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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: restaurant industry

restaurant industry stories: 17 news summaries

 100 No-Nos Insulting to Waiters 

Former waiter irked by Bruce Buschel's New York Times list

Nov 11, 09 9:37 AM CST
(Newser) - Along with the rest of the world—or at least, frequenters of the New York Times website—Lauren Bans read restaurateur Bruce Buschel’s recent “100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do.” And the former waiter is pretty annoyed. “No minimum wage job should ever require a... More »

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servers • restaurant • dining • etiquette • restaurateurs • employees • restaurant industry • waitress • waiter • Jay-ZTV • rules

check, please

 The Biggest Restaurant No-Nos 

Owner lays down the law with these rules for staff

Oct 29, 09 3:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - The seafood restaurant Bruce Buschel is building will have excellent service—or else. Some staff members, he acknowledges, "will no doubt protest some or most of what follows," but he's the boss, and he presents 50 rules in his New York Times blog. A tasting menu:
  • "
... More »

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servers • restaurant • seafood • dining • restaurant industry • waitress • waiter

 10 Dirty Restaurant Tricks 

Eateries cut corners and assume you won't notice

Sep 23, 09 12:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - Restaurants are known to cut a few corners for the sake of their bottom lines. Slashfood sheds some light on dirty little industry secrets, including:
  • Using cabbage instead of seaweed: An ex-maître d’ at an upscale Chinese joint says the chef assumed his celebrity clientele wouldn’
... More »

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food • cost cutting • restaurant • restaurant industry

Mickelson Looks to Buy Waffle House Franchise

Golfer's company makes $20.2 million offer for budget restaurant chain

Jul 23, 09 6:08 PM CDT
(Newser) - Phil Mickelson has made a bid for SouthEast Waffles, a group of 105 Waffle House restaurants in four southern states, the Tennessean reports. Mickelson’s GS Acquisitions offered to buy SouthEast Waffles out of bankruptcy for $20.2 million. Though neither Mickelson nor his two other partners at GS have... More »

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golf • Phil Mickelson • bankruptcy • acquisition • restaurant industry • restaurant chain • Waffle House

(Newser) - Just a year ago, 25% of the country's highest-grossing restaurants were in Las Vegas—where diners ran up $15,000 checks and tipped waiters with wads of C-notes. But now restaurants are closing, new construction languishes half-finished, and more than 5,000 food industry workers have lost their jobs. "... More »

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Las Vegas • restaurant • recession • CityCenter • restaurant industry • waitress • waiter

Twitter a Delicious Marketing Tool, Restaurants Find

Microblogging website allows for quick communication with customers

Jun 29, 09 3:35 PM CDT
(Newser) - Restaurants are finding Twitter a highly useful marketing tool, allowing for direct communication with customers other forms of advertising can’t provide, the Boston Globe reports. Boston’s Tupelo (@tupelo02139), for example, used a Twitter feed to post updates as the restaurant passed inspections, set the décor and decided... More »

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social networking • Internet • marketing • restaurant • Twitter • restaurant industry • microblogging

Analysis

OpenTable Brings (False) Hope for IPOs

Great company creates an old-school frenzy, but it's a one-time deal

May 27, 09 1:21 PM CDT
(Newser) - A hot website goes public, and investors go wild. Shares soar 59% on the first day of trading. “Is this really May 2009?” asks James B. Stewart of SmartMoney. The stock is OpenTable.com, which went public at $20 and is trading just south of $27. "The company... More »

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stock market • OpenTable • IPO • restaurant industry

 Tough Times 
 Push Chains to 
 Try New Fare 

McDonald's classy coffee, grilled KFC widen menus

May 27, 09 10:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Desperate times are driving chain restaurants to desperate measures—straying from their bread-and-butter dishes and diversifying the menu. KFC now sells grilled chicken, Domino’s offers subs, and McDonald’s dips into the world of espresso coffee, USA Today reports. “This is a defining moment for the industry,"... More »

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Pizza Hut • Domino's Pizza • fast food industry • KFC • chain stores • menu • food industry • Arby's • Boston Market • restaurant industry • National Restaurant Association

OPINION

 Future of Wine Could Be on Tap 

Restaurants, consumers save when vino comes straight from the keg

Apr 8, 09 10:07 AM CDT
(Newser) - The trickle of American restaurants serving wine on tap may become a flood when owners realize the benefits, Eric Asimov writes in his New York Times wine column. Serving wine through a keg and tap system identical to that used for beer eliminates a lot of waste, Asimov notes, stopping... More »

