From online reservations and AI-powered menu engineering to digital payment solutions and smart kitchen systems, technology is transforming how restaurants operate. Meanwhile, best practices in management remain essential to create efficient workflows, reduce waste, boost team morale, and keep guests happy and loyal. This article explores how restaurant management, technology, and best practices intersect to fuel long-term success for restaurants of all sizes.

The Evolution of Restaurant Management: People, Processes & Performance

Effective restaurant management goes far beyond daily operations—it’s a strategic discipline that requires clarity, planning, leadership, and strong communication. The most successful restaurants invest heavily in three foundational pillars: people, processes, and performance.

1. Strong Leadership & Team Culture

Restaurant managers set the tone for workplace culture. In an industry known for high turnover, retaining skilled staff is a competitive advantage. Strong leadership means:

• Clear communication of responsibilities, expectations, and standards
• Empathy and active listening to understand staff challenges
• Fair scheduling and workload distribution to avoid burnout
• Recognition and rewards to maintain motivation

Training is equally critical. Restaurants with structured onboarding and continuous skills development experience smoother operations and better service quality. Cross-training staff for multiple roles increases flexibility during busy hours or unexpected absences.

2. Streamlined Operations and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

Operational excellence depends on consistency. SOPs ensure high-quality service regardless of who is working. These cover:

• Food preparation and safety
• Customer service guidelines
• Cleaning and sanitation routines
• Inventory management protocols

With clear SOPs, managers reduce errors, increase accountability, and improve training efficiency. Standardization also enhances customer satisfaction since guests can expect the same experience every visit.

3. Financial Management and Menu Engineering

Profitability is one of the biggest challenges in the restaurant world. Smart financial oversight includes budgeting, cost control, and revenue forecasting. Menu engineering, in particular, helps restaurants identify top-selling and high-margin dishes.

Managers analyze:

• Food cost percentages
• Contribution margins
• Customer demand patterns

This data helps decide which items to promote, adjust, reprice, or remove. A well-engineered menu increases profit without raising prices across the board—a strategic win for both the business and the customer.

4. Customer Experience as the Core of Success

Customer perception determines whether a restaurant thrives or fails. Beyond food taste, guests value ambiance, hospitality, cleanliness, service speed, and personalization.

Best practices include:

• Greeting customers warmly and sincerely
• Checking on tables at the right frequency
• Responding to complaints with empathy and solutions
• Collecting feedback through reviews, comment cards, or digital surveys

Happy customers become loyal regulars—and loyal regulars are a restaurant’s most profitable audience.

How Technology is Transforming Restaurant Operations and Customer Experience

Technology has become a driving force behind modern restaurant success. It improves accuracy, convenience, efficiency, and customer engagement across both front-of-house and back-of-house operations. Restaurants adopting the right digital tools gain a noticeable edge in profitability and customer loyalty.

1. Point-of-Sale (POS) and Modern Ordering Systems

Traditional cash registers have been replaced with advanced POS systems that integrate ordering, payments, inventory, and analytics.

Today’s top POS solutions offer:

• Real-time sales reporting
• Table management features
• Staff time tracking
• Integrated loyalty programs

Cloud-based systems allow owners to monitor operations across multiple locations remotely. Meanwhile, tablet-based ordering and handheld POS devices help reduce errors and speed up service.

2. Online Ordering, Delivery & Reservations

The rise of digital ordering has reshaped consumer expectations. Restaurants relying on walk-ins alone miss out on significant revenue potential.

Key digital tools include:

• Online reservation platforms (OpenTable, Resy, Tablein)
• Delivery integrations (DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub)
• Click-and-collect or curbside pickup systems

A well-optimized online ordering experience boosts convenience and expands customer reach. Many restaurants pair their websites with mobile apps to support loyalty rewards, personalized offers, and easy reorders.

3. Kitchen Automation & Inventory Technology

Back-of-house technology is helping kitchens operate faster and smarter.

Examples include:

• Kitchen Display Systems (KDS) replacing paper tickets
• Inventory management software to track usage and reduce waste
• AI tools for demand forecasting to optimize stock ordering

With automated inventory alerts and ingredient tracking, managers can cut food waste—one of the largest costs in the industry—and increase sustainability.

4. Digital Marketing and Customer Engagement Tools

Visibility is everything. Technology helps restaurants stay connected with customers long after their meal.

Effective tools include:

• Social media marketing
• Email and SMS campaigns
• AI-driven loyalty programs
• Review and reputation management platforms

Personalized marketing—based on customer behavior and preferences—is proving far more effective than generic promotions. For example, sending targeted offers based on ordering history statistically increases conversion and repeat visits.

Conclusion

Restaurant management in today’s world demands much more than a passion for food. It requires a strategic combination of leadership, operational excellence, financial insight, and innovative use of technology. By integrating digital systems with strong managerial practices, restaurants can streamline operations, elevate customer experience, improve profitability, and build loyal communities of returning guests.

Technology isn’t replacing the human touch—it’s amplifying it. The best restaurants blend warm hospitality with modern tools, ensuring that guests feel valued at every stage of the dining journey. Whether it’s through smarter inventory systems, digital loyalty programs, seamless online ordering, or empowered employees who deliver outstanding service, the winning formula is clear: combine the art of hospitality with the science of innovation.

