Restaurateurs Are Making Expansion Plans
Will 2024 be a comeback year for restaurants? Despite challenges including inventory costs, commission fees and staff turnover, many restaurant owners are expressing optimism about moving forward, according to TouchBistro’s 2024 State of Restaurants Report. Ninety-four percent of operators are planning some form of expansion and more than half of the 600 U.S full-service restaurants surveyed plan to introduce catering services. Additionally, the report found that AI is already part of mainstream restaurant operations as 89 percent of operators surveyed are already using it in their restaurants in some way. The top three ways operators are using AI are through digital assistants (35 percent), chatbots (34 percent) and predictive analytics/reporting (31 percent). To delve more into the results, Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine reached out to Matt Zibell, VP Technology at TouchBistro. I think I was most surprised by the fact that 72 percent of FSR operators said they had a dedicated website – I thought this would be higher. I think most of us know that now, more than ever, the dining experience starts long before the customer even walks through the door. Even our Diner Trends Report found that a whopping 84 percent of restaurant goers always or often look up a restaurant menu ahead of time, and 79 percent always or often look at a restaurant’s website. So, to me, finding out that over a quarter of restaurants don’t have a website was a bit surprising. I think one thing we’re seeing more and more is that restaurants have to take a 360-degree approach to guest engagement. The website is one part of it, but it’s also about maintaining an active social media presence, offering a loyalty program, and investing in ongoing marketing campaigns. I think many operators are starting to realize that this omni-channel approach is increasingly essential to guest engagement in order to ensure they’re top of mind from the moment customers discover your restaurant (which often begins online) until well after their meal ends.
Growing a Restaurant Strategically
The keys are alignment, timing, and control. Ambitious restaurateurs often want to expand quickly to capitalize on initial success. However, rapid growth without an intentional strategy frequently erodes quality, culture, and profits over time. Sustainable restaurant expansion requires balancing excitement with patience and perspective. There’s an art to scaling any small business intelligently. You want to build deliberately from core strengths rather than reacting to every new opportunity, which can undermine what makes your concept work. Restaurant growth done right starts with leaders aligning around operational priorities and smart key performance indicators (KPIs). They research potential new offerings extensively, preparing thoroughly before launching rather than rushing to market. Funding is secured strategically to fuel key aspects of the expansion plan rather than used as a general shortcut that potentially forfeits control. Set Mutually Beneficial Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). KPIs are the quantifiable metrics that provide restaurant leaders with the most actionable insights on progress towards expansion goals, guiding crucial decisions. Typical restaurant KPIs involve monitoring costs around food, labor and supplies, pricing adjustments, table turnover rates during peak periods, customer wait times, promotion effectiveness, brand sentiment on review sites, and training completion rates. Define the one or two KPIs most critical for your top growth goals. They must connect to priorities across key operations, marketing, customer service and finance roles. Don’t select indicators that could encourage behaviors undermining staff capabilities downstream. KPIs lose relevance if unrealistic for teams execute across the business.
Bielat Santore & Company – Restaurant Industry Alert
MERCER COUNTY, SPORTS BAR/PUB FOR SALE
Photo used to depict “Sport Bar/Pub” only. Not actual representation.
Mercer County, N.J. combination Dive Bar/Sports Pub/Restaurant located on a busy County roadway. Free-standing building at a signalized corner on a half-acre lot with private parking for 40 cars. Serving up “killer pub grub” for almost 25 years. Cozy atmosphere accented by timeless pine wood paneling and rustic beams overhead. The dining room, with fireplace, is newly renovated with a 20-seat separate private room. 20 TVs, easily viewed from anywhere in the bar and dining areas. Family-owned and operated; owners have decided to retire. Detailed information available upon request. Financing available to qualified.
Contact Robert Gillis 732.673-3436 for additional information.
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Level Up Your Restaurant With These PR Tactics
In a competitive landscape, customer trust and visibility are paramount. Achieving success in the restaurant industry involves not only good food and service but also a trusted, well-known brand. An essential component of any restaurant’s business strategy, public relations can elevate a restaurant’s image and foster deeper connections with both new and existing target audiences. Let’s delve into some ways PR can be harnessed to take restaurants to the next level. Be a Standout. By skillfully leveraging a restaurant’s unique story, culinary specialties, Instagram-worthy interiors and more, PR can create a compelling brand image that not only captures customer interest but also sets the business apart from the fierce competition. For instance, a restaurant can have an amazing founding story like being a third-generation family business or have an inspiring mission like only sourcing ingredients from local farms or serve culinary delights like an all-vegan dessert menu. However, without PR, those stories might not reach customers. PR leverages those differentiators to their full potential, allowing restaurants to stand out from the rest and attract interest. Boost Awareness. Working in tandem with marketing efforts, PR can increase brand awareness. Through strategic media outreach, a strong PR strategy can lead to article inclusions in trusted outlets that your audience will see. These articles could span from the introduction of a tantalizing new menu item or the opening of a new location to a notable new employee or a heartwarming charity event organized by the restaurant.
