey Goose on a Saturday night! So the owner or manager has to rush out to buy or borrow some bottles to get through the weekend. And when that happens the bar manager is surely going to hear about it when he deals with angry guests, angry bartenders, and an angry owner.

If the bar manager over-orders, on the other hand, nobody really notices. The owner has shelled out more money than necessary but it's buried on the balance sheet so it goes unnoticed. Few owners spend any time in the stockroom questioning why they have 9 bottles of Makers Mark - so over-ordering doesn't cause any pain to the bar manager.

Because of the incentives (pain for under-ordering, no pain for over-ordering) most bars have way too much stock on-hand. Yet because the manager doesn't have the data, they still sometimes run out of product. We see it every week.

Definitely better: Setting par levels

The best way to figure out an order is to have a par for every brand. The par is calculated by figuring out how much of each brand is used each week and then adding a "buffer" or safety margin. For example, if a bar uses 2-1/2 bottles of Jack Daniels in the average week, the par might be set at 5 bottles. On ordering day, the bar manager just needs to see if they are less than 5 bottles. If they only have 3 bottles on-hand, then the manager would order 2 more to bring the stock level up to "par."

This is the right way to determine what to order. But in practice there is a flaw: the manager doesn't have reliable data to set a par and, even worse, the usage patterns change continuously. For example, most bars use a lot more tequila in the summer than the winter so the par should rise as the weather improves and the par should drop in the fall.

But recalculating pars for every brand is a lot of work. And how does the bar manager even know the exact amount of usage on all those brands every week? Because of those limitations, the par is usually set once and left alone - until, that is, the bar runs out of something. At that point, the par is raised by a bottle or two.

What we really have is a system designed to fail. The pars only improve when the system "fails" by running out of a product.

And there is no mechanism at all for lowering the pars. So if the par on Galliano was set at two full bottles in 1985 (when Harvey Wallbangers were popular), the bar will order a new bottle whenever they fall below that two-bottle par - even though two bottles will last them another decade!

 

Pink Boots

Have you heard that women in the beer business are banding together to advance female involvement in their industry?  The beer industry is historically a male dominated one, but women are starting to make names for themselves and they have formed an organization called The Pink Boots Society.

They are the female movers and shakers of the beer industry. They get the beer brewed and fermented with the highest possible quality. They also own breweries, package the beer, design beers, serve beers, write about beer, and cover just about any aspect of beer, and they are all women. Most importantly, they teach each other what they know through own seminar programs, and help each other advance their careers by raising money for educational scholarships.  For more details you can visit their website at  http://pinkbootssociety.org

 

 

Why taglines are important

Tagline: def. A slogan or phrase that visually conveys the most important product attribute or benefit that the advertiser wishes to convey. 

Your tagline should also be highly relevant to your customers as well as a bit clever.  

The best way to start to shape one is to first figure out what segment(s) of the market you're going after, base it on what these segments really care about, and then determine your positioning statement. Then use your positioning statement as the basis for your tagline. 

Here are a few that tell their potential customer a bit about their concept pretty well:

 

Mob Bar - Quiet conversations and strong martinis

TAO - Asian Bistro & Nightclub

Atlantic Grill - Seafood and Sushi Restaurant

Moonshine Grill - Back to a simpler time. 

Pubbelly - Asian Inspired Gastropub

Nick & Joie's - Fine Dining.  Gourmet Pizza.

Judge Beans - The Best BBQ in Brentwood!

Pigs Feet are my Favorite!

by Ronna O'Toole

Every once in a while it is a good idea to shake things up and change your menu.  No one is suggesting that you have to revamp the entire thing or take off a great selling item, but I think we could agree that there are some items that are just on the menu because they have always been on the menu or because they are easy or cheap or maybe it’s just because the owner really likes pickled pigs feet with sauerkraut.  Change is good.  Pickled pig’s feet---not so much.

Start with a look at the hard numbers and see what is actually selling.  If you have a point of sale system that does this work for you then run those numbers.  If you aren’t as fancy schmancy as that, then keep a tally for a few weeks and you will surely see a pattern of good sellers and pickled pigs feet type sellers.  Keep the good ones and make a list of the rest.

Now is the time to taste your list of menu items.  Gather your staff and spend some time really tasting your menu.  Be honest with yourself and let your staff be honest as well.  Nix the items that for whatever reason are not good and never will be and then keep a list of the items that have hope…where there is room for improvement.  

