A Restaurant Consulting Firm plays a variety of roles for you They provide expert advice on concepts, design, location, finance, menu and many other factors that play a huge part in deciding the success of your restaurant business.
There are various reasons why you should go for Restaurant Consultancy if you’re planning to run a successful food business.
When a good business owner starts their new venture, the restaurant consultant helps in planning and developing the concept for your restaurant in order to ensure that the concept and location are in accordance with each other. All other collaterals of the food business are then decided upon basis the concept.
Location is also an extremely vital component that determines the success of any restaurant. The restaurant has expertise in market research of the industry and can provide you great location options based on the concept of the restaurant and consumer preferences.
The property selection process also becomes easier because the restaurant consultants are well aware of good properties where basic amenities like parking space, regular water and electricity is always available. Customers will always choose basic comfort along with great food and service.
Staff is the biggest deal maker or breaker in the service industry. Hiring and training the right people is a must. From managers and cooks to servers, dishwashers, host, and bartenders, everyone has to be screened and interviewed according to industry standards. The Restaurant Consultant will help you choose the right people and also be of a great assistance in training them.
Restaurant Menu Design and layout are more important than just being a portfolio of food items in your restaurant. They are a part of your brand identity and play a major role in marketing your brand. Therefore, paying attention to detail is very important in the menu designing process.
Your menu design should be impactful enough and resonate your restaurant’s concept and vibe easily. The Restaurant Consultant will be able to hire the right menu designers for your business that will include professional photographers for your food and beverages, designers and copywriters.
From the font to the colours, everything has to be in accordance with your restaurant and it’s concept in order to reflect your brand identity.
Another very important aspect of a menu is the costing of your Food and Beverages. Pricing your cuisine correctly can significantly increase your profits. From accurate recipes to cost per portion, everything is guided by the restaurant consultants as they also help you hire the right chefs for your restaurant’s cuisine.
Restaurant Financial Planning is of utmost importance while opening a new restaurant. Restaurant consultants use various parameters like Profit & Loss, Cash Flow Statement, Cost of Sales, Cost of labor, etc in order to keep track of your food business performance.
Restaurant Consultants help you with proper planning of your finances by setting financial goals and providing investment assistance. They help create a budget for your restaurant along with projections for the next five or ten years.
Restaurant designing and planning is the most important aspect of restaurant concept development. It requires an in-depth knowledge of restaurant functions and operations, employee understanding and the architecture.
The consultant along with an architect can create restaurant design and floor plan for your food business. From spatial configurations and floor plans, everything is taken care of to ensure safety and success in the long run.
As is known, the success of a restaurant is primarily dependent on the service you provided. However, what attracts your customers and retain them will depend not only on the service and food but also on the interiors.
Marketing and branding of a new restaurant can be challenging but with the help of expert restaurant consultants, your food business can become popular sooner than expected.
Even if the consultants you hire don’t handle the marketing part directly, they have a fair understanding of your target audience and can come up with some of the best marketing strategies to retain them.
For making your food business a great success, the product needs to be up to the mark. A Restaurant Consultant can help you in so many areas but as an owner, you should know the business and industry you’re in. Creating an impact on people and maintaining a certain perception had to be a continuous process. A good restaurant consultant can help you understand all of these aspects and help you improve the overall performance from the start until the end for making your food business a great success, the product needs to be up to the mark. A Restaurant Consultant can help you in so many areas but as an owner, you should know the business and industry you’re in. Creating an impact on people and maintaining a certain perception had to be a continuous process. A good Restaurant Consultant can help you understand all of these aspects and help you improve the overall performance from the start until the end.
The first step to a stellar menu is the research and development process. Here, an expert can help you decide on recipes, categorize them and develop more recipes suited for your restaurant. It’s an iterative process that involves trying out several recipes, menu combinations, local ingredients & vendors and correcting continuously. Having an expert onboard helps you fine tune your recipes, come up with more creative menu options & be completely sure of what you are offering to your customers. In this very important step a good Restaurant Consultant will help you ideate, develop recipes and processes, explore feasibility of the designed recipes, plan & execute launch.
Our everyday customers are becoming more and more health conscious in this avocado-smoothie-making, kale-salad-eating millennial age. Health conscious customers need a well-planned, well balanced meal. The best way to do it is to ensure that your menu meets the requirements of a nutritionally balanced meal. This may involve counting calories of all your menu items or creating a set of healthy options to balance your menu.
As a chef or restaurant owner you might have taken into consideration what recipes you will offer. The best recipes, however, shine because the ingredients that go into that recipe are fresh, of high quality & carefully selected. A proper restaurant consultant can guide you about factors to consider while picking a vendor for vegetables, meats and other materials. They can help compare vendors’ proposed pricing and select the best suited to your budget and needs.
