Instagram quickly became one of the hottest ways for operators to interact with their clientele. It’s low-cost, you can receive and share customers’ photos on your own feed, facebook, twitter, or other social media. And for now, it’s still free.
Great Tech Trends: Guest Feedback at Ed’s Chowder House
Incorporating new technology into your enterprise can seem exhausting, but there are many easy ways to make technology work for you, your guests, your employees, and your enterprise. In the next few Enterprise Insights, we will profile a few of them.
We recently found a great tech trend in play at Ed’s Chowder House that will help owners and managers get valuable feedback from guests and make sure they leave happy.
When guests sit down at Ed’s, they’ll find a business card with the name of the restaurant’s General Manager on the front, and a QR code and web address on the back, along with their table number.
The web address or QR code will take guests to a unique site for Ed’s Chowder House, run by a company called Yorn—short for Your Opinion Right Now. Once at the site, they can leave feedback that is relayed to management in real time.
While many guests are timid about making commentary face-to-face or to a server who they feel may not have power to correct a problem, they are often willing to leave comments online or in an indirect manner. Just think about the ever-increasing popularity of Yelp.
This type of technology, almost like a real-time Yelp, offers a unique opportunity to address guests’ questions, comments, or concerns promptly—before they even leave the enterprise.
Yorn offers customized feedback solutions depending on your specific enterprise, so it can provide valuable insight for a bakery-café, fast casual enterprise, or quick service restaurant, as well.
Soda Ban HALTED: No End of 16 ounce Drinks
The Soda Ban that was to begin today has halted, from a ruling by New York State Supreme Court Judge Milton A. Tingling. For now, stating that the Department of Health had exceeded its authority.
Chatting Retail Wine With Jean-Luc Le Dû in the West Village
Jean-Luc is the owner of Le Dû’s Wines, a wine and spirits store in the West Village. Prior to opening his retail shop in 2005, Jean-Luc spent ten years as chief sommelier at Daniel. Lauren Mowery profiles him in today’s Fork In the Road, and gives greater insight to his choices and penchant for retail wine.
Doughnuts Continue to Sweep the Nation: On Restaurant Menus
The doughnut boom was fast on the tail of cupcakes, but this one seems to have taken an extra step forward: restaurants are increasingly adding them to menus. Not just Thomas Kellers’ Coffee & Doughnuts (A Life Worth Eating has dreamy photos), but in myriad forms and of many origins: beignets, bombolini, and the good ol’ U.S.A. hot, fresh, sometimes decorated doughnut.
Stella Opens at Macy’s, Direct Access from Street
Major news for Herald Square diners and a great success for Macy’s dining: Jonathan Benno has overseen the menu at Stella. The sixth-floor restaurant has direct access from street level.
Gluten-Free Requests Reaching a New High: NPD Group Reports
In January, about one-third of U.S. adults said they wanted to cut down on gluten or avoid gluten in their diet all together, marking the highest percentage making this claim since The NPD Group began tracking the trend in 2009.
NPD’s Dieting Monitor, which tracks on a bi-weekly basis top-of-mind dieting and nutrition-related issues, reports that 30 percent of adults, or one in every three, claimed to cut down on or avoid gluten completely in January 2013.
Japan Week and Restaurant Week Kicks Off in NYC, Runs Until March 18
Japan Week and Restaurant week have kicked off, and lucky for us, it is two weeks long. The restaurant week, from March 4 -18 brings together various Manhattan restaurants in celebrating the regional cuisines of Japan. Some of these restaurants will create their own ekiben containing local Japanese dishes, allowing diners to “eat their way around Japan” from New York City. Japanese Restaurant Week will conclude with Japan Week 2013, a three-day event to be held in Grand Central Terminal that aims to attract food enthusiasts, professionals, and tourists to Japan by promoting the diverse array of regional foods that Japan has to offer. Many events, some food-centric, are planned throughout the city.
The General Adds Breakfast, Pastry, and WiFi to the Menu
Nolita’s The General is making more use of their popular space, by adding on morning service. It debuted this morning with their cereal-topped donuts, breakfast pretzel rolls, and Stumptown Coffee.
Kennedy Airport Stepping Up Foodservices
The New York Times reports that the Delta Terminal overhaul will continue. Food from Marcus Samuelsson, La Brea Bakery, Blue Smoke on the Road, and two Shake Shacks are planned.