Once you have your list of menu items that you feel that you can improve, the fun begins!  Brainstorm with your chef as to what can be done to sparkle up these items.  If your pickled pigs feet have somehow made the cut and are on the list then really think about what they might need…a dash of cayenne?...dried thyme?...more/less vinegar?

After your menu edits you will have some room for some new items.  Your chef may have some great new ideas and before you go for an all out change you can try these out by running specials for a few weeks to see what clicks.

Changing your menu is a great thing.  It allows you to keep what works, toss what doesn’t and fix what is fixable while breathing new life into your offerings with innovative ideas from your chef.  Let people know of your new exciting changes through social media, fresh signage and inviting the food bloggers for a taste.  Create a buzz and bring em in!  Your Pickled Pigs Feet Ragout with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Purple Heirloom Carrots and Smoked Sea Salt is something you just can’t get down the street. 

 

5 Keys to Securing a Server Position

 

Attire

How you present yourself is the very first impression your potential employer has of you. No matter what type of restaurant you are interviewing for, you want to dress in a conservative manner. Slacks and a nice shirt will go a long way. Be sure to wear sensible yet fashionable shoes. Ladies, be sure to not wear too much make up and wear little to no perfume. One of the biggest mistakes female servers make is overdoing to perfume which then battles with the smells of the food coming from the kitchen.

Work History

Walk into your interview with resume in hand! Have at least two printed, one for the hiring manager & one for you. This will allow them to follow along as you walk them through your work history. Be sure you do not read straight from your resume and speak about your experience and  previous work responsibilities. This will show the hiring manager that you are genuine about your experience and you are confident in what you have done. Be prepared to answer questions! Whether they ask you why you left your previous job or what duties you had, make sure you have an appropriate answer on hand.

Skills

Have had a job in the hospitality industry, have some of your skills in mind that will are transferable to a restaurant position. Do you work well with others? Do you thrive in a high paced environment? Are you good at quick math? Do you have experience with point of sale systems? Are you go at making small talk with strangers? Be sure to walk into your interview with your strengths in mind. This will show you are prepared but more importantly, it will show you are confident with your work experience.

Demeanor

Before you enter your interview, take a minute to think about what YOU like in a server. You never want the waitron that is counting down the minutes until their shift is over. You want the upbeat individual that is able to make your experience the best it can be. Keep this in mind as you walk into your interview. Be the server you would want to have at a restaurant. Exhibit the characteristics in your demeanor instead of through your words.

Availability

One of the most important attributes a manager looks for when hiring new staff is their availability. Discuss your availability on the front end and be willing to be flexible. This will prove that you are a team player, you are serious about the position & you are thinking ahead. The next important key to your availability is sticking with it! This will show your dedication to the position. 

 

 

Beer Cocktails: It can be a Great Way to Bring in New Guests

by: Lia Andrews

Beer cocktails?! Do you even want to know what that means?! Yes, you do! Just as the name implies, beer cocktails contain a combination of beer, mixers, spirits, and/or other ingredients that will leave your customers’ taste buds humming. Although a few beer cocktails, like the shandy, have been around for some time, as a whole, beer cocktails are “up-and-coming,” with recipes that are as simple or as meticulous as you’d like and not sacrilegious like you believed. 

Now I know craft beer pubs and microbrewery restaurants out there are probably reading this, ready to gouge their eyes out, but just here me out.  I am a female beer snob who doesn’t enjoy sweet, mixed drinks, but sometimes craves something new, and I am happy to report that beer cocktails can be just as refreshing and tasty.  Look at it from this perspective, if I am someone who is not easily swayed away from beer alone and I like beer cocktails, then imagine the possibilities of those who are not as picky or loyal to beer. Beer cocktails will open a lot of doors for your customers who have always chosen liquor over your beer. This would mean that you are introducing customers to the beer world and your beers in a more approachable fashion [which is why I can say that beer cocktails are not as blasphemous as previously imagined]. But how exactly do you know how to build a beer cocktail and what does beer actually do for the drink?