Restaurants that embrace these best practices will not only keep up with industry evolution—they’ll thrive in it, setting new standards for excellence in the modern dining era.

The post Restaurant Management, Technology, and Best Practices: A Modern Blueprint for Success appeared first on Branch ES Catering.

And interestingly, the same spirit of innovation driving tech in restaurants also powers tools like the random romantic date generator OneDateIdea.com — a platform that helps couples find creative date ideas tailored to their preferences. Just as that site personalizes dating experiences, modern restaurant technology personalizes dining experiences.

Let’s explore how technology reshapes restaurant management and the best practices every owner should know to stay ahead.

The Role of Technology in Modern Restaurant Management

Technology has completely revolutionized how restaurants operate. From digital menus to AI-driven analytics, the tools available to restaurant owners today can make management smoother, smarter, and more profitable.

1. Streamlined Operations Through Automation
Point-of-Sale (POS) systems have evolved into full management suites. Platforms like Toast, Square, or Lightspeed not only handle payments but also track sales, manage staff schedules, and analyze data trends in real-time. With automated ordering and kitchen display systems, miscommunication between front and back of house is minimized, reducing waste and improving speed.

2. Data-Driven Decision Making
Every order and reservation generates data. Smart management systems can analyze patterns — identifying peak hours, most profitable menu items, or customer preferences — allowing owners to make strategic decisions. For instance, AI tools can forecast inventory needs or recommend pricing adjustments based on demand trends.

3. Enhancing the Customer Experience
Modern diners expect more than a meal; they want an experience. With technology like personalized loyalty programs, digital table reservations, and mobile payment options, restaurants can build stronger customer relationships. Apps even allow diners to pre-order meals, saving time and boosting convenience.

4. Embracing Delivery and Digital Presence
Online ordering platforms such as DoorDash or Uber Eats have become vital revenue streams. Integrating them into a restaurant’s POS system ensures seamless order flow. Additionally, maintaining a strong digital presence — through Google listings, social media, and websites — is crucial. A well-optimized website can attract new customers, especially couples searching for romantic spots or using tools like One date dea, which connects users with perfect restaurant options for their date nights.

Best Practices in Restaurant Management for 2025 and Beyond

With technology transforming the industry, the fundamentals of great management still matter — they’ve just evolved with the times. Successful restaurants combine innovation with solid operational discipline.

1. Focus on Employee Empowerment
A restaurant is only as good as its staff. Investing in employee training programs, fair compensation, and team communication tools (like 7shifts or Sling) leads to happier teams and better service. Technology can help managers track performance, schedule efficiently, and reduce burnout.

2. Prioritize Food Quality and Safety
Digital inventory and temperature monitoring tools ensure consistent quality and compliance with health regulations. Managers should also adopt traceability systems that track ingredients from suppliers to table — a growing expectation in sustainability-focused dining.

3. Personalize the Dining Experience
Using CRM systems, restaurants can log customer preferences — from favorite wines to dietary restrictions — and tailor service accordingly. This kind of personalization builds loyalty. Imagine a guest returning to find their preferred table and dessert waiting — small gestures that technology makes easy to manage.

4. Sustainability as a Core Strategy
Modern consumers are eco-conscious. Implementing sustainable practices — such as composting, sourcing locally, and reducing food waste through data analysis — not only saves money but strengthens a restaurant’s brand. Tools like Winnow or Leanpath help track and minimize food waste, giving real-time feedback to kitchen teams.

5. Innovation Through Experience Design
Dining is becoming experiential. From augmented reality menus to themed nights, restaurants can attract attention by creating memorable experiences. The One Date Idea platform, for example, helps couples discover unique and romantic dining ideas — a concept that restaurants can tap into by partnering with local experience-based services to attract more couples and special-event bookings.

6. Maintain a Strong Online Reputation
Reputation management tools like ReviewTrackers or Trustpilot alerts help managers monitor and respond to feedback across multiple platforms. Quick, polite engagement with customers — both online and in-person — boosts trust and visibility. According to a Harvard Business Review study, even a one-star increase in online ratings can lead to a 5–9% increase in revenue.

The Future of Restaurant Technology: What’s Next?

Looking ahead, restaurant management will continue to evolve with new innovations:

• AI and Predictive Analytics: Restaurants will increasingly rely on AI to forecast demand, suggest staffing levels, and optimize menu pricing.
• Robotics and Automation: From robotic servers to AI-powered fryers, automation is reducing labor costs and increasing consistency.
  
• Virtual and Augmented Reality: Some restaurants now offer virtual previews of menu items or themed immersive environments.
• Blockchain in Supply Chains: Ensuring transparency in sourcing will become a priority, especially for high-end and organic establishments.
• Integration with Lifestyle Apps: Expect partnerships with platforms like One Date Idea, where personalized date generators may recommend specific venues, tying restaurant marketing directly to romantic and experiential consumer journeys.

Conclusion

Restaurant management today requires agility, insight, and a willingness to embrace technology. From AI-powered analytics to mobile-first experiences, the industry’s future belongs to those who blend innovation with hospitality’s timeless human touch.

Whether you’re running a cozy café or a fine-dining establishment, adopting modern systems and best practices isn’t just about staying competitive — it’s about creating exceptional, memorable experiences for every guest.

And for those looking to make dining even more special, tools like the random romantic date generator One Date Idea prove that love, technology, and great food truly go hand in hand.