You already have your restaurant up and running but your menu doesn’t seem to be working. A Restaurant Consultant can help you decide what should remain on your menu, what should go or change and what else can be added to your menu.
Your menu’s visual design is what will capture your customer’s interest. A well designed menu will take into consideration customer psychology, item placement and brand identity. A uniquely designed menu will not only get you returning customers but in today’s Instagram age, help you reach out to newer and wider audiences at no extra cost.
Pricing your menu is one of the trickiest tasks required while planning the menu. Price too high and you lose a whole section of the audience. Price too low and your restaurant bears losses. Price without considering daily needs, raw materials and so many other factors that can make your restaurant either a success or a failure. Be absolutely sure to consult an expert for this one.
Even before the food is served, customers interact with and judge the plateware at your restaurant. Your plateware could enhance your restaurant’s ambience, set the tone for the food and amaze your customers. Experts can guide you with buying the proper plateware for each of the dishes on your menu and help you plate each of dishes as well.
Just as with plateware, glassware plays an important role in setting the restaurant’s ambience. A fine dine restaurant would be incomplete without the proper glassware to accentuate each of their drinks. Something as simple as glasses for water can be done creatively. An expert will consider all possible factors for picking the perfect glasses to serve at your restaurant.
Delivery packaging needs planning for the kind of food you serve as well as how to make it compact, efficient and an experience of its own. A consultant can help you not only plan your packaging but also decide which menu items should be kept for delivery and help you optimize that process.
Most restauranteurs miss out on planning for menu offers while building your menu. These could be limited time offers, lunch offers or so much more which can help build your business using existing dishes or introducing some new dishes for a short time.
Phew! Didn’t think there would be so many considerations for menu creation, right? If you are feeling a little overwhelmed by so many tasks, feel free to reach out to us. Contact Us For a Free Consultation today. We can help make your menu stand out and be the asset it needs to be.
It’s that time of the year when you are saved from the traumatic summer heat with heavy and windy rains. The monsoons have finally started and have brought in few more worries for restaurant owners and managers. If you run a restaurant, you need to take extra measures in order to maintain the hygiene in the restaurant. We’ve come up with a list to ensure you don’t miss out on any obvious hygiene steps.
This is one of the important aspects to look for as cooked foods can get easily contaminated during this period of time. You must store food in closed and sealed containers as it can help deal with contamination. Make sure that the food is served hot and the leftovers must be refrigerated. Also remember that Fungi tends to multiply during these conditions which you must be wary of.
Water-borne diseases are quite high during this period and extra precaution must be taken on water used. Diseases like Typhoid, Cholera, Diarrhoea are propagated through contaminated water. Make sure that the water is always boiled and sufficiently filtered before serving or using it in the items.
For the restaurants serving them, Seafoods during monsoon cannot be trusted to be without any contamination. The 60-day fishing ban from the government of India has worsened the case as sea-foods in the market cannot be deemed as safe. Make sure that vendors or the agents through which your restaurant buys various kinds of seafoods are reliable. Also plan an efficient way to store them. The use of freezer bags are better way of storing them. Never purchase anything with holes or pores in them.
Effective flood management needs equal focus on the managing the drainage. At times, problems like water clogging is active in few of the low- lying areas and measures need to be taken for it. Making sure that your drainage is free from any debris can help in free flow of water Having a rooftop restaurant can have problems like improper insulation and no proper ventilation which can make way for roof decay and at times the use of poor or damaged equipments can build way for these water leakages.
A clean environment is vital to be followed in your restaurant as it keeps away all the harmful diseases that can fall in the way. It also means maintaining a clean kitchen in your restaurant and not overlooking the washroom either. Ideally a restaurant must be cleaned twice a day. Keeping kitchen equipments in mind, depending on their type, should at least be cleaned once every 1-3 weeks. Keeping your restaurant warm and cosy can help the cause further.
The well being of your staff is equally important as they are the ones responsible for the reputation of your restaurant. Having a strict and uniform protocol or guidelines can help you in making them follow a clean and hygienic process. The use of proper and neat equipments like hand gloves, chef-apron, etc can amplify your cause. Also, having medical and fitness tests occasionally for all employees can help in maintaining their well being.
Finally, remember that a restaurant’s reputation is always at stake and maintaining the hygiene should always be your first priority. So, there you have a brief idea on how to maintain hygiene in your restaurant. You can also contact us to know more about maintaining clean and hygienic ambience in a restaurant. You can also share your ideas by dropping a comment in the comments section.
