10 Signs of Restaurant Customer Service Disaster

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Running a restaurant is hard work. You have to plan meals, stock inventory, maintain supplies and licensure, manage staffing issues, and, oh yeah, cook amazing food. With all this craziness going on every single day, it’s not surprising that your restaurant might be forgetting to do something, even something incredibly important. If you look around your restaurant and notice any of the following things happening, you’ll need to switch your focus. Fast. Here are ten signs that your customer service is a total disaster.

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What to Do When You Get a Bad Review

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On no, the unthinkable happened! You were checking your Yelp, Google+, and Urbanspoon reviews… and you came across one review that was so mean, so untrue, so vindictive that your jaw dropped open and you started sobbing, right there in front of your computer screen. Now that you’ve washed your face and blown your nose, you’re starting to feel angry and righteous. You’re wondering how that person had the nerve to talk about your restaurant, your heart and soul, in such a horrible and dismissive way. You want to fight back. Now.

Woah, woah, woah, buddy. It’s time to simmer down. Here’s what you should do when your restaurant gets a bad review. Read more

Your Secret Treasure Trove of Customer Feedback

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Your restaurant runs on customer feedback, right? If the chips are too salty, the fish too dry, the service too slow, or the wine selection too expensive, your customers will call you over and tell you. Immediately. If you think I’m delusional and you think that your customers would never tell you anything truthful about your food or service… well, you’re just not looking in the right places. Today’s post talks about the three main places you can find great customer feedback, and what you should look at. Read more

Three New Restaurants in Milwaukee Switch to Uncorkd iPad Wine Menus

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Three well-known restaurants in Milwaukee have started using Uncorkd digital beverage menus in July.  The restaurants include:

Mason Street Grill (425 E Mason St) inside the Pfister Hotel

Kil@wat (139 E Kilbourn Ave) inside the InterContinental Hotel

Milwaukee ChopHouse (633 N 5th St) inside the Hilton City Center Hotel

All three restaurants feature an extensive wine list currated by Sommeliers and also highlight specialty cocktails, local and craft beer.  If you’re in Milwaukee, be sure to dine at one of these great restaurants to experience the digital menus.

 

Uncorkd Resources For Restaurant Management

It’s Time for You to Think about Your Moment of Truth

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Customer service isn’t just about providing a great product at a great price (with a smile), it’s also about who you hire. In marketing, the initial contact between your bar customer and your bartender or server is called “the moment of truth,” and your guest’s memory of that moment serves as the best indicator of the likelihood that they’ll come back again. This post is a paean to the greatest bar service EVER, and I want you to think about how you can get your servers or bartenders to increase their customer service offerings to make your bar stand out. Read more

3 Creative Ideas to Get Food into Your Bar

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Is your bar among the many that don’t serve food? Perhaps cooking isn’t your thing, perhaps your building needs some work, or perhaps you just don’t want to deal with the headache that comes with serving food. No matter your reasoning, do you sometimes have the nagging feeling that you’re missing out on profits? Does that feeling usually come at dinner time? Here are three creative ideas you can use to increase your profits—without increasing your workload. Read more

The 6 Places You Have to Try for Austin Restaurant Week

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Austin Restaurant Week is finally here! This twice-yearly event happens in the spring and fall, and the springtime event will be Sundays through Wednesdays, May 11-14 and 18-21. This year’s prix-fixe menus include $12-$17 for two-course lunches (though, I admit, I didn’t see any $12 lunches on the site), $17 brunch, and $27-$37 for three-course dinners.

Austinites like to do everything different, including Restaurant Week, so not only does this fine week of eating boast its own app, it also is primarily a fundraiser for Meals on Wheels and More, a service that cares for home-bound older adults. In the five years that Austin Restaurant Week has been running, the event has managed to raise over $72,000, so keep the trend going and eat heartily: for every meal you purchase, $2 will be donated to Meals on Wheels and More.

Not sure where to eat? Here are my 6 top picks. Read more

Burgers Too Expensive? Try Food Mashups on Your Bar Menu

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It’s official now: Beef is too darn expensive. What started as a surprising price increase at the beginning of the year has turned into a long, drawn-out phase of disappointment for those of us who love bar food, and who especially love burgers. The price of beef is at it’s highest since 1987, and it’s high time you rethought your bar menu–before it’s too late. Here are 7 creative food mashup ideas you can use to brainstorm for what you want to add to your new bar menu.

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Happier (More Profitable) Happy Hours

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Happy hour specials are a time-honored strategy for drawing patrons in on weekday evenings, when bars might not otherwise see too much of a crowd. However, you obviously don’t just offer bargain beer, wine, and well drink specials for the mere sake of giving your profits away; you want to make sure that the draw of these specials actually pays off. So ask yourself the question: is your happy hour “happy” enough, or could it be better? Is it boosting the bottom line, as it should?

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8 Easy Ways to Make your Bar Customers Happy Every Day

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Can you make your bar customers happier? (This is a trick question. The answer is “Yes.”) Since increasing your customer satisfaction is most important thing you can do to grow your business, we’re offering you eight tips to use in your bar, starting tonight.

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