2006 July « Tech WaiterBell: News on Restaurant Technology and Internet Tools

Archive for July, 2006

Article: “Businessman blogs boldly toward BBQ restaurant success” (Jul.2006)

July 28, 2006 at 3:08 pm · Filed under Blogs, Free, Internet, Marketing, Tools

excerpt:
“On June 7, Reams started posting to the Mothership blog — and soon began counting down to opening. Then, on Friday, June 9, Reams announced on the blog the restaurant would be open the next morning. To his surprise, 50 customers came in for pulled pork barbecue and ribs – and their positive posts on his blog followed.

In simple terms, Reams managed to get Mothership off the ground and exceeding sales projections almost immediately without spending a penny on conventional advertising; only his blog, maintained by the free, Google-owned Blogger service, served as a sentinel for Mothership’s opening. He says he is Nashville’s only restaurateur using blogging as a method of publicity…”

source: “Businessman blogs boldly toward BBQ restaurant success” by Will York (The City Paper, Jul.24,2006)

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News: Recent Restaurant Technology Headlines 7/26/06

July 26, 2006 at 10:01 am · Filed under Headlines

News

07/26/06
Diners use new devices to settle tabs at their pace, protect credit identity [NRN]

07/24/06
Is fast casual self-service at the tipping point? [Self Service World]

Businessman blogs boldly toward BBQ restaurant success [The City Paper]

Restaurant of the future? Or Gimmick? [USA Today]

Press Release

07/25/06
Margaritaville Selects EatecNetX to Help Manage the Future [BusinessWire]

Blog

07/20/06
Ohio restaurant to deploy wireless order-taking system [The Wireless Report]

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Resource: Restaurant & Catering Australia’s Technology Update

July 25, 2006 at 9:54 am · Filed under Article, Free, International, Research, knowledge

This section of Australia’s Restaurant & Catering association web site offers free restaurant technology articles and a free 70 page technology roadmap report.

Report: Technology Roadmap for the Restaurant & Catering Industry:

Restaurant & Catering Australia has, with funding support from Ausindustry, has developed a TECHNOLOGY Roadmap for the restaurant and catering industry. This Roadmap has considered, through consultations throughout Australia, the needs of restaurateurs and caterers and has arrived at eleven recommendations as to the way forward to achieve greater take up of technology.

Sample Summaries of Articles:

March/April 2005 – SALE AWAY – A POS system is a valuable tool to keep orders charged, stock counted and customers satisfied

May/June 2005 – CALL TO ORDER – The must have accessory by the wait staff is electronic order pads but are these handheld units as functional as mounted terminals?

May/June 2005 – UPDATE YOUR WEBSITE – An Auckland restaurant has found that an out-of-date website can be very expensive.

link: Restaurant & Catering Australia’s Technology Update (scroll down for articles and report)

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Software: MenuManager (FHG International)

July 21, 2006 at 10:09 am · Filed under Free, Menu, Programs, Tools

excerpt:
“MENUMANAGER© is a user-friendly software program which can assist restaurant managers reduce their food costs, increase product consistency and reduce considerable time of manual bookkeeping.

While the program has several sophisticated aspects which enable the restaurateur to access and manipulate a plethora of information which will be the basis for better decision making, the restaurateur need only use one of the nine reports to immediately experience a time and cost saving.

The program allows you to develop a series of controls and standards over food cost and quality which have not been available before…”

link: MenuManager (FHG International) [free download link is on the bottom of the page]

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News: Recent Restaurant Technology Headlines 7/20/06

July 20, 2006 at 1:34 pm · Filed under Headlines

News:
7/19/06
Stay tuned: TVs keep restaurant patrons up-to-date on news, sports (Altoona Mirror)

7/18/06
Company Develops Booth For Cell Phone Users (cbs4boston.com)

Press Release:
7/19/06
Restaurant.com Now Open for Restaurant Reservations (Restaurant.com)

7/18/06
Arbys Franchisee Cuts Ordering Time in Half Using Electronic Vendor Order Guides (PRWeb)

Texas Roadhouse Turns to Peak 10; National Restaurant Concept Taps Peak 10 for Disaster Recovery Solution (BusinessWire)

POS Hardware: Popeye’s Largest Franchisee Selects Maitre’D, Epson, Partner Tech For Sizeable Rollout (RetailSolutionsOnline.com)

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Media: Restaurant Podcasts

July 18, 2006 at 9:46 am · Filed under Internet, Marketing, Media, Tools, knowledge

Podcasts are significant because it opens access to radio shows and restaurant industry content that were only available locally. This is a new and interesting media resource for restauranteurs in a portable format. You can download the show and listen to it in the car, during lunch, or in the gym. Also, these podcasts are also marketing vehicles for restaurants and related businesses.

NRN Podcast Central (created by Nation’s Restaurant News)
“Foodservice News Delivered in Fresh New Ways”

Podcast Grill
“Where restaurant meets business – trends, expert interviews and more to make your restaurant more profitable than ever”

Pizza Radio
“Pizza Radio is your source for sound bytes from pizza experts.”

The Restaurant Guys
“Co-hosts Francis Schott and Mark Pascal—who own Stage Left Restaurant in New Brunswick, NJ—have interviewed food luminaries like Gourmet editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl and chef Charlie Palmer in between other animated discussions. Their podcasts are adaptations of three 40-minute episodes from their radioshow on WCTC-1450 AM.”

BarServ’s Raising the Bar on Service
“Raising the Bar” tackles a variety of topics relevant to the hospitality service industry and occasionally features high-profile industry guests from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The program will offer insightful ideas to empower hotel, restaurant and bar owners and managers to improve service and increase profitability.
Read the rest of this entry »

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News: Recent Restaurant Technology Headlines 7/17/06

July 17, 2006 at 2:25 pm · Filed under Headlines

News

7/17/06
Moore: Leveraging online resources helps employers recruit the most qualified people (Nation’s Restaurant News)

7/14/06
Making healthier choices: Nutricate gives diners the scoop on menus (Pacific Coast Business Times)

Computerized kitchen puts Fuddruckers Inc. one step ahead (Austin Business Journal)

6/26/06
Chain leaders share tips on new systems at NRA show (Nation’s Restaurant News)

Blogs

7/12/06
Your Website’s Location, Location, Location (The Restaurant Blog)

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Article: “TV ads on the cheap for small biz” (Jul.2006)

July 17, 2006 at 11:16 am · Filed under Internet, Low cost, Marketing, Media, Tools, Video

excerpt:
“Findley’s meat market in suburban Atlanta had always relied on newspaper ads, direct mailings and quick radio spots to reach consumers. But after discovering Spot Runner’s do-it-yourself commercial tool for small businesses, the butcher shop ran a commercial on local cable TV ahead of Easter and again before Mother’s Day.

The commercials cost Findley’s $349 and $499 and the shop spent about $2,100 in March and $1,100 in May to air the spots on ESPN, Food TV, Fox News Channel and Fox Sports.

“We found out that it was very affordable and they help you work with a small budget,” said Findley’s owner Dolores Barr.”

source: “TV ads on the cheap for small biz” by Jessica Seid (CNNMoney.com, Jul.14,2006)

“At Spot Runner we make it easy, simple and affordable for everyone to take advantage of local TV advertising. We started Spot Runner because we saw three important opportunities:

Small and medium-sized business people want to advertise on TV but the costs of creating ads are prohibitive.
Choosing a media plan, negotiating the price, and tracking your advertising can be time consuming and difficult.
Great TV advertising could be made more quickly and at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising agencies.

We put these elements together and Spot Runner was born.”

link: SpotRunner.com

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