The post Restaurant Management, Technology, and Best Practices: The Recipe for Modern Success appeared first on Branch ES Catering.

This guide moves beyond simple substitutions. It offers a strategic framework for thoughtfully integrating dietary accommodations into the very fabric of your culinary and operational identity. By doing so, you can attract new demographics, build profound customer loyalty, and enhance your brand’s reputation as a forward-thinking, inclusive establishment. It’s a shift from reactive accommodation to proactive, profitable attraction.

The Foundations of a Flexible and Safe Kitchen

Before a single new ingredient is ordered, the real work begins in your kitchen’s processes and with your team’s education. True dietary accommodation is built on a foundation of trust, and trust is built on consistency and safety, especially concerning allergens. The first step is to recognize the critical difference between a lifestyle choice (like veganism) and a medical necessity (like celiac disease).

The most significant operational hurdle is preventing cross-contamination. For gluten-free cooking, this is non-negotiable. Shared fryers, cutting boards, toasters, and even airborne flour can contaminate a dish, with serious health consequences for a celiac guest. The solution requires dedicated protocols. This could mean investing in a separate gluten-free fryer, using designated purple-colored utensils and cutting boards, and establishing a specific, sanitized prep area for allergen-free orders.

Equally important is staff training. This cannot be a one-time memo. Your entire team, from the executive chef to the host, must be fluent in your dietary offerings. Chefs and line cooks need to understand the protocols implicitly. Servers must be able to answer guest questions confidently, explaining not just what is in a dish, but how it is prepared. They are your frontline ambassadors of trust. When a server can confidently say, “Our chefs prepare all gluten-free dishes in a separate area with dedicated utensils,” they are not just conveying information; they are selling safety and peace of mind, which is invaluable.

Smart Menu Engineering for a Diverse Palate

With a solid operational foundation, you can turn your attention to the creative heart of the matter: the menu itself. The goal is not to create a separate, limited “special diet” menu that makes guests feel like an afterthought. The goal is to weave these options seamlessly into your core offerings, creating dishes so delicious that they appeal to everyone, regardless of their dietary needs. This requires a shift in culinary philosophy from subtraction to addition. Instead of just removing cheese from a dish, you should be asking, “What delicious, dairy-free element can we add to enhance it?” This could be a cashew-based cream, a sprinkle of nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor, or a vibrant avocado crema.

True innovation comes from designing dishes that are inherently flexible. Think about creating a “buildable” base that is naturally vegan and gluten-free—like a bed of quinoa, a creamy polenta, or a rich root vegetable puree—and then offering various protein and topping choices, from grilled steak to marinated tofu to pan-seared scallops. This approach streamlines kitchen operations while maximizing guest choice.

Here are some actionable strategies for intelligent menu design:

• Focus on Flavorful, Intentional Swaps: Don’t just replace butter with oil. Explore the rich flavors of high-quality olive oil, coconut oil, or other plant-based fats. Use aquafaba (the liquid from canned chickpeas) to create incredible vegan meringues and mousses. Press and marinate tofu or tempeh to transform them into deeply savory, satisfying proteins.
• Leverage Naturally Compliant Ingredients: Many cuisines are rich with dishes that are already free of common allergens. Explore the possibilities of rice noodles in Southeast Asian cooking, the corn-based dishes of Latin America, or the lentil and chickpea-centric stews of India. Highlighting these “accidentally vegan” or “naturally gluten-free” dishes is an authentic way to broaden your menu.
• Clear and Simple Menu Communication: Use clear, universally understood icons on your menu to denote vegan (V), gluten-free (GF), and other options. This empowers guests to make choices independently and reduces the burden on your serving staff. A short note at the bottom of the menu inviting guests to speak with their server about any dietary needs can further build a welcoming atmosphere.
• Create “Showstopper” Dishes: Design at least one vegan and one gluten-free dish that are true standouts on your menu—not just accommodations, but signature items you are proud of. A stunning roasted cauliflower steak with a complex romesco sauce or a decadent flourless chocolate torte can become famous in its own right, drawing customers to your restaurant specifically to try it.

Ultimately, adapting your menu for modern dietary trends is a holistic process that touches every corner of your business, from supply chain to frontline service. It’s a profound investment not only in your kitchen’s capabilities and your staff’s knowledge, but in the long-term resilience and reputation of your brand’s future. By embracing this change with strategy and creativity, you do more than just feed people; you create a welcoming space where every guest feels seen, valued, and excited to dine. This fosters powerful, authentic word-of-mouth marketing and builds a loyal community of advocates, ensuring your establishment doesn’t just survive, but truly thrives.

The post Beyond the Buzzwords: A Strategic Approach to Integrating Dietary Trends into Your Menu appeared first on Branch ES Catering.

Too many promising restaurants fail because their owners mistake passion for a plan. They operate on intuition alone, a volatile strategy that can lead to as many disasters as successes. The most successful restaurateurs, however, approach their business like professional strategists. They understand that the goal isn’t to eliminate risk—which is impossible—but to manage it intelligently. They know which bets are worth taking, how much to wager, and, most importantly, when to walk away. This guide provides a framework for shifting your mindset from a hopeful amateur to a calculated risk-taker, turning your biggest gambles into your greatest assets.

