Tips and Guides For Restuarant Owners and Operators

On average, diners only look at a menu for 109 seconds, according to a Gallup poll cited in a Canva article on menu design hacks. Let that sink in. That’s about as long as it takes to pump a full tank of gas.

Since time is of the essence, it’s important that you thoughtfully consider the layout, standard menu size, dish titles, etc. After all, your menu is your biggest and most important sales pitch.

It’s a persuasive and useful tool that, if designed and built appropriately, will increase sales and keep your restaurant fully booked each day.

Let’s examine the foundations of restaurant menu design and how you can leverage a seemingly simple list of dishes and beers to boost your bottom line.

With Untappd’s analytics, you have a vast wealth of data on craft beer drinkers on the world’s largest social networking platform literally at your fingertips.

We can show you what beers Untappd drinkers are consuming the most in your area along with what styles are trending and which are taking a turn downwards.

With over 9 million registered users, Untappd can easily tap into the trends and insights of drinkers in your city, state, region, and beyond.

Analyzing these behaviors and purchasing habits will help you make crucial business decisions including, but not limited to, what beers to brew next, what styles to stock on your shelves, or what beers to put on tap.

Learn what craft beer consumers are drinking in your area. Give Untappd for Business a try without talking to anyone—no credit card required.

To show you the power of Untappd’s analytics, we’re breaking down the most checked-in beers in Asheville, NC, over the last ninety days.

Service industry employees like bartenders, wait staff, food runners, and bussers are the backbone of the service industry and your business. Your servers work hard every day to bring customers’ food and drinks to the right table (not to mention ensuring special birthday dinners go off without a hitch). And your bartenders work tirelessly to keep the drinks flowing for your patrons.

When it comes to taking care of your bartenders and servers, there are specific laws under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Internal Revenue Code that employers in the hospitality industry must follow. Accordingly, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides a Fact Sheet to help business owners understand the differences between tips and service charges, especially for tax reporting purposes.

In this article, we’ll use that Fact Sheet to help navigate the tricky territory between tips and service charges while showing you how to stay in compliance with reporting each to the IRS.

Whether you’re a high-end cocktail emporium, one of the best watering holes around the country, or a neighborhood bar, chances are your bartenders and servers are part of the beating heart of your team. Accordingly, you need to make sure that they have all the proper licenses or certificates required to legally serve alcoholic beverages. Does a bartender or server need a license to serve or sell alcohol?

The question might be a little bit more complicated than you think because the answer varies from state to state and sometimes even county to county or city to city.

So we dug into the details to help you understand what your bartenders and servers legally need in order to serve or sell alcohol across the country.

If you own a bar or brewery, you know that profit margins are razor thin. With that in mind, attracting folks into your space every night becomes very important. While you may not need a plan for increasing foot traffic on your busy days of the week (probably Friday and Saturday), strategizing for those slow weeknights is crucial.

So here’s a question for you: What is one tried and true event to get butts in seats during the week? Answer: trivia night.

King Trivia, a trivia company in operation since 2004, reports that during their trivia nights 98% of tables are filled on average at each venue.

Now, these are just one company’s statistics, but if you haven’t already it seems valuable to at least test out a trivia night at your venue to see if it increases foot traffic and your weeknight profits. But what exactly goes into running a profitable trivia night?

You need to consider everything from buying the right equipment to potentially hiring a host and marketing. Let’s consider all the economics behind hosting a trivia night to see how you can maximize your event.

If you’re a restaurant or bar owner, your livelihood depends on customers year round.

Which is why, when it comes to federal holidays such as July Fourth or Labor Day, as a business owner you have an important decision to make: Stay open or close your doors for the day.

On the first Monday in September, restaurants and bars are often greeted by an influx of patrons ready to spend money on some well-deserved fun during a long weekend.

Staying open on that Monday could provide potential opportunities to boost your bottom line.

On the other hand, consider your employees. Should restaurant owners and staff also have the day off? Will that help with your team morale?

When it comes to Labor Day, a restaurant, bar, or brewery owner should weigh the pros to both staying open and closing for the day.

Luckily, we’ve started a list for you. And if you do choose to welcome guests, we’ve laid out a few ideas to set you apart from the pack.

When it comes to serving beer, glassware is important. Just like when a bartender makes an Old Fashioned or Margarita, they pour each respective drink into the right cocktail glass.

And while people in the industry debate the pros and cons of pint glasses, there is no denying that pint glasses are commonly used.

Plus, a pint is a ubiquitous industry measurement, meaning as a brewery, bar, or restaurant owner you should be familiar with this metric. But exactly how much is a pint? And why does the size differ depending on where you are?

Plus, what are the pros and cons of pint glasses? And what might be a good solution to the traditional pint glass?

We’ll break everything down in our guide to pints.

As a restaurateur, it takes considerable and thoughtful effort to build not just an appetizing menu, but also one that’s profitable.

With the cost of ingredients continuing to rise, business owners are seeking out more creative and strategic approaches to market their menu to patrons in high volume. But how to lure them in?

Like the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

While it’s common for menus to exclude pictures of the food, Instagram is a perfect platform to show off all the tantalizing dishes you prepare.

Taking attractive photos of food and posting them on social media is a low-cost, effective way to drive more traffic to your business—while also demonstrating your restaurant’s culinary skills and style.

If you’re a restaurateur looking to utilize the tools of food photography and technique to engineer your menu on social media, you’ve arrived at the right place.

There are a number of reasons why your patrons might enjoy bringing their own bottle of wine to your restaurant. Not only is it affordable, but it also enhances their experience.

As a business owner without a liquor license (or even one that has a license but still offers “bring your own bottle”), letting your customers bring their own wine or bottles encourages more traffic through the door. Plus, offering BYOB helps your restaurant’s profit margin so you can focus more on the quality of cuisine and dining experience.

But before popping the cork, make sure you understand how to determine a corkage fee and the proper corkage etiquette. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a complete corkage fee guide to help you get started.