Tropical Smoothie Appoints Performance-Improvement Executives

Posted by kellyb on February 24, 2010 under Management | Comments are off for this article

See how this chain is focusing on continuous improvement…..Tropical Smoothie Café, a tropical-themed smoothie and sandwich chain, announced that Kathleen…
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Helpful Tips For Your Restaurant Menu

Posted by kellyb on under Menu items | Comments are off for this article

When you are running a restaurant, the menu is one of the most important things that you should worry about. Try and fix a menu with utmost care ensuring that in no way does it disappoint the customers.

Here are a set of things that should go into the construction of your menu:

• The Design of the Menu: This is once again very important. Your menu has to be soothing to look at. Position the pictures featured on the menu carefully. It should also be easy to flip through. The paper quality has to be good. Spelling and grammatical mistakes are a strict no. Your professionalism should shine through your menu. Graphics that you choose also have to look professionally done and not shabby. The staff has to go through it to approve the descriptions. The colors and the font have to go with the theme and style that you have chosen. Three different fonts are all you can use and noting more than that and they should be big enough. Try and get the design reviewed by a professional. Prices of all the items should be printed.

• Style and Theme Concerns: The restaurant’s vision and style are two of the things that you have to keep in mind when fixing the menu. The menu should also be unique and thus qualify your unique theme. This will surely help your place stand out. Do not go for similar items like the rest of your competitors. You might think you can beat them at their own game but an easier way to attract customers is making a unique menu. The prices also have to be listed on the menu and try and fix prices which do not drive away customers to begin with.

• Description: Descriptions of the food you are selling should be accurate and stimulating. Along with this try and emphasize your breakfast, lunch and dinner menu separately. The appetizers, the beverages, the main course and the desserts should all be marked out and described separately. Special items, if there are any have to be described with precision and style to make them attractive enough.

• Print: It is advisable to avoid plain paper when you are printing your menu. The print should have some kind of glossy or mat finish. Take professional help with this. Get a professional company to handle it for you.

• Organization of the Menu: The prices that you fix cannot be out of the world as we advised you before. Also arrange your menu in such a way that the most expensive stuff does not catch the immediate attention of the customers. Try and also tune in the organization of the menu with the kind of customer base you are looking for- family, professionals, youngsters, vegans, fast-food eaters, etc.

All this requires some amount of involvement and patience. Try and not overdo things. Keep a calm head and some amount of aesthetic sense always help. If that is lacking there are always professionals to help you out.

How can you Run a Restaurant Successfully?

Posted by kellyb on under Management | Comments are off for this article

It is true that the success of your restaurant depends to some extent on the economy, since a slow economy would mean less profit. But this is always not so simple. Consider the case of so many industrialists and entrepreneurs who stuff up their leather pouches with the maximum profits you can imagine. So what is the secret mantra that could make you rich beyond your dreams? Well, it all depends on management. If you use your creativity to find out brilliant solutions to all your problems, you could get ahead as fast as you can say “light year”.

Managing a restaurant is not an easy job. You may start out thinking that your investments can bear rich fruits for you; while in reality, you can lose them as easily as possible. In business, you start small and end big. Maybe you have never tried your hands in handling a restaurant before. But that does not matter, what really matters is that you get enough experience of your own to learn the basic principles that are required.

• Firstly, you need the pep talk. Realize that running a restaurant is very hard and complex work, and so you need to learn the nature of restaurants and the various objectives that are to be attained. If you are a weak soul, you really should not be here.

• It does not mean that the moment you open up a food joint, you can start earning your dollars. There are other stuff to be taken into account, like paying for advertising, rent (if you do not own that place), food, labor cost, and customer service.

• You have to arrange a clear system of how you intend to organize the place, manage it and operate to achieve the priorities in your agenda. You must be open to feedback as well.

• The next thing you ought to care about is the categorization of your restaurant. You do not know why this is necessary? Well, if your customers did not know what your restaurant is worth, or what you food is like, why would they ever bother showing up in your place?

• To create a signature style for your restaurant may be tough, but maintain that stature is really expensive. If you cannot manage balancing your acts, it is time for you to wrap up.

• Your goals should be the most important thing. Your main priority would be to achieve them. But you have to stay open to feedbacks as well. Listen to people’s preferences and try to keep them happy. Your customer’s happiness is your priority.

• You can also partner with other restaurants for more benefits. You can buy and deliver produce that will help you to cut down the costs. Plus, you will be able to save fuel prices, which suits you even better!

Running a successful restaurant must be a tough challenge, but as long as you know how to use the economy to your advantage, and skillfully maneuver the system, you will be able to make profits!

Buying and Managing Restaurant Supplies Successfully

Posted by kellyb on under Supplies | Comments are off for this article

What you buy is what you present at your restaurant. Therefore, while buying restaurant supplies you should have only one guideline in mind: how would you prefer to be served in a restaurant of your standards? If you put yourself in the position of a customer you will realize why some of them are overtly picky about the cutlery, napkin, plates or even the floral decoration on the table.

Restaurant Dining

People come to restaurants to enjoy a meal that is a change from the routine meals that they have in their life otherwise. Sometimes it becomes important to do something different from the mundane packed lunches at work and the same home made food for dinner. Therefore, restaurants provide a refreshing and welcoming culinary experience to customers.

Therefore, you must pay great attention to the color and texture of the napkins that will go on the table beside the plate. You must choose the cutlery carefully so as to match it with the theme and ambience of your restaurant as well as making it practical for your customers to use. There is no point buying heavy silver tableware that will be too heavy for your poor diners to pick up and eat with!

The Indispensable Rulebook

The tablecloth should not have any wine stains from last night’s business. If the need arises then replace the tablecloth altogether from your stock with a new one. For these emergencies you must also buy a few extra pieces of such supplies.

The service must be prompt. This should begin with the waiter spotting a new customer coming into the restaurant and looking for a table. He or she should be ushered in, and helped to be seated comfortably. The alcohol list should be provided immediately, shortly after which the food menu should arrive. There should be someone ready to take the order. This someone must be well versed with all the items on every menu. Customers sometimes have a hard time pronouncing certain dishes, or they may simply speak unclearly. The person taking the order must be competent enough to recognize the item as soon as it is uttered.

Even if yours is a fine dining restaurant try to serve the food as soon as possible. No one likes waiting for half an hour at a restaurant listening to the clanging of cutlery at other tables as fellow diners enjoy their meals while he waits for his to arrive.

Keeping Track of Supplies

Equipment such as microwaves, ovens, refrigerators, freezing rooms, burners and fuel are essential to run a restaurant. You must make sure that each of them meets the standard parameters that every restaurant in the country is supposed to.

Cleaning agents and storing solutions are very important and must be bought in bulk to make sure that the restaurant never runs out of it. However, any product that has a limited shelf and is likely to perish if not used within the stipulated time after manufacture must be kept track of.

Since many supplies in a restaurant are constantly changing in their stock the inventory must be kept very carefully to control costs and prevent leakages.