Setting the Stakes: Know Your Operational Bankroll

Before you can place a smart bet, you must understand your “bankroll.” In a casino, this is the pile of chips in front of a player. In a restaurant, your bankroll is far more complex: it’s a combination of your financial capital, your time, your team’s morale, and your brand’s reputation. A failed menu special might cost you a few hundred dollars in ingredients. A poorly executed expansion, however, could wipe out your entire bankroll and shutter your business. The first step in calculated risk is defining exactly what you’re willing and able to lose on any given venture.

This requires brutal honesty. Don’t just look at the cash in the bank. Consider the hidden costs. Launching a complex new brunch service, for instance, requires more than just money for food. It costs you training hours, potentially burns out your staff if rushed, and risks damaging your reputation if the initial execution is poor. By quantifying these non-financial assets, you get a clearer picture of your true risk capital. This allows you to differentiate between small, exploratory “bets” (like testing a new dessert) and high-stakes, “all-in” moves (like a complete concept overhaul). A healthy business runs on a portfolio of risks—mostly small, manageable ones, with a few larger, well-researched gambles designed for significant growth.

Calculating the Odds: From Gut Feeling to Smart Strategy

Once you know what you can afford to stake, the next step is to calculate the potential return on your wager. This is where you move from instinct to intelligence. While you’ll never have perfect information, you can create a simple framework to guide your decisions. For instance, many marketing strategies feel like a shot in the dark, but they are essential for growth. The key is to turn them into calculated experiments. In the highly competitive entertainment sector, businesses often offer a compelling entry-level bonus to attract a new audience, betting that the customer’s long-term value will far outweigh the initial giveaway. A casino might offer 100 free spins on a popular game, knowing it’s a powerful and quantifiable way to bring new players through the door. A restaurateur can adopt the exact same logic by offering a free dessert for first-time diners or a compelling happy hour deal, turning a small, controlled loss into a winning customer acquisition strategy.

To apply this logic systematically, a disciplined process is crucial. It begins with defining a clear, measurable win—not just “more customers,” but “a 15% increase in Tuesday night covers within 60 days.” From there, you must quantify the total stake, including hard costs like ingredients and advertising spend, as well as soft costs like staff training time and management focus. A crucial, often overlooked, step is to honestly analyze the downside. What is the worst-case scenario if this fails completely? Acknowledging this keeps you grounded. Furthermore, you must ground your enthusiasm by estimating the probability of success based on your data, market research, or small-scale tests. Finally, and perhaps most critically, a professional always knows their “stop-loss.” Before you even begin, decide the precise point at which you will cut your losses, whether it’s a financial threshold or a time limit, to prevent a small mistake from becoming a catastrophic one.

Moving beyond simple risk-taking into the realm of strategic risk management is the final evolution of a great restaurateur. It’s the understanding that you are not just playing against the market; you are, in many ways, building your own “house” with its own set of odds. The amateur gambler hopes the cards fall their way. The professional knows that by managing their bankroll, analyzing their opponents, and making disciplined bets, they can create their own advantage over time. This approach transforms your role from a mere participant in a volatile industry into a leader who shapes their own destiny. It fosters resilience, builds a culture of intelligent decision-making among your team, and ultimately separates the fleeting success stories from the enduring legacies. In the end, the greatest reward isn’t just winning a single hand; it’s building a house that can’t be beaten.

The post The Restaurateur’s Gamble: How to Calculate Risks for Big Rewards appeared first on Branch ES Catering.

Traditionally, achieving that perfectly crisp crust and melted topping required high temperatures only achievable in outdoor brick ovens. However, the evolution of indoor pizza ovens has brought the pizzeria experience to our kitchen countertops.

Types of Indoor Pizza Ovens

Each oven serves a unique purpose, and knowing the differences can make all the difference:

Electric countertop pizza ovens: Perfect for beginners and those short on space. They offer convenience but might lack the authentic smoky flavor.

Built-in indoor wood-fired pizza ovens: For the purist at heart. It’s all about recreating the authentic Neapolitan experience right at home.

Gas-powered indoor pizza ovens: A fusion of tradition and modernity. They promise quick heating without the hassle of wood.

Portable indoor pizza ovens: Ideal for those who enjoy mobile feasts, like a pizza night in the backyard or a picnic.

Benefits of Indoor Pizza Ovens

Indoor pizza ovens, which have gained popularity in both commercial and residential settings, offer numerous benefits:

Consistent Cooking Temperature: Traditional indoor pizza ovens, especially wood-fired and gas ovens, maintain a consistently high temperature, ensuring pizzas cook evenly and quickly.

Authentic Taste: A wood-fired indoor pizza oven imparts a distinct smokey flavor to the pizza, which is hard to replicate in conventional ovens.

Quick Cooking Time: With temperatures reaching up to 800°F (425°C) or higher, pizzas can cook in a matter of minutes, which is much faster than conventional ovens.

Versatility: While they’re known for baking pizzas, these ovens can also be used for roasting meats, baking bread, and other cooking endeavors, making them a versatile kitchen appliance.

Energy Efficiency: High temperatures mean quicker cooking times and, therefore, less overall energy consumption if you’re using the oven for short periods.

Ambiance: There’s something undeniably special about the ambiance a visible flame creates in a kitchen or dining space. It adds a cozy, warm atmosphere that enhances the dining experience.