Your restaurant’s menu is probably one of the first things your customers would notice and it’s design plays a vital role in the impression your customers have. Are you having trouble over deciding a perfect menu for your new restaurant? Aren’t you bored of unoriginal menu and don’t you want to create something memorable? Here’s our step by step list to make your menu designing job super easy!
The first need that arises for a restaurant owner is to choose the right items for their menu. The items in the menu should complement your restaurant’s cuisine. If you have trouble deciding what should go on your menu, consider getting expert help.
Time based menu items is generally produced only at certain time in a day or in a certain period of an year. These items are made for a limited time and hence should maintain curiosity onto the minds of the customers.
The prices in the menu card must be profitable but at the same time must have some sense into placing them. The prices should be similar to your competitors and should not exceed or decrease much. A cost for a food item should be as much as 30-35% more than the total cost for making the dish. Remember, there is no point in charging 350 bucks for a plate of Vada Pav and hence, the prices must be relatable.
A menu should be designed in a way that attracts the customers. The menu should not look too fancy at the same time not overtly plain. Using certain pictures of the food item in the menu can help decide the customers what they want. The Restaurant Menu can also be designed by viewing what kind of restaurant the management has. In case of a restaurant which attracts a lot of youths, a menu can be designed by affixing pictures from popular TV shows, Musicians, Films,etc. Whereas in case of a health-conscious restaurant, facts related to health can be displayed in the menu.
This is because the restaurant must by now be aware of the fact that their restaurant is good at making certain item and is sure that the customers will be satisfied with that dish. Newcomers in the restaurant will always have the desire to try the best-seller and can end up promoting the restaurant by person-to-person.
There should be simple and crisp description of the food item as it helps the customers in understanding the nature of the food. Its difficult for a person from a different origin to truly understand what the dish is all about.
Combos generally helps the customers in quickly deciding what they want to order. This comes as an easy way for customers who generally don’t want to waste time on their menu. Combos generally have food combined with beverage or a desert and is called as a complete meal.
Tent cards are an easier way of highlighting foods which are time-based or seasonal and are not generally displayed in their menu. These are generally present in each tables of a restaurant and are used to garner the interest of a customer. Ideas like today’s special, Limited time special, etc can bring in curiosity to the mind of a visitor.
The use of heavy fonts in the menu can distract the customer and hence a restaurant must avoid using them. At the same time, using a lot of vocabularies and phrases can make the customer lose their interest in the menu.
The menu should be made in a way that it can be handled easily by a customer. It should not be too small as it creates difficulty for the customers to read the menu.
The Restaurant Menu should not have too many pages (This is not a story book!). Around 2-6 pages are ideal for a restaurant menu. The layout in the menu should be uniform in structure. The layout should also be clear to their customers where each section must be divided neatly.
An ideal Menu offers clear and distinctive categories in the menu which helps the customer to easily identify their needs. Different sections for Starters, Main-course, Desserts and Beverages is ideal in a menu ,although, it is the choice of the restaurant in listing their sections.
Menu can play a major role in influencing with the psychology of a customer and hence, it is vital to use various strategies for it. The use of suggestions for a certain food item with another food item influences the customer in ordering the other item. Also placement of food items can play with the customers psychology. Placing an expensive item with rather cheap one will direct the customer to select a cheaper one.
The menu should be updated as it avoids the frequent customer feel they only have the same choices in their menu. Also revamping the layout can change the mood of the frequent visitor.
Creative writing always attracts the reader. Henceforth, the menu card should be written creatively at the same time should be simple.
The restaurant must already plan what goes into the menu and what not. Things like numeralisation of items (6 chucks of meat in Biryani) must be avoided as it helps the restaurant in adjusting their items. Not a lot of disclaimers should be used in the menu as it can scare your customers and if used should be placed in the back of the menu card.
At the initial stage for a restaurant, the customers can be asked for their feedback on the menu which will help them to bring the changes in the revamped menu.
The menu card can be tested priorly on various samples of your need. Taking their valuable feedback is vital as it can help the restaurant bring out the change it needs.
Pop-up restaurants can be called as mini-restaurants or temporary restaurants which operate on short-term period in old buildings, fun parks, theaters, or even in a chef’s home. It’s an innovative trend which is currently being followed in many parts across the globe which is initiated mainly under trial run basis and brings in creativity from ambience to your food.
Supper Club, a term widely associated with Pop-up restaurants, is stated to have begun in 1930’s and 40’s where restaurants not only focused on serving foods to their customers but also on socializing with them. The restaurants were set up in rural areas that mainly lacked traditional restaurants. Later in the 70’s, restaurant chefs started their own underground restaurant where food was served from their home. According to Google Trends, the term supper club was quite popular until 2004. Due to the shift in transition, supper clubs evolved into pop-up restaurants as known to many at present.