Beer generates new flavors and aromas in countless combinations that offer a twist to the average cocktail.  Adding beer creates a new texture, carbonation level and alcohol content that will construct a whole new dimension to your drinks. The key is to not try to mask the beer within the cocktail, but help compliment the beer’s flavors with that of its counterparts. With that in mind, here are five tips to help you craft your own specialty beer cocktails.

1. Never shake the beer, this will cause the beer go flat, as well as your cocktail.  Light stirring is sufficient when trying to blend.

2. Cooling the glass and other ingredients before they come into contact with the beer will keep it from foaming.

3. Remember that beer is alcohol, not a mixer.  Keeping the alcohol levels in mind is of the utmost importance when trying to formulate new drinks for guests.

4. When concocting new recipes, think about the body of each beer and the flavors they put forth.  Beer cocktails are a great way to introduce your customers to flavors they might overlook in a beer that stands alone.  Be sure to find your beer’s favorite pairings so that your customers can get the most out of their drink.

5. Be aware that cream-based liqueurs and milk will most likely curdle when mixed with beer. Ick.

Now that you have the knowledge, you have the power!  Create some new drinks that will be sure to impress your clientele as well as bring in some new faces.  Every little bit helps your business, and the beer cause!

Server Greetings: Necessity or Annoyance

by: Lia Andrews

After opening the front door and taking in the first delicious smells of hot food, customers look to be greeted by the hostess who will lead them to their table and into their dining experience.  Although this is the customers’ first impression of the restaurant, it is the server who guides the customers through their meal and leaves them with their final impressions.  Some restaurants’ front of house management entrust servers to create their own personal greeting, while other restaurants produce greetings for their servers to convey. But which approach is better?

The New York Times’ “Server’s Bible: 101 Tips How to be a Good Restaurant Waiter” wrote that servers should be professional at all times and not announce their names, “be cute” or make jokes.  This nonchalant approach allows customers to focus in on the menu and the restaurant’s atmosphere rather than the server.  It also leaves less room for the server to overshadow the meal.  But not every restaurant deems silent service as the best method.

On the opposite side of the spectrum are those who believe the customer-server connection to be crucial to the dining experience.  In his article entitled, “Things to say when Greeting a Table” author William McCoy wrote that a server should warmly introduce himself by name and then verbally list the specials.  This communicates the server’s familiarity with the food and drinks he sells and allows the table to feel more comfortable asking questions and enjoy themselves.  It also sets a certain mood for the dining experience that may have been lost had the server not been so amiable. 

While both of these greetings may achieve the same over-arching goal of having the guests return, a problem occurs when management forces the server to give a full greet when it is unwanted by the table, or when a server must remain professional when guests would prefer speaking to a more “humanized” server.  Thus, while both sides make strong points for themselves, I believe a middle ground is the best bet.

After greeting hundreds maybe even thousands of tables at an upscale-casual brewery-restaurant, and gaining eleven years of experience in the hospitality industry from various restaurants, I’ve learned that customers should be greeted according to the mood they give off to the server.  But before I explain, I should note that this only works when the front of house management can trust their servers to want to make a good impression upon their tables.  As long as the servers have pride in their work, themselves and their communication skills, they will give the flawless greeting management desires. 

Now, back to what I was saying, the decision of what kind of greeting should be relayed to the guest solely depends on the guest, and the server’s ability to read that guest.  This is not mind reading. This is a server’s job.

Within one to two minutes after the customers are seated, the server must greet the table.  As the server welcomes everyone, if he finds the guests engaging themselves within his greet by making eye contact or smiling, then that is the cue for the server to give a warmer greet with a drink or food suggestion and maybe an interesting fact about the restaurant’s history or achievements.  This will create a stronger connection between the server and guests, and more importantly, it will generate a sense of restaurant culture that will have people coming back.

However, if a table seems slightly bothered by the server’s presence, disinterested in her words, or if the guests appear to be more interested in speaking with other members in their party, then the server should keep the conversation short and maintain a low-key connection. Some tables are solely there to enjoy each other’s company or escape niceties for an hour or two.  If this seems to be the case, then let a simple greet be the answer. 

It may seem difficult for the front of the house management to allow servers to be the reigning judge over their tables, but if servers are hired based on their communication skills, multi-tasking abilities and quick-witted intelligence, then management should rest assured that the servers will do what is being asked of them.  In return for their independence, the servers will create the perfect atmosphere according to each table’s needs and keep the customers anticipating their next return.

 

 

 

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