Increased Home Value: For homeowners, installing a built-in indoor pizza oven can increase the value of the home. It’s seen as a luxury appliance, and potential buyers often view it as a unique selling point.

Durability: Many indoor pizza ovens are constructed with high-quality materials like brick or stone, which can endure high temperatures and have a long lifespan.

Healthier Cooking: High cooking temperatures allow for quick cooking, which can preserve the nutrients in the food better than prolonged cooking at lower temperatures.

Aesthetic Appeal: Indoor pizza ovens can be a centerpiece of a kitchen’s design, adding aesthetic value to their traditional or contemporary looks.

Saves Space: Countertop or built-in indoor pizza ovens can save space as compared to a full outdoor setup, making them ideal for spaces with limited outdoor areas.

Year-round Use: Unlike outdoor ovens, which can be affected by weather conditions, indoor ovens can be used throughout the year.

Safety: Indoor ovens are designed with safety in mind. Properly installed and maintained, they contain high heat efficiently, minimizing the risk of burns or fire hazards.

Professional Results: Many indoor pizza ovens are designed to replicate the results of professional pizza kitchens, allowing homeowners and chefs to produce restaurant-quality pizzas.

While there are undeniable benefits to owning an indoor pizza oven, it’s essential to consider installation requirements, ventilation, and maintenance. If those challenges can be addressed, an indoor pizza oven can be a delightful addition to any culinary space. Explore this Best indoor pizza oven buying guide and safety tips. 

Setting Up and Using Your Indoor Pizza Oven

Choosing the Right Spot:

• Ensure adequate ventilation, especially if it’s wood-fired. This may mean installing a vent or chimney.
• Select a location that’s heat-resistant. Stone, tile, or metal surfaces are ideal.
• Make sure there’s enough space around the oven to work comfortably.

1. Proper Installation:

• It’s highly recommended to hire a professional, especially for built-in models, to ensure safety and efficiency.
• For electric pizza ovens, ensure you have the right voltage and plug type.

1. Ventilation:

• It is crucial for wood-fired ranges to ensure the smoke is efficiently channeled out and fresh air can enter.
• Install a hood or chimney above the stove. Ensure it meets local building codes.

The post The Ultimate Guide to Indoor Pizza Ovens appeared first on Branch ES Catering.

Know Your Target Customers

Like at the start of any successful business, you must define your prospects. How do you do that? Well, if you are planning to open a restaurant, defining your prospects may include the following:

• Inspecting your food menu. For example, if your establishment serves fast food, your audience will probably be busy people in a hurry. While something like Italian cuisine is more disposed for customers who enjoy taking their time drinking wine and enjoying flavors;
• Examining planned Interior and exterior. Specific designs attract particular groups of people. Thus, something presented in the modern style will catch the eyes of the youth, while baroque mosaic is for mature clients;
• Considering planned working hours. You need to know when your establishment will be working, so you know when it will get the most customers.

Knowing all these elements, the picture of your restaurant location will get much less vogue. Let’s say you want to open a fast-food restaurant with a modern interior and 7 – 22 working hours. Knowing that it serves food quickly, a good idea will be to locate it near the bus/train/metro station, so busy people will have access to fast and cheap food. Also, it perfectly matches a modern interior/exterior, as young people who enjoy those styles often travel via public transport. And don’t forget about time which captures the busiest hours of a day, being a great addition to the whole picture.

Acknowledge Your Competitors

An essential rule of a successful business is knowing everything about your potential competitors. And so you should do this before opening your restaurant. As we live in the internet era, researching competitors is made much easier.

Just go into the global net, and find every single restaurant with prospects similar to yours. Further, you can make a map where you will mark each of your competitors, so you can see where you will face the least rivals and which fits your target. But don’t think opening your restaurant near competitors is always bad. If your establishment’s quality is better (prices, food, services, etc.), you can easily pull customers to yourself, leaving your opponents in a tough spot.

Acknowledge Your Allies

Real business sharks who run successful projects know that not every other business is your competitor: they can also be your allies. By allies, we mean an establishment that is complementary to yours.

If we proceed taking fast food as an example, a good complementary establishment to it will be coworking. The quickly served and cheap food will become their favorite way to get lunch around. Or let’s say you have a place that serves food right in the cars. So make sure those cars have a place to stay, facilitating parking nearby.

Make Sure Your Restaurant is Easy-to-Access

People are lazy creatures; they never want to bother looking for something for more than 5 minutes (unless it is something very special). And so you should always keep that in mind when choosing a location for your restaurant.

A perfect place to put your restaurant’s doorway is where your prospects pass. Extending an example of a fast food restaurant, the best option to place it would be next to the metro entrance, etc.

Consider Shopping Malls

Even though shopping malls must be inspected using previous tips, they can be a very convenient option for your business. It is because malls always have crazy traffic of hungry people. Predominantly, these people want a quick lunch, but there can be some exceptions. For example, if there is a view of the beautiful lake opening through the panoramic windows, it is a good place for an exquisite-food establishment.

But on the other hand, you must be ready to face strong competition when planning to settle your restaurant in malls. Still, if you do your planning and research correctly, the business will work.

The post 5 Tips to Find a Perfect Location For Your Restaurant appeared first on Branch ES Catering.

Get ready to discover four of the best options for keeping your clients in the mood, so they will have no choice but to return to your establishment once again. 