The term Pop-up is not relatively a new term as it was known to few individuals in 2004, according to Google Trends. The trend is mainly slated to have begun in 2004 but started to get popularized only by 2014. According to the data collected by National Restaurant Association in 2016, the trend showed 60 percent increase that year. The same association in its “What’s Hot” Chef’s list showed the Pop-up Restaurant as the 6th most popular concept when it comes to restaurants. Another survey by Google Trend showed that the concept earned its prominence only by 2014.
Ludo Club is known to be the first Pop-up Restaurant which used to operate in different parts of LA. The restaurant didn’t have a fixed location which suddenly disappeared and soon came back for a temporary basis. These restaurants grew further where restaurant owners brought in cuisines unfamiliar to that geographical area, earning fame in that process. This Pop-up trend came as a great initiative to try and test new ideas.
The Pop-up concept is a new and cheaper way of Starting a Restaurant which might cost about 1-2 lakh Indian currency which includes resources, insurance charge and rental cost if applicable. It is quite difficult to establish a normal restaurant in a posh location as it requires more money and suitable recognition. With Pop-up, the owner can be benefitted as he can even vary his location and price. The location in Pop-up Restaurants can be changed from time to time and hence it becomes easy for owners who can chose places which can pull larger customers. The prices for the foods can be flexible and needn’t stay the same always which comes as an added advantage to the restaurant owners.
The restaurant has more space for creativity as you can test various new innovative ideas and concepts which otherwise can’t be done in normal restaurant. This also includes testing new recipes and new items. The restaurants needn’t even follow a fixed menu and can change it from day-to-day or place-to-place.
The Pop-up Restaurants have become a popular trend at current which doesn’t seem to cease. Crowd in fixed restaurants have declined compared to the past with the introduction of malls, multiplexes etc. The Pop-up Restaurant Owners can choose their own location which they deem suitable to pull out their target audience.
Pop Up Restaurant currently use marketing and promotional strategies mainly through social media networks like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. and by writing different blogs. Video blogging is one more strategy which the restaurant owners make use by posting videos in YouTube and related video channels.
It’s upon you whether to dwell on this new concept where there is nothing for you to lose. Although a person starting this venture might have a difficulty in finding suitable resources in certain unknown geographical area. He must also put forth creative ideas to earn profits where his target audience is not set.
Unless you are living under a rock, you have probably witnessed how much the restaurant industry has changed in the past few years. Especially, the way in which food delivery has become popular in the past few years is simply mindblowing. In fact, did you know that around 66% of individuals enjoy having their food delivered instead of dining at restaurants? Evidently, the buzz surrounding ghost kitchens is quite apparent, and restauranteurs are joining this movement. However, if you are still scratching your head wondering what they are don’t worry. Our Restaurant Consultants are here to break it down for you and explain why these virtual kitchens are becoming the future of dining.
A ghost kitchen or a cloud kitchen is a food preparation space that’s designed solely for the purpose of fulfilling online orders. You might have a full-fledged restaurant with seating space, but you cannot deny the fact that a large proportion of your customer base prefers online orders and takeouts.
This is where ghost kitchens exist to make things simpler. They are purely for cooking and packaging food that’s then delivered directly to the customers. So, why are ghost kitchens becoming popular? Let’s delve into the reasons.
Services like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub have made ordering food from your phone or computer super convenient. But what does that mean for traditional restaurants? Well, it means that traditional restaurants should also diversify their offerings and look for new ways to meet demand without investing in a physical dining space. This is where ghost kitchens prove to be a win-win because they allow food brands to skip the overhead costs of brick-and-mortar locations while still tapping into the growing demand for delivery.
Let’s admit it: running a full-scale restaurant is expensive. From the rent for prime real estate to utilities, interior design, waitstaff, and management costs, everything can add up and lead to losses. However, ghost kitchens are located in less expensive areas or even in shared spaces with other kitchen operators. Without the need for a storefront or front-of-house staff, operators can focus their budget on quality ingredients and efficient kitchen operations.
Ghost kitchens offer incredible flexibility. You can run multiple brands or concepts out of one kitchen, each with its own delivery-only menu. Imagine a single kitchen space serving everything from pizza to Asian fusion to vegan comfort food, all for different delivery services. It allows brands to test out new concepts without the long-term commitment of opening another restaurant. If something works well, you can scale up quickly.
Want to move the operations of your restaurants to the ghost front, or do you just want to integrate your conventional services with a ghost kitchen and don’t know where to get started with the budgeting, equipment, workforce, etc? Reach out to the Cloud Kitchen Consultants at Bistro Brain today and set your first foot forward toward the future of the restaurant industry!