Posh Eateries Uncork Deals in Downturn

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»

Gracious habits left with George W. Bush

(NEWSER) - It used to be that one could go out for dinner with friends, eat, drink, and still be quite merry about splitting the tab. These days, however, the moment the bill arrives is the tense moment of truth: Who made do with PBR while the other slammed martinis, and who's going to pay what? “The first thing that happens is we all go for our glasses,’’ says one diner. “The nonchalance is gone. It becomes the dreaded moment.’’ 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.

Restaurants high and low use psychology to boost spending

(NEWSER) - In the recession, restaurants casual and white tablecloth alike are desperately updating one of their secret moneymakers: the menu. Numerous studies have concluded that customers spend more when items have sumptuous descriptions, a relative’s name is included, or, most importantly, the $ sign is banished entirely. Whether you can conscience it or not, this is why certain Applebee’s dishes are “slammed with flavor.” More»