Slowdown Scraps Busboy Jobs

For the most part, they're stuck in 1999: Farhad Manjoo

(NEWSER) - When you type in the URL of a restaurant website, you're probably looking for information like address, hours, menu, prices, maybe an easy reservation system. Instead, you typically get full-screen photos of the executive chef, links to all their other restaurants, Flash buttons and menus that won't work on your iPhone, and of course, some "auto-playing, royalty-free, ambient techno smooth jazz," writes Farhad Manjoo on Slate . The rest of the web realized quite a while ago that's not the type of thing consumers are looking for, "but restaurant sites seem stuck in 1999." Trying to determine the worst one is "a bit like trying to decide on the most awful serial killer in history." More»

The Zagats have news for you: It's not as fun as it looks

(NEWSER) - Do you dream of opening your own restaurant one day? Well, Nina and Tim Zagat have some advice for you: "Don't do it!" And they should know, considering they co-founded and publish Zagat Restaurant Surveys. Opening a restaurant is about a lot more than just being "a great host or good cook," they write in the Wall Street Journal . "But it's hard to deter people," even though "there's a 60% probability that you will fail within three years or less." More»

Reality TV's favorite cook tells you how to run a restaurant

(NEWSER) - Tom Colicchio’s probably most famous as the head judge on Bravo’s Top Chef, but the man can run a restaurant, too. He even won the 2010 James Beard for Outstanding Chef. This week, he offered Newsweek some tips for aspiring restaurateurs:

• Dinner parties aren’t the same thing: “People with no restaurant experience have dinner parties at home and think maybe it’s a cool thing to do for a living. That’s not quite how it works.” When things go wrong at home, no one screams and demands a refund.

Cheap customers spark message about NC restaurant

(NEWSER) - A North Carolina waitress learned about the dangers of social networking the hard way when she lost her job after griping on Facebook about penny-pinching customers. Ashley Johnson served a couple at Brixx Pizza in Charlotte who had a 3-hour lunch—forcing her to work an hour after the end of her shift—and then tipped only $5. "Thanks for eating at Brixx," she later wrote on Facebook, "you cheap piece of ---- camper." More»

Start by looking her in the eye

(NEWSER) - Dining out anytime soon? True/Slant blogger (and former waitress) Susannah Breslin has a little advice on how to treat your server. Check out the full list here . A sampling:

• Eye contact: Too many people treat servers like they’re invisible. Don't be one of them. “Look your server in the eye. The goal of dining out is great service. Treating your server like a human being is one way to get it.”
• Tip: At nice spots, it’s 20%, so deal with it. “If I just spent several hours running around … and basically acting like your personal slave for the evening, I’d like to be reimbursed for it.”