Two Kingpins Of Philly’s Landmark Tony Luke’s Get 20 Months In Prison
For cooking the books. Founder Tony Lucidonio and son Nicky underreported revenues and paid employees under the table for 11 years, cheating the IRS out of $1.3 million in taxes, according to the Justice Department. Two members of the family operating the original Tony Luke’s cheesesteak shop in south Philadelphia have each been sentenced to 20 months in federal prison and three years of post-release supervision for dodging taxes by fudging the landmark’s financial records. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Tony Luke’s founder Tony Lucidonio, age 84, and son Nicky Lucidonio, 57, underreported sales and what they owed in federal payroll taxes from 2006 to 2016. Officials say the pair deposited only a portion of revenues in the restaurant’s bank account and then reported that figure to their accountant for tax-reporting purposes. Through that and other means, father and son hid $8 million in revenues from the Internal Revenue Service. In addition, Justice said, the Lucidonios paid employees a portion of their wages off the books and reported only the recorded portion of the pay to the accountant, who unknowingly used those figures to compute the establishment’s payroll-tax obligation. No taxes were taken out of employees’ unreported payments in cash. All told, the duo cheated the federal government out of more than $1.3 million in taxes. According to the Justice Department, the Lucidonios might have hid more of their restaurant’s revenues if a dispute over franchising rights hadn’t erupted in 2015 between the family and an unidentified outsider.
The Restaurant Industry Ended 2023 on a High Note
Traffic growth has been on the rise since September. December was another relatively strong month for restaurant sales and traffic growth. However, there was enough noise in the data to temper down some of the optimism that the topline results may produce. The month was one of the warmest Decembers on record, and in many regions of the country, it was the warmest ever while snowfall was also extremely moderate. But there is no doubt the year finished with an upswing for the industry, as year-over-year (YOY) traffic growth improved during every month beginning in September. Same-store sales growth was 2.3% YOY in December, up from 1.9% in November and 1.4% in October. This was the strongest month based on sales growth since July. But while then, average guest checks were still growing at a very high rate (check growth averaged 6.0% growth YOY during the first three quarters of 2023), it has since moderated considerably. This means sales are now being lifted much less due to rising checks in recent months than they have been over the last three years. Average guest checks grew by only 3.4% in December. As average check growth decelerates, driven primarily by smaller price increases, it has contributed to a slowdown in the erosion of restaurant traffic. Same-store traffic growth was -0.9% in December, an improvement from the -1.5% recorded in November and the -2.1% recorded in October. Yes, favorable weather may have helped December’s results, but all months in the fourth quarter of 2023 showed traffic growth as stronger than what we had seen in previous quarters. For context, the average same-store traffic growth for all months in the second and third quarter was a much softer -2.8%.
Eating With Your Hands Is The Point
At these hot New York restaurants. The scene at Coqodaq, the new “fried chicken cathedral” from Cote boss Simon Kim, is frenetic on Wednesday even before the doors open at 5 p.m. More than 20 guests, many hopeful for a walk-in spot, are lined up outside. But stepping into this red-hot New York restaurant is a serene experience despite the hungry crowd. You immediately see a beautiful Rockwell Group-designed hand-washing station, adorned with an assortment of designer soaps. It feels like you’re at an upscale spa. The message is clear: You are in a place that exudes luxury. But also: It’s time to clean your hands. And when you’re done eating, maybe you want to wash them again on your way out of the Flatiron restaurant. At Coqodaq, you use your hands to get down and dirty with gochujang-glazed chicken and plump and perfect “golden nuggets” topped with Daurenki caviar. You use your hands as you consume tuna tartare with Calabrian chili soy sauce atop sourdough pullman toast. You take Coqodaq’s excellent original-recipe fried chicken and dip it into sauces like pepper parm. You dip the fish and chips in tartar sauce. You discover that this food pairs nicely with Champagne. (Beverage director Victoria James, whose work at Cote just earned a James Beard semifinalist nomination, is putting together the largest list of bubbles in the country at Coqodaq.) You have a lot of fun here.
NY Restaurant Owners Say Messing With Tipping Means Higher Menu Prices
Possible layoffs. New York restaurant owners have a tip for lawmakers: don’t change the rules about wait staff gratuity. A whopping 95% of restaurateurs oppose a legislative campaign to eliminate the tip credit system that allows owners to pay wait staff who earn tips less than minimum wage, according to a new survey by the NYC Hospitality Alliance set to be released Monday. Some owners said the change could lead to higher menu prices, staff layoffs — and could even threaten their businesses’ very existence. “It’s clear New York’s restaurants and bars rely upon the tip credit,” said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance. “There’s no reason for the state’s elected officials to upend the working model of New York’s restaurant industry and put small businesses and jobs on the chopping block, while making it much more expensive for New Yorkers and visitors to dine out in the Empire State,” Rigie said. The survey of 879 restaurants, conducted in December, found that 97% of restaurants were extremely or somewhat concerned about eliminating the tip credit, with 88% saying it would be a disaster for their business. Some 76% of restauranteurs said they’d increase menu prices to offset the big increase in expenses if they had to pay staff the $16 minimum wage and 42% would also consider eliminating tipping altogether to keep the overall cost down for customers as much as possible.
Did You Know?
Yelp will use AI to generate restaurant descriptions. The short summaries are one of several new AI-powered features on the review site that are designed to make it easier for consumers to find what they’re looking for. Business review site Yelp on Tuesday said it would start using artificial intelligence to generate descriptions of restaurants and other businesses on its platform. The one-sentence summaries are based on recent Yelp reviews and appear at the top of a restaurant’s page, providing a brief overview of the menu and atmosphere.
Employee Tip
Recognizing guest cues before they do. In the hospitality and service industry, the ability to see beyond the obvious and anticipate guests’ needs before they are even aware of their own needs is a skill that sets good from exceptional service apart. The key lies in understanding subtle cues and employing a proactive approach to ensure a seamless and delightful experience for patrons. Here we will explore the art of recognizing guest cues and the importance of a figure-eight work style that allows the staff to see the programs and needs before they arise. This is where staff members focus on the minutiae of service to stay one step ahead.
