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The Cocktail: Here’s to Beauty and Simplicity – and Boosted Profits

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What are some of the best strategies for developing a menu of cocktail specialties to boost bar and restaurant sales? According to Restaurant Business, Jon Taffer – who is host and executive producer of Spike TV’s Bar Rescue, as well as the founder and chairman of the hospitality consulting and business services firm Taffer Dynamics – says that drinks that offer visual appeal (and that can be made quickly, using what he calls “one minute mixology”) allow for the greatest return on investment. While exotic ingredients found in cocktails served at popular establishments in New York and San Francisco (Weather Up and Bourbon and Branch, for example) appeal to many consumers, it is how a cocktail is presented (both on the table and on the menu) that matters more than factors like using premium spirits and other special ingredients. A simple but eye-catching cocktail served in an attractive glass – and with a colorful garnish – is really what allows for a higher markup. Read more

The Hard Cider Revolution

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Mention hard cider ten years ago, and the name of this cold alcoholic beverage might not even register with more than a handful of traditional American beer drinkers. Not so today. Consumer demand for cider is increasing, and big corporations are moving in on this promising market, with Angry Orchard cider the fastest growing brand of the Boston Beer Company (producer of Samuel Adams). Even Stella Artois and Michelob – both owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev – now sell hard cider. Last year, MillerCoors bought the Crispin Cider Company. European financial institution the Rabobank describes the U.S. market for hard cider as “just emerging.” Read more

Red Wine Pour

Three Tips to Shape Up Your Restaurant Profits in 2014

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Hey you, listen up. We’re making a New Year’s prediction. Let’s just consult this crystal ball here… Aha! We see more money for you in 2014! According to our amazing powers, this year should be filled with profits for you and your restaurant, because your new iPad wine list means that you’ll increase your drink sales and then live it up with your earnings. Don’t give us that look, we’re sure we’re right because we have the facts to back us up. Here are three money-making secrets to get your tablet wine list working for you this year. Read more

Uncorkd iPad Wine Menu at the Table

Electronic Menus & Wine Selection: A Truly Perfect Pairing

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The scene is a common one. A group of diners are out for a nice meal when suddenly the server hands over the wine list. It’s pages long and feels as heavy as your high school chemistry book. As you scan the list, you are overwhelmed by the hundreds of wine you have never even heard of before. You ask the server for a few recommendations but he seems equally nonplussed, not to mention, frantically busy.

Then you glance at the prices. One hundred dollars for a bottle of wine you might not even like? No way. You give up and order the cheapest bottle of wine (or the second cheapest, just to be a little decadent). You don’t know if you made the right choice, but at least it didn’t break the bank.

Thankfully, there is a better way. Electronic menus are changing the way people choose wine and enhancing the dining experience from start to finish. With an electronic menu, the guest is empowered to make the best decision for his or her palette as well as for their meal. Read more