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wine • bottles • keg • restaurateurs • Eric Asimov • restaurant industry

(Newser) - High-end eateries are rolling out three-course deals and wine specials to lure America's hungry in hard times, CNN reports. "A year ago, to be honest, I didn't have to hit that three-course menu at $35 a head," said a Manhattan restaurateur whose business is down 20%. "... More »

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restaurant • recession • deal • sale • restaurant industry

 Food Spending Turns Anorexic 

Restaurants, name-brand food hit hard as diners opt for cheaper fare

Feb 13, 09 9:36 AM CST
(Newser) - Americans have trimmed their food spending sharply, hitting restaurants, food retailers, and brand-name food producers squarely in the gut, the Wall Street Journal reports. In the last quarter of 2008, spending on food plunged an inflation-adjusted 3.7% from the previous quarter, the steepest decline since the government began keeping... More »

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Starbucks • consumer spending • grocery stores • Wal-Mart • financial crisis • restaurant industry

Restaurants See Economy's Effect on Bills

Newest craze is splitting the check, to servers' annoyance

Feb 6, 09 4:34 PM CST
(Newser) - Gone are the days when one friend would insist on picking up the dinner check—and with them, the practice of splitting bills evenly, reports the Chicago Tribune. More and more, newly budget-conscious diners are asking for itemized checks. "Why?" says one restaurant manager. "Because nobody is... More »

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dining • economy • check • financial crisis • restaurant industry

Slowdown Scraps
Busboy Jobs

Dishes pile up as servers are forced
to do double duty

Jan 27, 09 2:53 AM CST
(Newser) - Plates are piling up on restaurant tables across America as full-service eateries seek to save cash by axing busboys, reports the Wall Street Journal. Servers take food orders, then scramble to clear tables, fill bread baskets, scrape plates and perform all the other tasks once done by bussers. The change... More »

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restaurant • service industry • restaurant industry • waitress • waiter

Let Them Eat Fast Food

French restaurateurs open moins cher eateries amid
financial crisis

Jan 18, 09 7:23 PM CST
(Newser) - French cuisine just got a little less haute, the Daily Telegraph reports. As the recession hammers consumers and restaurants alike, some of France’s top chefs are opening fast-food offshoots. Expense-account meals running $450 per head are out and $6 ham sandwiches are in as famed restaurants like l'Auberge du... More »

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food • France • fast food • cuisine • restaurant • recession • financial crisis • restaurant industry

 Hooters Boots 
 Battered Waitress 
 Over Bruises 

Injuries violated restaurant's 'all-American cheerleader look'

Jan 6, 09 12:23 PM CST
(Newser) - An Iowa judge has awarded unemployment benefits to an assaulted Hooters waitress who says she was fired because her bruised "body wasn't up to par." Managers testified that the black eye and facial bruising Sara Dye suffered in a domestic violence dispute violated the company-mandated "glamorous appearance"... More »

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Iowa • domestic violence • Hooters • unemployment benefits • restaurant industry • waitress

Rainbow Room Grill to Close 

In throes of recession, rent dispute, the Big Apple landmark will shutter its dining hall

Jan 4, 09 4:54 PM CST
(Newser) - New York’s vaunted Rainbow Room will shut down its dining hall next week amid the recession and a rent conflict, the New York Daily News reports. With the Rainbow Grill’s closure, the tourist hotspot at 30 Rockefeller Plaza will—temporarily or otherwise—be 40 employees lighter and limited... More »

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New York City • New York • restaurant • rent • recession • Rockefeller Center • Rainbow Room • financial crisis • restaurant industry • recession depression

 Eateries Cut Jobs as 
 Diners Tighten Belts 

The industry has shed 66,500 jobs over the past five months as consumers spend less

Dec 10, 08 9:45 AM CST
(Newser) - Restaurant workers are losing their jobs in record numbers as consumers rein in spending and the industry contends with rising ingredient prices, reports the Wall Street Journal. One of the largest US employers, the restaurant industry has been a haven for the unemployed and immigrant workers. Over the past five... More »

MORE ABOUT:
layoffs • employment • tipping • financial crisis • restaurant industry • Bureau of Labor Statistics • National Restaurant Association

17 Stories


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