Grow Your Restaurant With the Click of a Button

So, you own a restaurant. Well, how's it going? Are the seats in your fine establishment full? My guess is you may be looking to fill a few more chairs with happy/hungry folks. You are here because you are looking into the possibility of living in this century. You know, the whole technology thing. If you are still not sure whether or not you need a website please view your calendar and pay special attention to the date in which you find yourself currently maneuvering through. You are living in a fast pace world, as if you can't tell, and you have no choice but to get on the train.

Let me give you two reason's, although there are many more, that you should not get a website for your restaurant:

1. You can't afford it.

That's right you just can't afford the expense of hiring a webmaster and the continued cost of keeping a website up to date. After all, a website cost thousands of dollars and who knows how much it would really cost when it is all said and done, right?

WRONG! You know that whole technology thing? Well, it is getting cheaper as the quality of its substance continues to improve. You can find companies who will build you a custom website for less than a thousand dollars and many times the per year hosting fee will be less than $20 per month. I know one site in particular that offers a restaurant special for less than $300.

However, there are many sites who will advertise minimal monthly payments to host your own website. Unless you want to spend the next two years learning HTML codes or just don't care how bad your site looks then I would suggest hiring a professional.

2. You can get by with other forms of advertising.

Yes you can. You can get masses of people into your restaurant through all of the different types of advertising out there. You don't need to spend money on making your companies image better because you have to many advertising campaigns to uphold, right?

WRONG! You do not want a poor image associated with the type of media that represents you. "Big Business" spends billions of dollars every year keeping up with one word, image. They do everything that they can to continually cater to not only their customers taste buds but also their vision. Customers are drawn to what looks good, we all are. A great image can make bad food taste good, funny how that works, huh?

Can you imagine if your advertising could speak? That is exactly what happens when you place a website address on your advertising. People, especially younger people, are not even thinking about purchasing anything if they can't check it out first. When they do you can tell them everything that you wished you could fit in your paper ad and make it look a lot more appetizing.

My response to you not getting a website yet is simple. The cost of not having one far outweighs the cost of getting with the times.

The Iconic Restaurant Coaster Pager Evolves Into the Restaurant Cell Phone Pager

Restaurant coaster pagers have changed the way restaurants manage their waiting lists. Now restaurant cell phone pagers are the technological evolution in coaster pagers. Before restaurant coaster pagers host staff called out guest names over a PA system or hollered out their names across the bar or lobby. This method was, and still is, inefficient and frowned upon by guests. The development of guest pagers that blink, beep and vibrate when a table is ready changed the business, now the cell phone did it again. Restaurants no longer need costly coaster pagers to notify guests when their table is ready. Guests find greater satisfaction using their own personal restaurant cell pager or restaurant text pager, it affords them greater freedom and enjoyment while they wait i.e. apps, games, texting and calls.

Building upon the restaurant guest pager concepts restaurant cell phone pagers are becoming popular with guests and with restaurant owners alike. And for good reason, restaurant cell paging systems offer the following top 10 benefits:

1. Like coaster pagers, restaurant cell phone pager systems help restaurants reduce waiting time and turn more tables.
2. Unlike restaurant coaster pagers, there is no pager replacement cost, your guests own them i.e. their cell phone
3. Up front costs are roughly 90% cheaper than a quality restaurant coaster pager system.
4. Total annualized savings over a restaurant coaster pager system is estimated at $3,462, year one.
5. Best of breed cell phone pager systems do not require any software or specialized equipment.
6. Restaurant text / phone pager systems typically come bundled with an automated wait list or reservation management system
7. Restaurant cell phone pagers improve customer service and satisfaction by enabled the guests to freely move about at a much greater range
8. Restaurant cell phone pagers do not spread disease or bacteria as do guest pagers (due to so many people handling the pagers).
9. Advanced systems offer powerful mobile marketing loyalty capabilities, great for driving business.
10. There are over 272 million cell phone subscribers in the USA, no need to replace a coaster pager ever again.

The only requirement is access to the internet via a web enabled POS, mini laptop, iPad or iTouch to connect to the web hosted application. Unlike a guest pager transmitter any of the web enabling devices (i.e. laptop, POS) offer greater utility when you aren't managing your wait list. For example, the mini netbook can be used to take inventory, enter the food order or update the menu. Better yet send out a mobile marketing campaign to drive traffic. I bet your restaurant guest pager system can't do all that.

How to Keep Employee Theft in Check at Restaurants

Restaurants, whether big or small, suffer from this kind of theft carried out by their own employees. Usually restaurants are such a busy place that it is very difficult to keep track of everything served in the restaurant, which makes the job of inventory management very tedious. Here are some quick tips to make things easier for you as a restaurant manager or owner.

