Earlier this August, I attended IFMA’s Marketing & Sales Leaders Forum, where sessions featuring Datassential and NPD Group were really the highlight of the event for me. This is mainly because, as I’ve stated before, I’m a total marketing data nerd. When they started speaking about how today’s menus– especially for casual dining – really
Time to Fall Forward Not Backward With Your Restaurant Menu
We all remember the adage for time change, spring forward and fall back; but when it comes to our restaurant offering, we need to continue forward all year around. As we talked about when spring was right around the corner, you need to start thinking fall and make the changes necessary to keep your offering
The Anti-Chain Chain
I don’t often go to chain restaurants. I don’t have anything against chains, I just would prefer to try a new or local restaurant if there is an opportunity. I feel like that is a better way to truly get to know a city or a neighborhood. Don’t get me wrong, I like McDonald’s
The Upscale Downscale Syndrome
Beef prices are soaring. People are choosing to eat cheaper when they eat out. Diners are more often looking for a casual overall dining experience. So what is a full-service steakhouse that is still trying to attract the right clientele and increase revenue to do in this situation? Downscale your upscale. A great example of
Healthy Meals at Restaurants Still Trending
In June I attended Technomic’s Trends & Directions Conference here in Chicago. Since I’m a foodservice marketing nerd, I love that this conference is all about current trends that are happening right now and their predictions for the rest of the year and beyond. One trend that really caught my eye was the 2013 fast-casual
Staying at the Forefront of Menu Innovation
Today you can walk into just about any restaurant – fine dining, fast casual, and everything in between – and find fresh-roasted coffee; and premium tea offerings are following suit. However difficult to imagine, in the 1980’s, it wasn’t that simple or that accessible. Unless, of course, you frequented Hugo’s Restaurants in California (multiple locations).
Menu Trend: The Perfect Pair
I’ve been to enough wine tastings, winery tours, and wine pairing events that I think I could pair my own wine with the meals I cook at home (or the meals I grab on my way home from work!). The operative word in that last sentence was “think.” While I think I could pair my
How to Optimize Menu Design to Increase Restaurant Sales
With winter months finally behind us, it’s time to get a jump on spring cleaning in your restaurant. After dusting chandeliers and scrubbing the kitchen, don’t skip sprucing up a vital part of your restaurant: the menu. As the only form of marketing that all of your customers will see, the menu guides and determines
What Makes a Restaurant Meal Memorable?
The Psychology of a Memorable Meal We have experienced thousands of meals in our lives, but how many do you actually really remember? What made this meal so memorable? Was it the flavor, atmosphere, or the people you were with? In front of 500 chefs in Copenhagen, psychologist Paul Rozin recently discussed the psychology of
The Next Generation of Delis
When I think deli, I think New York. For about two years I lived in New Jersey and worked in New York City (I have to clarify because if you say you live in NYC but actually lived in Hoboken, people tend to get a little angry), and while I lived out east I began