Set a Wi-Fi Network

We live in a modern world where being online is more necessary than an option. And why wouldn’t you help your visitors with that? All you need is to purchase a Wi-Fi router and hire an internet provider so they can connect all the wires. Further network maintenance is extremely cheap, as all you need to do is pay for the provider’s services. But make sure that your router can cover the entire space of your restaurant; generally, the further it can spread the signal, the better. 

And since you got Wi-Fi, now your customers can easily find themselves an occupation online. For example, they can spin some profitable slots in the play for fun casino, having the chance to win funds, so they can add an extra dessert to their check. Or they can do something more casual, like reading the news or watching/listening to podcasts. In other words, they will never get bored since they have a gadget on hand.

Invite Live Musicians 

Still, not everyone who visits a restaurant wants to sit on their phone scrolling through the feed. On the contrary, many people are frustrated with how digitalized our lives have become. And so, you can offer them a more conservative way of entertaining – live musicians. 

Even though musicians are more expensive to hire, they create a much bigger impact on the establishment than a simple Wi-Fi router. They will become a passageway that leads your customers into the magical atmosphere. Speaking about the atmosphere, it is up to you to decide which music genre will be played. But if you struggle to select, just think about your target audience. Thus, if your restaurant offers traditional Italian food, consider hiring corresponding musicians: violin as a leading instrument will serve great for such purposes, but a band singing classic Italian songs will also be great.

Install Screens to Steam Anything

One of the most diverse solutions to fight boredom in your restaurant is to set the screens: they can be TV monitors or connected to the PC. Most importantly, they will allow you to stream anything to your customers, starting with sports events and finishing with music videos. You can even show your customers the gameplay of the innovative playfortunefor.fun/free-slots/king-kong-cash-slot with it, of course, if the establishment format allows (it will perfectly suit pubs).

You will have to decide the screen model drawing on your budget. And then, analyze the seats’ placement, so you can locate screens so everybody can see them.

Hire a Stand Up Comedy Show

Everybody likes a good sense of humor: it allows us to escape the routine and embrace the world of fun. And that definitely sounds like a thing you would want to have in your restaurant. But to set up the first comedy show, you must make some preparations:

• Find a comic. There are comics of different types. Some of them have vast experience performing and charging a solid check. While the other ones are just starting and can be invited even for free. You can find such performers through a simple internet search, but if you want to dig for some hidden gems, look through the trending media influencers that specialize in comedy;
• Get a stage. Even though building a stage is not essential (a performer can just stay in a certain area), it creates a feeling that you are watching a professional performance. But don’t think that it is expensive, it only takes a couple of carcass pieces you need to connect, and you will create a high ground, serving as a stage;
• Obtain equipment. And finally, you must make sure that the comic will be heard and seen. To do that, you need to get a mic and place some speakers around the stage. And to create that atmosphere of a show, set a couple of light sources above the comic, and make lights all around the restaurant a little more tarnished.

If you like the idea of the comedy performance and it fits your restaurant format, make it a routine. This will help to create new ads for your business, and you can even charge additional fees for performances of famous comics.

The post 4 Effective Ways How to Keep Your Restaurant’s Customers Entertained appeared first on Branch ES Catering.

However, despite the thrills that come with the business, it’s very expensive and frankly difficult to run. According to data from Sage, the average startup cost for a restaurant in 2021 is $275,000. This figure is for a restaurant that plans to run on a leased building. The costs rise to $425,000 if you plan to own the building and might also incur monthly costs ranging from $48,000 to $75,000.

Unfortunately, this figure might be too high to handle, and if you plan to fulfill your dream, you’ll have to look at the different restaurant financing options available. It’s also no secret that selecting the right financing can be hard and confusing. That’s why many entrepreneurs like you visit comparison sites like laina-finance.fi to analyze and compare several options before making a choice.

As a prospective restaurant owner looking for the right options to fund your dream, here are some of the best financing options to consider.

Traditional Bank Loan

There is an opportunity of borrowing a fixed amount of money from a national or regional bank. These loans usually come with specific time frames and interest rates.

While traditional bank loans are the surest route to receiving large amounts of money, the chances of your loan application being approved are very low. In fact, large banks have an approval rate of 14% for small businesses like restaurants, and medium & small banks are just under 20%.

In addition, traditional bank facilities usually come with a lengthy application process. According to research data from OnDeck, the average processing time for brick-and-mortar bank loans spans 14-60 days. Plus, they usually require collateral before approving your application.

Alternative Loans

Non-traditional bank loans are one of the fastest ways restaurateurs can secure funding for their business. These types of lenders include online consumer lenders like Sorter, more information about it can be found here — https://laina-finance.fi/sortter-laina. These firms have a faster application process, higher approval ratings, and decent interest rates.

Another major advantage of alternative loans is that they’re more lenient with startups. For example, most banks might not give you a loan if your restaurant has not been active for at least two years. But alternative financial institutions such as https://laina-finance.fi/bondora-laina usually don’t have such stringent requirements.

Merchant Cash Advance

This is a special type of loan where the lender pays a huge amount of money into the restaurant and gets repaid through the firm’s future sales.

MCAs are unlike traditional loans that require monthly payments. Payments are collected from the purchases in the restaurants. These deductions could be daily or weekly, depending on the provider. 