Always ensure that new sale has been carried out by issuing an invoiced against it. Once an order has been placed, no one can edit the sales invoice without the permission of the person in charge of that whole affair. POS (point of sales) devices are a great help and will earn you a lot of savings well above the cost you incurred to get them. The head chef or bartender should not give the delivery of the item asked unless he is presented with the invoice or the ticket for any particular order.

Keep track of your inventory for food. Often the restaurant staff may eat or fish away the food outside the restaurant free or at a very low cost. Theft can also be possible when a truck with delivery of the food items to cook arrives. A lot of employees just get their hands on some of the inventory before it has even entered the inventory system of the restaurant.

Expensive items like alcohol should be kept in lock. Alcohol shouldn't be placed in open and either the bartender, manager or the restaurant owner depending on the size of the restaurant should take care of it. Alcohol is easy to consumer without a trace. Expensive as well as inexpensive alcohol can also be sold to outside customers or vendors by the employees themselves. Locking it up would discourage the employees from doing that.

Keep your credit card machines in order to make sure that all transactions by the customers are recorded. This will help you tally the exact sales at the end of the day and also reduce the chances of credit card malfunction embezzlement cases.

Security cameras in key areas where all the expensive items are kept can greatly help reduce the theft. They not only deter the employees but also help increase the transparency in the working environment of the different areas.

Access to the cash is also a very important decision. Internal audit control procedures should be fool proof and shouldn't allow anyone to mess with the restaurant's money. Only authorized personnel should handle these matters with care and diligence. Regular intermittent audit would also help curb such malpractices.

How to Care For Your Cutlery

Types of Metal - What is Stainless Steel?

Stainless steel is an iron and chromium alloy containing more than 11% chromium. There are three types of stainless steel used to make cutlery:

18/10 - This is used for contemporary cutlery except knives, it contains 18-20% Chromium and 8-10% Nickel. This is the only steel that can guarantee against corrosion when properly cared for.

AISI Code

Generic Name

Chrome

Nickel

Others

Subtotal

Balance

304

18/10 or 18/8

18-20%

8-10%

3%

29-33%

Iron

13/0 or Knife Steel - This steel is used to make knives, as it can be hardened to create a sharp edge. The quality used is AISI 420, containing 13-14% chromium. This is the least corrosion resistant form of stainless steel.

AISI Code

Generic Name

Chrome

Nickel

Others

Subtotal

Balance

Extra Process

420

Knife Steel

12-14%

-

2

14-16%

Iron

Hardening

18/0 - This steel is used for value cutlery eg Parish, Economy or some value options of Contemporary cutlery. Due to the high % of chromium, it is more resistant than AISI 420 Knives but it is not as resistant as 18/10.

AISI Code

Generic Name

Chrome

Nickel

Others

Subtotal

Balance

430

18/0

16-18%

-

2

18-20%

Iron

Stainless Steel, though its name suggests otherwise, is not completely 'mark proof'. It is much more resistant to staining or marking than other metals however contact with certain substances will start the process that leads to staining and pitting.

There are a number of corrosive substances that will damage cutlery if care is not taken to prevent it. These are salt, acids such as vinegar and lemon juice, mineral salts which are present in tap water, bleach, harsh detergents, fats and meat juices. Direct heat can also mark metal.

The main threats to stainless steel cutlery during washing are ineffective rinsing and drying. Rinsing should completely remove all remnants of food but also washing and rinsing products. During drying these are likely to:

• Leave unsightly spots on 18/10 cutlery
• Corrode 18/0 cutlery and knives.

If you follow the recommendations below your cutlery will give years of service and will continue to look good:

• Wash cutlery in hot, soapy water as soon as possible after use
• Quickly rinse with hot water, wipe dry with a clean cloth immediately
• Never leave dirty cutlery to soak and never leave cutlery damp

Dishwashing

Cutlery may be cleaned in the dishwasher. Again there are some do's and don'ts when using dishwashers:

• Do follow the manufacturer's instructions, particularly in relation to adding dishwasher salt.
• Do wash cutlery as soon as possible after you have finished using it. The salts and acids present in food will start the staining process if they are left on cutlery for any length of time.
• It is advisable to place cutlery vertically in the dishwasher with the head up and not too closely packed together to assist water flow at the end of the rinse cycle.
• Do remove cutlery immediately after the wash/dry cycle is finished and wipe over with a dry tea towel. If the cutlery is left to cool in the dishwasher, trace mineral salts and the dishwasher salt residue will settle on the cutlery in the moist atmosphere and start the pitting and staining process.
• Do not mix stainless steel and silver plated cutlery in the dishwasher basket as a chemical reaction between detergents and steel can leave marks on the silver plate.
• Do not use the rinse and hold cycle on the dishwasher - it is as damaging as leaving cutlery to soak in water.

Branding

Cutlery can be branded by embossment or laser for minimal quantities, both of these processes are completely dishwasher resistant and can be used to re-enforce your brand or even reduce theft.