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How to Deal with the Free Drink Dilemma

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The free drink is an apocryphal tenet of bartending. The comped shot, or buy back, should never be given away willy nilly by a bartender. It also shouldn’t be expected by a customer. But, if used properly, that privileged dram can be a powerful tool for rewarding loyal patronage.  The danger of the free drink is if this privilege gets abused. Restaurant operators can’t have their employees giving away the bar, and bartenders shouldn’t rely on comped drinks in lieu of good service. But, if exhibited with finesse, a drink on-the-house can be a tradition both time honored and beneficial to all parties. And a party it is. But, as a restaurant operator, how should you go about enforcing a policy that keeps bartenders honest while also giving them the ability to show love for a well-liked patron?

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4 Ways Restaurants Can Wipe Out Food Waste

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Food waste is a big problem for restaurants. It means higher costs. It’s also a larger community problem as it compounds front page issues like sustainability and hunger. Cutting back food waste should be high priority for all restaurants. For one, it reduces operating costs while helping kitchens run more efficiently through improved oversight. Wiping out food waste also creates an opportunity to become an active and positive member of your local community. By becoming a leader in combating local issues, restaurant’s can gain followers from the glow of positive PR. It’s a win/win for restaurants and the community. Here are a few ways to avoid food waste.  Read more

Uncorkd Server Mistakes

Restaurant Marketing Checklist: Be Mindful of Mobile

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Restaurants and bars are in a great position to capitalize on marketing. Restaurants deal in the business of pleasure and indulgence, and those two things are easy sells. Whether you’re celebrating a success or a nursing a failure, there’s always an excuse to dine out. But, the restaurant industry is a highly competitive market, and increasing brand awareness and your marketing force is a great tool to stand out from the competition.

In general, there are two ways for restaurants focus on marketing: inbound and in-house.  Read more

Red Wine Pour

Sommelier Surge in Restaurants

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Sommeliers are most famously known to be working in fine dining establishments, overseeing the wine program with their stereotypical snooty attitudes. These practices are changing, however, as sommeliers are getting recruited by more casual restaurants who want an expert to help the guests with a friendly disposition. How do you know if you should recruit a sommelier, and what are the benefits associated with doing so?

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Get More Bar Customers When You Add Vegan Cocktails

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The hot trend right now is veganism, and though savvy restaurants are beginning to cater to vegans (it’s one of our 2014 food predictions), bars haven’t yet realized that they’re missing a significant customer base. This article puts your bar in the know about non-vegan and vegan cocktail ingredients, and also recommends ways to get those vegans to notice your bar. Let’s get to it.

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3 Easy Bar Menu Changes to Make More Money

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Last Sunday, I went to a local, neighborhood bar, the Grafton Pub in Lincoln Square with friends. It was definitely one of those, “Hmmm, I’m bored and it’s the middle of the day” decisions, and I was hungry. I would have ordered some food, but I hadn’t ever been to this bar (which was really laid back and had a great waitstaff, by the way). My friends, who are regulars at the Grafton looked at the bar menu, complained that their favorite burger had been taken off the menu, and said “Wow, they really raised the prices on this food.” Then they snapped their shared menu shut and ordered a single beer and a single cider.

After that comment, I somehow didn’t feel inspired to order any food either.

Do you ever wonder why your regulars don’t order food anymore? Have you noticed that your bar menu just keeps getting less and less popular? It might be that your bar regulars are the type of people who want a nice side of whiskey with their, er, whiskey, or it might be that your bar menu needs to be updated. Here are some ideas to get your regulars ordering food again. Grafton, listen up. Read more

Sell More Expensive Wine With a Digital Wine Menu

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You’ve put a lot of work into making your restaurant a wonderful place to be. You have beautiful ambiance; the dishes that you serve are delicious, healthy, trendy, and fairly priced. You have a great wine menu and are good at getting people to order wine—but they only order less expensive wine, and you need your restaurant to make more money. If this sounds like you, you might need to be employing more sales techniques to convince your guests to buy higher ticket items. If you feel like you don’t want to jeopardize good relationships with your regulars by being a pushy salesperson, here are some tips and tricks for how you can get your digital wine menu cross-selling and upselling for you to sell more expensive wines, beers, or cocktails. Read more