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50 Great Ideas

The top industry ideas we've spotted in the last year

50 Great Ideas

10. Cocktail list to suit the guests

 Aug. 07, 2018

Houlihan’s divides its restaurants into one of three tiers, then creates a drink menu tailored to the typical guest. Tier 1 guests care most about value, Tier 2 customers put equal weight on brands an...

50 Great Ideas

13. Tapping outside talent for specials

 Aug. 07, 2018

Instead of having the in-house chef create ethnic-inspired specials, In Situ, in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, offers a rotating menu of signature dishes from 80 chefs around the world. The ...

50 Great Ideas

16. Keep a card handy

Aug. 07, 2018

To combat the tough labor market, TJ Schier, president of Which Wich Superior Sandwiches franchisee SMART Restaurant Group, passes out business cards to anyone, anywhere who has given superior custome...

50 Great Ideas

19. Buddy system

Aug. 07, 2018

At Pennsylvania State University, managers ask students and full-time employees if they have a best friend at work. Management says it’s a great measurement of employee morale.

50 Great Ideas

22. Champion for retention

Aug. 07, 2018

The Pilot Flying J convenience store chain has potential hires meet with “role champions,” employees who excel in the position. The champions talk with applicants about expectations and demands and pr...

50 Great Ideas

25. Old school efficiency

Aug. 07, 2018

On one of the walls at Magpies Softserve ice cream shop in Los Angeles hangs a jumbo roll of butcher paper listing the day’s specials. The low-tech board is easy to update, with a staffer simply rippi...

50 Great Ideas

11. Beyond the blue plate special

Aug. 07, 2018

Punch Bowl Social offers a blue plate special but takes the colored plates a step further. The eatertainment chain offers a green plate special—a plant-forward dish catering to the increase in diners ...

50 Great Ideas

14. A pancake a day

Aug. 07, 2018

Servers at Snooze, an A.M. Eatery’s Scottsdale, Ariz., location get to pick a table or two each day to receive a free pancake or another signature menu item. The freebies serve as an incentive to gene...

50 Great Ideas

17. Personal finance coaching

Aug. 07, 2018

The KFC Foundation, a nonprofit funded by KFC franchisees, launched MyChange, a personal finance program for employees at participating U.S. KFC locations. The goal of the program is to promote financ...

50 Great Ideas

20. Cut the a.m. carbs

Aug. 07, 2018

The dining team at Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pa.,  makes hash browns using low-carb vegetables such as celery root, rutabaga and kohlrabi. The team says the menu item is a way to appea...

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