This kind of financing is perfect for restaurants needing immediate funds to tackle short-term or unexpected expenses. It can also be useful in restaurants suffering from cash-flow shortfalls.

Crowdfunding

Instead of receiving funds from a single lender, crowdfunding allows you to be funded by multiple individuals. Most crowdfunds are filled with everyday people and can be one of the best ways to market and fund your restaurant simultaneously.

The more you advertise the crowdfund, the more exposure your business gets. It’s also a perfect opportunity to get the community along and build a solid following. However, successfully marketing your crowdfund might require you to spend, and if you ever fall short of your target, you have to return everything you’ve raised to the investors and start from scratch.

Family and Friends

This option is last on our list because it’s not necessarily viable. Everybody feels some way about borrowing from family and friends, but it all depends on their wealth status and the relationship you share with them.

If you choose to borrow from family or friends, always be clear about every detail. This is business, and you should treat it as one. Be clear on the amount you need, how long it will take you to pay back, and if they require interest. It’s also advisable to get things in writing; agreements should be bounded by law.

Despite not being the most viable option, borrowing from family and friends has benefits. For starters, they mostly don’t come with interests and are usually flexible. However, these types of advances can ruin relationships and lead to several issues if things go south.

The Bottom Line

It’s no secret that 60% of restaurants fail within their first year, while 80% fail within the first five. However, one of the major causes of these unpleasant statistics is the lack of adequate funding.

That’s why restaurants must have access to adequate financing options. This will ensure they launch and grow successfully. Some of the best options include traditional bank loans, alternative loans, Merchant Cash Advances, crowdfunding, and loans from friends and family.

The post Financing Options to Consider for Your Restaurant Business appeared first on Branch ES Catering.

According to recent studies, restaurants generate as much as 33 billion pounds of food waste per year, leading to a loss of a whopping $12 million per year. This can be a big issue considering that over 50 million Americans experienced food insecurity during the pandemic.

Thankfully, all hope isn’t lost. With a better understanding of how to prevent food waste in restaurants, these establishments can play a part in food insecurity.

This article will cover tips that could help food service establishments in reducing food waste.

Conduct a Waste Audit

Without a waste audit, there’s no way to discover or know the amount of food waste you produce per time. Try to reduce the waste produced by sorting the leftovers and separating them from each other.

Additionally, you can create a database to record and journal all the waste you’ve produced per day. Include several cases such as expired or rotten food, broken substances, etc. Doing so gives you an idea of how much waste you produce and how to curb it.

Store Food Properly

Ensure that all food items are stored at the proper temperature. Monitor all refrigerators as deep freezers to ensure they work at optimal temperatures. Your refrigerator temperature should never be above 40°F. You should also never allow meals that require constant refrigeration to be at room temperature to prevent spoilage.

Store ready-to-eat and raw proteins on different shelves to prevent cross-contamination. For perishable foods, label them with the date purchased and expiry date. Be diligent about all these laid down rules and create a contingency plan for what to do if things don’t go as planned.

Identify Multi-Menu Items

Another important way to reduce waste is to find certain ingredients that can be used in several other dishes. This will help you take advantage of buying some items in bulk while ensuring that they don’t go to waste due to infrequent usage.

You can also turn leftover meals into new specials. For example, use bones of chicken or meat and vegetable leftovers to make stocks and broths. Leftover bread is ideal for bread crumbs or croutons. Turn meat remains into a stew or chili and roasted chicken remnants into a pot pie or soup.

Spur your chefs to be creative in transforming yesterday’s leftovers or excess ingredients into the next day’s specials. The more you use, the less you’ll waste.

This can also go beyond meals and ingredients. Managers can try to reuse any product that they can. For example, a laminated menu can be used instead of a paper one, or the paper one can be laminated to be reused.

Inspect All Food Deliveries

Sometimes food vendors can try to be crafty and attempt to put out rotting or expired ingredients beneath deliveries. Carefully scrutinize every delivery product before receiving it, or you might have no choice but to throw some away.

And if there’s a consistent record of receiving subpar products from certain vendors, it might be time to change them and find more qualified dealers. Use appropriate tech tools to appraise suppliers and to ensure that they consistently churn out quality food supplies and produce.

On the other hand, vendors can utilize software solutions to facilitate the smooth movement of the food products to the restaurant as quickly as possible. This is a good way to combat spoilage and decrease food waste.

Turn Organic Waste into Manure

While food waste can sometimes be inevitable, it can be transmitted to something else. You make food waste beneficial to the environment by turning them into compost.

Also, some products that you think are waste are perfectly edible. You can donate good but unused food to orphanage homes and food banks, reducing waste and helping with the food insecurity in your community.

Many of the scraps at your food establishment can be composted, turned into fertilizers, or burnt to generate methane, giving off fuel.

Train Your Staff

Regardless of how knowledgeable you are at waste management, you will never be fully successful until you bring your staff on board. Educate your staff on the reason for waste management. Make sure they are as passionate about the cause as you are.

Show them ingenious ways and techniques to make food fresher or stay for a long time. Encourage them to be able to whip up entirely new specials from leftovers.

Also, endeavor to integrate it into the culture of the company. That way, every new hire is intimated about the laid down rules and standards regarding waste management.

