social media

The other hidden lessons in Red Lobster’s Super Bowl flub

Beyonce provided the chain with an opportunity it didn't seize. But the turn of events should prompt all restaurant leaders to think about a more important issue.

Operations

This week’s restaurant nightmares: You’re kidding, right?

A different sort of whopper figured large in recent restaurant news. But it's all true—we swear it!

While the rest of the world cries at the gas pump, Jonathan Pratt, a restaurant owner in Westchester County, New York, is singing the praises of a cheap new alternative fuel: "It saves me money, it improves the lifespan of the motor, its lubricity is better than diesel's, it doesn't pollute—and it smells good."

Along with its neighbors Vietnam and Laos, Cambodia occupies the Indochinese peninsula in Southeast Asia.

This week in ideas leaned heavily toward the high-tech, with social media, online games and ordering via apps. It also brought a DIY restaurant reality show and a couple of really dumb ideas.

In its just-released 2012 Restaurant Industry Forecast, the National Restaurant Association reports that there is an increasing consumer interest in high tech interaction in restaurants. The NRA's statistics show that consumers up to the age of 55 support new restaurant technologies. But the majority of the restaurant industry does not seem to be keeping pace.

According to a 2012 study by mobile barcode producer Scanbuy, quick serve restaurants are behind only consumer packaged goods companies in their use of QR code for promotional campaigns. Here are some QR campaigns that caught our attention, and more importantly, the customers'.

Restaurateurs who view the business as a battlefield might’ve uttered an “amen” at the end of the presentation from retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who wound up this year’s conference with an analysis of leadership during wartime.

Consumers’ tastes can drastically change in the span of a year—and they did. New research from Washington, D.C.-based newBrandAnalytics found that the starters people buzzed about most in 2013 were almost completely different from the previous year. Only ceviche was a favorite in both 2012 and 2013. Here are the top-five starters of 2013.

Restaurant-industry veteran Bill Post sat down with prospective business owners in Chicago to discuss what he identified as the keys to restaurant success. Menu design, social media and budget analysis were among the topics he weighed in on.

  • Page 5