How long has your restaurant menu been in place? How in touch are you? Is your restaurant menu old and tired? Does it meet the real need of the guests?
Michael Hartzell, on 12/16/14 10:10 AM
How long has your restaurant menu been in place? How in touch are you? Is your restaurant menu old and tired? Does it meet the real need of the guests?
Michael Hartzell, on 10/30/14 9:08 PM
RESTAURANT SUCCESS INITIATIVE MAKES IT EASIER
TO OPEN A RESTAURANT IN SEATTLE
Mayor Ed Murray, City Councilmember Sally Clark, Governor Jay Inslee, and King County Executive Dow Constantine joined the Washington Restaurant Association and restaurant entrepreneurs today in Capitol Hill to announce the launch of Restaurant Success, a new initiative to provide better service and support for prospective restaurateurs.
Michael Hartzell, on 10/5/14 7:53 AM
Timing is everything in the restaurant business. The Glympse app tracks where someone is at and shows their speed and location. It offers better accountability for those delivering meals or if you can convince a customer to participate, you can watch them on a screen and have their meals ready exactly when they arrive. The mystery of "where are you... district manager?" goes away with the Glympse app.
Michael Hartzell, on 9/6/14 12:34 PM
Splick.it Beacon is a small wireless transmitter placed inside the restaurant. When a customer with a restaurant’s app walks in, the Splick.it platform can capture the customer visit, reward them with loyalty points and send a message to the phone. In addition to enhanced marketing capabilities, the platform can also release orders to the kitchen in real-time as the customer walks in.
Michael Hartzell, on 6/30/14 7:47 AM
Did you see this yet about Amazon? With the big news about their smartphone still in your mind, you may have missed it. Here is the new video about how Amazon is launching a take out food delivery service to homes.
Michael Hartzell, on 6/8/14 6:43 AM
Cooking robots is not news. 50 years ago automated machines cooked hamburgers, hotdogs, french fries and even make a milkshake. The engineers of AMF's Central Research Labs in Stamford, CT invented automated foodservice. This entertaining film (circa 1964) describes a pilot operation for the then-burgeoning fast-food industry.
AMF's Orbis system (shown here) pioneered the concept of electronic ordering, price tabulation, and inventory management in foodservice. Today that is the standard worldwide. However, AMF's Orbis system went further; it electronically controlled the machinery that prepared, cooked, and packaged the food items. AMF's automated beverage dispensers (also shown here) are today common at the "drive-through windows" of many fast-food operations.
Michael Hartzell, on 6/5/14 8:23 AM
If you are an on-the-go restaurant owner or manager, you may have difficulty keep up with the trends. You know it is important to create "better" and guests will get bored if they see exactly the same menu. Predicting upcoming trends becomes a painstaking task.
Michael Hartzell, on 5/20/14 1:06 AM
Restaurateurs don't sell food, they sell eating. In fact, if you watch very closely, you will see people eating in restaurants and nodding - smiling, shaking their heads, pointing and on occasion they will not eat... they will poke their food.
Meanwhile, the beginning of today seemed like any other with products to be checked and inventoried, cash to be counted, employees to motivate and restaurants to clean. The very detailed restaurant checklist is full of "have-to's" which can be a grind for a management team and staff. There are aspects in any restaurant operation which are a heavy burden on the mind, body and spirit of even the most disciplined and experienced person.
Enter Charlie Hopper. He wrote a book, but not just any book... Charlie redefines what restaurateurs are all about in Selling Eating: Restaurant Marketing Beyond the Word Delicious. After twenty years of restaurant communication experience, he has a deep well to pull from as he offers recommendations that range from brand positioning and the “The Seven Very Specific People Your Restaurant Needs to Reach,” to actionable advice like “Three Things Every Menu Should Do,” “Eighteen Separate Restaurant Marketing Moments,” “Fifteen Forbidden Food Words to Never Use,” and many more insights.
Michael Hartzell, on 5/2/14 7:05 PM
What does it take to make a profit in the restaurant business? Is it possible to give away a free lunch and stay profitable? How about 300 free lunches? For many smaller restaurants, it is believed there is no such thing as a “free lunch” and every transaction must be profitable. It is a stretch to believe that having a drawing where 300 people win “the prize” of a free lunch will help business enough to make it pay and yet this has been done successfully.
Michael Hartzell, on 3/7/14 6:27 PM
Do you know anyone who has an obsession about a restaurant? When guests go out of their way to share stories about the flavors and team, sales double. I know this for a fact because I have done it many times. When such a restaurant is found "worthy", people make up excuses for why they should go again.
Michael Hartzell, on 2/19/14 10:15 AM
Restaurant marketing with low tech is very effective. With tools as simple as "a card, a pen and a friend", you can have a very high rate of return.
The downside for personalized marketing is that it takes time.
Compare two marketing options:
How this will pay off in sales dollars will depend on the average transaction amount and if there are discounts included.
Michael Hartzell, on 1/7/14 11:08 PM
Who needs a restaurant consultant? It appears "no one". Especially since technology allows every restaurant owner to put on their menu: “Prime Rib” since the ease of thawing and heating in an air tight package is simple and fast.
