24 Incredible Tips from 24 Amazing Restaurant Experts: Part 1

1. Startups and veterans! Always have a plan.

“It’s way more romantic to think you can open a restaurant by the seat of your pants, but in reality, planning goes a long way. A business plan takes a ton of guesswork out of the startup process.”

Plans aren’t just for new owners. A written plan helps veteran owners keep track of every detail from human resources to food costs. (tweet this)

From: The Ingredients Of Restaurant Success

Experts: Michael Curcio of Pyrogrill and Ray Sidhom of Four Food Studio and Cocktail Salon

2. Know your competition

“You have to know who you are up against. The best thing is to make sure you create a unique niche in the industry before you go forward.” (tweet this)

From: Restaurant Success Stories

Expert: Steele Platt of Yard House

3. Small restaurants! Compete with quality, not quantity

Small restaurants with just one kitchen and one head chef can compete by produce high-quality, unique food and service. Big chain restaurants can’t mass produce the same results as a small, independent restaurant. Use this to your advantage! (tweet this)

From: Secrets Of Restaurant Business Success

Expert: Sheila McCann of House of Bread

4. Tackle stress

Stress as a restaurant owner will never subside, don’t kid yourself! Learn some mechanisms to handle stress – create a strategy to stay on top of your mental and physical health. (tweet this)

From: How To Open A Restaurant

Expert: Damien Scoditti of Brio Downtown

5. Learn to delegate

“Early on I realized that I had to hire people smarter and more qualified than I was in a number of different fields, and I had to let go of a lot of decision-making. I can’t tell you how hard that is. But if you’ve imprinted your values on the people around you, you can dare to trust them to make the right moves” (tweet this)

From: 17 Quotes From Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz On How He Became Successful

Expert: Howard Schultz of Starbucks

6. Learn from your staff

“My best information comes from people on the front lines: the waitstaff and bartenders and line cooks.”

Be present at your restaurant . Communicate with your staff to get access to the best intel. (tweet this)

From: The Way I Work – Roger Berkowitz

Expert: Roger Berkowitz of Legal Sea Foods

7. Put yourself in others’ shoes

Be willing to do the jobs of other people at your restaurant. Spend a few hours a week welcoming customers or working the reservation desk. Fill in for a server in an emergency. Show your staff you’re part of the team. (tweet this)

From: 10 Awesome Tips From Really Sharp Restaurant Owner

Expert: Scott Maitland of Top of the Hill Restaurant and Brewery

8. Rate guests’ moods

Welcoming staff can assign a number from 1-10 to guests as soon as they arrive at your restaurant. Have staff assign one number to an individual patron, or a collective group. Your restaurant’s goal should be to get each customer/group up to a 10 by the time they walk out your door. (tweet this)

From: Taking Measure Of Mood

Expert: Patrick O’Connell of The Inn at Little Washington

9. Leverage social media

“Social media is not going away! It’s a new realm of exposure and it’s how to leverage it, that’s the most important thing. I think that restaurants are realizing that.”

Use social media to see how your restaurant fares in the brutally honest online world! (tweet this)

From: Vancouver restaurant industry experts sound off on social media, food bloggers, online reviews

Expert: Melody Fury of Vancouver Food Tour

10. Try mobile payment

If your customers tend to be on the more adventurous side, you can get ahead of the curve by introducing a mobile payment option at your restaurant. This can help you differentiate you customer experience. It will also eventually make life easier for servers and patrons. (tweet this)

From: Tabbedout: A Mobile Payment App for Restaurants and Bars

Expert: Chris Dilla of Bocktown Beer and Grill

11. Cut waste

Adopt a more flexible set of menu items to take advantage of the freshest local ingredients. Sourcing from local producers helps you appeal to the local crowd, while making sure it’s all freshly-picked! (tweet this)

From: What Can You Do? Gastronomy

Expert: Hokuma Karimova and Piotr Wielezynski of Say No To Food Waste

12. Go green

Eco-conscious consumers are a growing demographic in the restaurant industry. Feature information about how your restaurant is going green on your website. Not only can it bring in more customers, but a more sustainable strategy helps you save on business expenses. (tweet this)

From: Experience “Going Green” Savings

Expert: Eric Haley of Pizza Fusion

Check back next week for more tips from industry leaders!

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Photo by The Daily Beast

One response to “24 Incredible Tips from 24 Amazing Restaurant Experts: Part 1”

1. CCF Ideas says:

   October 15, 2013 at 11:38 am

   Enjoyed the read! The demand for quality, local foods and green practices are interesting. There is a dynamic movement to consume consciously. In fact, 60% of Americans are eating vegan or vegetarian meals. If you’re interested in learning more, our THINK research study provides detailed insights on Conscious Consumers.
   Check it out: http://blog.claritycoverdalefury.com/think/

   Reply