How much do you really know about restaurants?

Posted on | January 25, 2010

In my last post I posted the questions from a third term test from school. If you ever eat in restaurants, this really highlighted some of the ways your friendly server tries to get you to spend more, more, more. Quite the eye-opener.

And if you ever dream of opening a restaurant, this test was also a real eye-opener on some of the issues you have to deal with.

If you haven’t taken the test, you might want to pop back and take it. If you have (or if you just want a behind-the-scene peek at the inner workings of restaurants), the answers are after the jump.

Who makes suits and eats spinach?
~ Popeye the Tailorman!

Okay. Here are those much-anticipated answers. Do comment and let me know how you did.

There are four. First, fixed food costs: You apply a set mark-up percentage to all foods. The pro is this is easy. The con is it does not take into account labor-intensive items. Second is value perception pricing: You determine the range of prices you can sell food items and develop a menu around this range. The obvious con is that it limits what you can put on your menu. The pro is you know your food costs are covered. Third, market pricing. With this method, you price your menu items the same as your competitor. Pro, of course, is your prices are competitive. But the con is it does not reflect your specific menu. Fourth, and last, is contribution to margin. This is the margin you need to make per customer. Pro is it can be very accurate. But the con is you need to have excellent numbers (especially extensive historical data) to make this one work.
Sales control is maximizing sales by getting more people in seats, more often, buying more. The calculation for estimated sales is number of seats times number of turns times check average times days open.
Marketing is the 4 p’s: product, price, promotion, place. It determines where you are in the customer’s mind.
Location, parking, price, advertising, outdoor seating, hours of service, ambiance, word-of-mouth, menu design, etc.
The menu is your sales brochure. It can improve sales by directing customers to high margin items and making dishes sound good.
Easy-to-read, clear and enticing, colors, shading, boxing items, fonts.
Showcasing, special boards, suggestive selling, dessert tray, table side service.
Telling the customer the full range of options, creating a picture in words, enhancing the dining experience.
Educating the servers.
Having product knowledge, learning how to read customers, mirroring their preferred communication method (such as being friendly or giving them space), samples, dessert trays, teaching staff not to use closed questions (yes / no).
Selling commonly undersold items (desserts, salads and soups, appetizers, coffee or tea, second drinks), up selling, alcohol pairings, prie fix items, bar menus, having visually interesting foods
Neighborhood restaurants are only 10 – 15 minutes away; destination restaurants are further.
It is not generating revenue.
It costs the most money to get a customer to come in the first time.
The moment of truth is every opportunity you have to interact with a customer. The three possible outcomes are meeting expectations, exceeding expectations, failing to meet expectations.
Changing an unsatisfied customer into a repeat customer.
It comes from the top (management), it is do-as-I-do (management has to be customer-service oriented), empower the staff.
Creating your best menu mix; it measures profitability and popularity.

A man walks into a doctor’s office with a carrot up his nose, a cucumber in his right ear, and a banana in his left ear. “What’s the matter with me, Doc?” he asks.
~ “You’re not eating properly,” says the Doctor.

So how’d you do? Do let me know! And, hey did you have your eyes opened at all? Will it change how you order at your favorite restaurant? And what about those of you thinking you might want to open a restaurant; any eye-opening moments or second thoughts?

Interesting stuff, don’t'cha think?

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One Response to “How much do you really know about restaurants?”

Tweets that mention How much do you really know about restaurants? | -- Topsy.com
January 26th, 2010 @ 12:13 am

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Cooking Student, Cooking Student, Cooking Student, Samantha Liang, Adina and others. Adina said: Great list RT @Zacharycohen (via @cookingstudent) Do you really know how your restaurant works? http://bit.ly/8sHepc [...]