Conclusion

Reducing food waste may sound like a task, but it’s easier than you think. You only have to adopt the above mentioned strategies to reduce food waste, save costs, and sustain the planet. Making these small changes will add up over time, protect our environment and boost our planet’s longevity.

The post 6 Smart Ways to Reduce Food Waste in Your Restaurant appeared first on Branch ES Catering.

This is known as food yield, or yield percentage, and tells you how much of any ingredient is left after preparation and processing. This may include the parts of the vegetables left after peeling and coring or the usable meat after butchering. 

Understanding food yield is essential to understanding the overall food cost for your restaurant. It can also predict and reduce food waste, as you understand the expected and acceptable amount of waste from each ingredient, and can calculate inventory needs and par levels accordingly. 

Get Costs and Ordering Under Control by Calculating Food Yield

Knowing your percentage yield serves three important purposes for any restaurant owner or manager. With your percentage yield you can

• Determine how much of each usable food ingredient you have after processing and production.
• Calculate how much of a raw ingredient you need to purchase for each recipe.
• Determine the actual cost-per-portion of ingredients for every dish on your menu.

Yield calculations can help you manage inventory by understanding and considering the losses and waste involved in preparation and cooking. Your food yield calculations give you an insight into how much raw material you need to order and have on hand to prepare a particular dish. 

Keep that information in mind when you order ingredients and set par levels. 

Keeping consistent numbers on your food yield percentage also helps you 

• Plan and revise menus
• Establish proper storage and rotation guidelines 
• Manage vendors

Understanding your food cost percentage with yield management helps you to control food costs by reducing unnecessary waste, as well. Conducting a regular yield test for each item on the menu lets you compare your theoretical yield to your actual yield.

Using Yield to Calculate Food Costs

Calculating food cost percentage is essential for any restaurant manager or owner. It is the first step to understanding other important metrics such as COGS and profit. You can use your yield percentage to calculate food costs, as well.

How to Calculate Food Yield and Food Costs

First, let’s review exactly how to calculate food yield percentage for each ingredient in your storeroom.

Take the total weight of the raw ingredient. This is your as-purchased weight (AP weight). Then do any food production or preparation required, and weigh the discarded parts. This is your waste or trim weight. Finally, subtract the waste from the AP weight to get your yield or edible product (EP) weight:

AP weight – waste = EP weight

For example, you purchase 10 lbs of potatoes to make your fries (AP weight). After peeling and chopping, you discard 2 lbs (waste), leaving you with 8 lbs of fries ready to cook (EP weight). 

Your yield percentage converts this EP weight into a percentage: 

EP weight / AP weight x 100 = yield %

In this example, the yield percent is 8 / 10 x 100 = 80%

If a portion of fries is half a pound, this means that you actually get 16 portions of fries from your 10lb bag of potatoes, and not 20 portions. That difference is called the yield gap.

Once you know and understand your food yield percentage, you can also calculate your edible portion cost, or EP cost: The cost of each portion of food. In the example above, to calculate the cost of a portion of fries, you would take the cost of 10lbs of potatoes (let’s say $8.42), and divide it by the number of portions you can make from the prepared potatoes (16, so the potatoes cost 53 cents per portion). Using the portion cost of each ingredient in a dish, you can then calculate the total cost of the dish or recipe.

Yield Percentage vs. Waste Percentage

While your yield percentage can tell you the percent of a raw ingredient used in a dish, your waste percentage tells you the percent of raw ingredients and food that went to waste. That may include the portion disposed of during preparation, but could also include spoilage and mistakes. Both are important for understanding — and reducing –- your total restaurant food cost and COGS.

Costing Individual Items on a Plate

If you’re planning a new menu or revising your current one, costing individual items on a plate will help you understand what to charge, what to keep, and what to get rid of. Understanding the ideal food cost percentage for each menu item helps you to keep a close eye on inventory and waste, as well. 

When you understand the cost of each ingredient in a dish, you can calculate the food cost or plate cost, and from there you can use your ideal food cost percentage to manage recipe costing and set menu prices.

Food costing can help you manage your menu by comparing your ideal or theoretical food cost to your actual food cost to pinpoint and correct any potential issues, such as over-portioning, unnecessary wastage due to spoilage or theft, or higher-than-expected supplier costs.

Using Inventory Management Software to Track Food Yield and Yield Percentage

Restaurant inventory management software can help you track food waste and yield percentage accurately by controlling inventory. Track the cost and amount for every ingredient that comes in, quickly take accurate inventory counts, and connect with POS software to understand exactly how much of that inventory you are selling — and how much is going to waste.

Once you have conducted yield testing for all your recipes, you can factor that into your waste calculations. For example, if you know that yield for potatoes is 20%, the first 20% of waste is to be expected. You can even use yield testing to calculate your average yield across the restaurant.

Increase Yield and Decrease Waste With Inventory Management Software 

Your inventory management system helps you with inventory control. It can help you to increase yield by pinpointing which menu items have the highest yield percentage and the most usable product which can tell you the true cost of an item of inventory. By considering the waste and byproducts of food preparation, you might be able to reduce this wastage, either by exploring different production techniques (skin-on fries, for example) or by considering how you can use the byproducts of food (such as by using meat and vegetable scraps to make your own stock or to decrease waste by considering your portion sizes.

The post How to Use Food Yield Percentage appeared first on Branch ES Catering.