WEBSITE: How to Design a Website That Makes Visitors Hungry
Restaurants need good looking websites. It’s no longer excusable to just have your menu on Yelp. You need to have a website AND it needs to look good. If you built your website over a decade ago, it needs to be redone and updated. But how you design your website and the choices you make will impact everything in your business. It can influence what items get ordered more often, get you more guests on a regular basis, increase the number of returning customers, and reinforce your brand.
DID YOU KNOWS…
Beer Flavor Visualized
Ever wonder exactly what you’re smelling or tasting when drinking a refreshing beer? Do your guests? This breaks down all the flavors and aromas of the most popular beer styles – everything from IPAs to porters/stouts to wheat to saisons.
Blue Apron Lost Its Recipe for Growth
Just weeks after meal-kit company Chef’d surprisingly shut down and laid off its employees, Blue Apron’s latest quarterly results indicate that something is fundamentally wrong with the once hyped meal-kit industry. As the following chart illustrates, things have taken a turn from bad to worse in the past quarter, as Blue Apron suffered double-digit declines in several fundamental operating metrics. Compared to the second quarter of 2017, the company lost more than 200,000 customers in the three months ending June 30, leading to a steep decline in the number of orders and as a result a drop off in revenue.
The U.S. Cities with The Most Microbreweries
The quest for the ultimate American beer connoisseurs’ paradise might steal years of a hop devotee’s life. So, if you consider yourself a true disciple of the amber beverage, consult the following map and start traveling to America's craft beer capitals. Portland, Oregon, has earned a reputation for producing excellent craft beers and it boasts 27 microbreweries and brew pubs. Denver has the same number while San Diego has 25.
WHEN TIPS BENEFIT CUSTOMERS
Why it matters to you: A new restaurant concept flips the script on tips.
Most people have been there before: you are at the register being rung up and oh no, you’re short some cash. It is a conundrum that unfortunately can and does happen from time to time. Well, a new restaurant called Fowl Play aims to stop that. Their new tipping concept is essentially a glorified leave-a-penny/take-a-penny where people’s tips are fair game for those who cannot afford their own food in its entirety. As for the employees, they are the ones who came up with the program and are forgoing tips. Sounds like an honorable thing to do, but how will they be sure this isn’t abused?
Well, the tips are swapped out for Fowl Play Bucks which are then placed on a wall within the restaurant for guests to discreetly take what they need for their order. Denominations are available $1, $5, and $10. This way people aren’t able to just blatantly steal money and leave and employees have other ways keep track of the funds.
So, would this be a good idea for other establishments to adopt? We think in certain cases it could be. Rather than the bucks, you could spread the word naturally that your restaurant is here to serve the community and if guests are short some cash or need a meal that no one will go hungry within your confines. There are definitely some logistical and operational safety precautions you’ll want to implement, but it’s doable. This is truly an honorable community activation not commonly seen within a restaurant’s day-to-day operations. Kudos, Fowl Play.
[Source: Restaurant-Hospitality]
TREATING ADDICTION THROUGH HOSPITALITY
Why it matters to you: A Kentucky restaurant hires people in treatment, using the restaurant as a tool for recovery and rehabilitation.
We all are aware of the opioid epidemic our country is currently struggling with, and we also know how addiction, substance abuse, and mental health affect our industry. That’s why we’re excited to hear of a restaurant in Lexington, KY using what they’ve got to help whoever they can.
DV8 Kitchen was started by two Lexington restaurant owners after losing 13 employees to addiction over the past decade. DV8 Kitchen hires people in treatment for substance addiction and uses the restaurant as a tool for their recovery and rehabilitation. Currently 18 of their 23 employees are in active early stages of their recovery from drugs and/or alcohol. This setting gives recovering addicts’ coworkers and managers that are compassionate to their situations rather than the alternative which can be detrimental to recovery. It also gives those in treatment real-life experience for a job after they complete treatment.
This really just brings up, once again, the fact that people everywhere struggle with their mental health and addiction. This is doubly so in an industry like ours with minimal to no benefits/sick time/etc. People tend to self-medicate because they have no better option which is what leads us to where we are now as an industry. We need to take a collective step back and see if we can take better preventative steps in this respect because, clearly, an industry based on ‘sucking it up’ isn’t helping anyone. Props to DV8 Kitchen for doing right by their community and our industry.
[Source: WDRD-Kentucky]
