Article: “Chowhound: Rave reviews’ smell suspect” (Aug.2006)

excerpt:
“Chowhound.com, a popular online message board devoted to those in search of good food and drink, has banned mentions of a Cambridge restaurant from its site.

Chowhound alleges it was receiving a suspicious number of rave reviews of the 4-month-old Conundrum in Harvard Square, many of them coming from the same computer connection.

“We’ve had a blitz of postings with rapturous praise for Conundrum from many, many posters, all of whom are utter newcomers to the site, and our users have been complaining that it seems like we might be getting played,” Chowhound co-founder Jim Leff said. “I’m not trying to do anything but run an honest food discussion, and it’s my job to defend that discussion when we feel like it’s being taken advantage of.”

source: “Chowhound: Rave reviews’ smell suspect” by Donna Goodison (Boston Herald, Aug.12, 2006)

Web Site: Foodie Headquarters

“Like Food? Like Wine? Like People who like Food & Wine? Then you’ve come to the right place. With hundreds of user supported recipes, wine reviews, and events, our site’s chock full of information all Foodies love to have at their fingertips.”

link: FoodieHeadquarters.com

You can find local wine tastings, dinner events, and cooking classes.

related link:
LocalWineEvents.com

Research: Hospitality Technology’s “2006 POS Scoreboard – Rating Top POS Systems”

excerpt:
“Now in its third year, the POS Scoreboard offers the industry’s only ranking of the top foodservice point-of-sale software companies based on company size, number of installations and user satisfaction.

…How do POS software systems compare in the opinion of foodservice operators? The user satisfaction scores offer charts and analyses of how systems fared in the criteria deemed most important by the operators themselves.”

source: “2006 POS Scoreboard – Rating Top POS Systems” (Hospitality Technology, 2006) [pdf, free registration req.]

Resource: Restaurant Technology Discussion Boards

There are not many free discussion forums to discuss restaurant technology and POS. Here are two forums available:

Foodservice.com’s TechTalk – Restaurant POS / Software
WebFoodPros’ Bits ‘n Bites Foodservice Software Forum

Free: Restaurant Industry, Hospitality, and Foodservice Discussion Forums

If you would like to hear how others in the restaurant, hospitality, and foodservice industry feel about a topic, then visiting and/or participating in a discussion forum can be very helpful. While there are some fee-based membership forums for restaurant owners, here are some message boards where restaurant folks are talking for free:

Foodservice.com’s Industry Discussion Forums

sample forums:
Restaurant Biz Talk
TechTalk – Restaurant POS / Software
Chefs and Cooks Corner

Chef2Chef’s Professional Community Forums

sample forums:
Ask a Chef! Get an Answer!
Restaurant Equipment Forum
Wine Beer Spirit and Beverage Forum

Topix’s Restaurant Management Forum
Restaurant Report’s “The Great Debates” and “Question & Answer“
StarChefs’ Message Board
ChefTalk’s Cooking Forums
Atlanta Cuisine’s Restaurant Talk

Press Release: “MealAgent Launches National Free Online Food Ordering Website” (Jun.,2006)

excerpt:
“A new website is now offering restaurants around the country free online food ordering for their customers. MealAgent.com provides a customizable, web-based take-out interface that is free to both restaurants and to their customers: people ordering food are never charged, and restaurants are only charged for extra services.

MealAgent believes that every restaurant should be able to have a web presence and that people should be able to easily order from their favorite restaurants without having to pick up a phone…”

source: “MealAgent Launches National Free Online Food Ordering Website” (Meal Agent, Jun.21,2006) [press release]

MealAgent is able to send orders to restaurants via:

• Fax
• Email
• SMS Cellphone Message
• Alpha Pager
• Supported POS Systems

link: MealAgent

Other companies providing related services:
Waiter on Wheels
Waiter.com
Delivery.com
Ehungry.com

Resource: Restaurant Resource Group’s Archived List of Featured Articles & QuickBooks Tips

RRG – Restaurant Resource Group provides financial management tools and support services. The site contains fee-based information, services, and products, but their site also has a free “Tips & Articles” section with many interesting pieces.

Here are samples titles:
“10” Restaurant Financial Red Flags
Counting Your Beans with Confidence…A QuickBooks Primer for the Startup Restaurateur
How To Win The Menu Pricing Game
Restaurant Marketing: An Art and Science

link: RRG’s Archived List of Featured Articles & QuickBooks Tips

Article: “Google’s gourmet giveaways dispel no-free-lunch axiom” (Jul.2006)

excerpt:
“In the category of large-scale, single-site foodservice enterprises at business and industry venues, Google’s extravagant employee dining program arguably is second to none.

In terms of subsidized cost per meal and the breadth of its chef-driven menus, Google’s dining operation appears to surpass even the most generous of corporate kitchens, except perhaps for some exclusive executive dining rooms.

The company’s culinary offerings stand out even in comparison to other Silicon Valley firms famous for lavishing perks on employees…”

source: “Google’s gourmet giveaways dispel no-free-lunch axiom” by John Anderson (Nation’s Restaurant News, Jul.31,2006) [free registration req.]

Article: “Businessman blogs boldly toward BBQ restaurant success” (Jul.2006)

excerpt:
“On June 7, Reams started posting to the Mothership blog — and soon began counting down to opening. Then, on Friday, June 9, Reams announced on the blog the restaurant would be open the next morning. To his surprise, 50 customers came in for pulled pork barbecue and ribs – and their positive posts on his blog followed.

In simple terms, Reams managed to get Mothership off the ground and exceeding sales projections almost immediately without spending a penny on conventional advertising; only his blog, maintained by the free, Google-owned Blogger service, served as a sentinel for Mothership’s opening. He says he is Nashville’s only restaurateur using blogging as a method of publicity…”

source: “Businessman blogs boldly toward BBQ restaurant success” by Will York (The City Paper, Jul.24,2006)

Related links:
Free Blog Software / Hosting (About.com)

Article: “10 Tactics for Driving F&B Sales”

excerpt:
“Delivering measurable increases in food and beverage revenues can be achieved with simple restaurant promotional techniques available to big budgets and shoestring marketers alike. There are thousands of possible tactics you can employ to drive revenues without any reliance on mass media advertising.

Here are 10 of the best restaurant promotion ideas to get your own creative marketing wheels turning:

Restaurant Promotions Tactic 1. Publicity stunts – Stunt is a word with negative connotations for restaurant owners, but I wanted to use a word that conjured up images that are different than traditional press relations efforts…”

source: “10 Tactics for Driving F&B Sales” (Quantified Marketing Group)

Quantified Marketing Group has an archive of restaurant marketing articles, here are some sample topics:

Restaurant Marketing Plan
Best Practices in Email Marketing
Restaurant Positioning

link: Quantified Marketing Group’s Restaurant Marketing Articles

QMG also offers a free newsletter which offers advice about restaurant marketing.
Click here for the July 06 newsletter.