Category Archives: Restaurant

Restaurants – It’s Time to Eat Something!

London is the place for its food, wine, culture and the passion amongst its people. Zestful living and high spirits resonates across the city. The beautiful panorama, happening events, great food and drinks bring London alive. Anyone visiting the city is sure to drench in the essence of London through its food!

Choosing a restaurant in London is easy depending on the kind of food and décor you want to indulge in. Also if you are throwing a party, you should know the party size, budget, date and time of booking before you decide to call a restaurant. The choices are many and therefore it is always better to know what you are looking for in a place before going out and booking.

If you are holidaying, sure be swayed by the lovely authentic Indian cuisines and seafood curries and the elaborate wine list at the restaurants in London. A culinary treasure awaits you at different restaurants because London is a city of food lovers. Not only the restaurants, there are also street food options there. A restaurant in London offers the vibe and passion of the city through its food, décor and people. The best part is enjoying the culture of another city at its restaurants because the food and the ambience reflect it in the most stylized yet authentic manner.

London offers world-class dining and exquisite entertainment with its music and culture. From a quiet place to a restaurant that has a club and bar with it, there are different options. One can simply identify their needs and the cuisine before entering a place. Also, it is advisable to check on the rate card of a place if you are a budget traveler. Even the various promotions and offers that the restaurants in London offer can help ease out the budget constraints. So, it is important to compare your options based on the kind of promotions being run as well. It only helps you land up a nice place within your budget for sure. One can also make bookings online after going through the website, the menu cards and reading about the variety of services on offer. This saves you from the hassle of enquiring at the venue or waiting outside the place to get a seat etc. Reservations always come handy when you are dining in a nice restaurant in London.

One should also see the kind of people visiting the place depending on what the place really offers. Depending on a family dining option or a cheap bar, one will get to know what is the right time to visit the place and with whom. The décor really makes an important difference needs to offer comfort in every sense if you decide to spend a few hours there. Also, the place needs to be comfortable in the sense that it gives people ample opportunities to do what they are there for like conversing, eating, enjoying music or even relaxing. Hence, it is nice to read up and explore a variety of places in London before visiting the restaurant in London to ensure a fun-filled time.

Restaurants Start-Up and Systems Success

If you have a restaurant business or are planning on starting a restaurant business then there are several things you will need to do. Find the right products and supplies to start your organization. hiring the right staff, having a menu that is attractive to local consumers, and above all having the right location with the right atmosphere. Some good principles to follow when doing this is develop a business start-up strategy covering the above areas.

In starting a restaurant you may want to consider restaurants that are for sale, but be wary of the cost of leasing and the condition of the current business infrastructure and services to the building. You want to be able to start a restaurant with a minimum number of headaches when it comes to bills in the first few months. What is most important is generating the volume of customers you need and having a suitable systems and staffing operation to carry through on your potential successes.

Having worked under a successful chef in a French Bistro in the past, who ended up selling his business in a matter of years, over 20 years ago and helping some other owners become successful in expanding their customer base I can give you a few pointers.

1. Location of the Restaurant- This is key to the future of your business, the location must be suitable to traffic, if it is not then you better have a … good reason for people to get to your location that no one else has. Traffic by foot and by cars as well as other means is important. Determining the traffic numbers in both these areas as others is very important for future business reasons.

2. Finding the Right Supplies for your Restaurant- There are so many suppliers in the restaurant industry and there are also numerous brokers, repairmen and resellers. You must tread carefully and do your homework, determine the benefits of the purchase and the costs. It could be as simple as drawing a line down the paper and including positive and negatives or doing a more involved cost benefit analysis. Also having an accountant review the opportunity would be beneficial in saving you problems down the road.

An example of a restaurant management supplier is:
[http://www.sodexho.com/food-management-services/restaurant-supply-wholesale.htm]

3. Menu- One of the most important things may be the menu, especially in a larger city where there is more competition. You must adhere strictly to a defined menu that accentuates you and word of mouth about the best food you have in your chosen specialty. Size of the menu is also important in consideration of your costs and the types of foods you want to serve and or mix using basic ingredients. The opportunity to have prepared food is also available in assisting you with labour costs in preparing food.

An example for cost effective menu making online is:
http://www.themenumaker.com/

4. Staffing- Staffing can be challenging, and in this industry, like other industries that can be entry-level at times it may be hard to find workers with dedication, principle and good ethics. Developing a good job description including duties and expectations and having a training day and or someone to assist them in job shadowing is beneficial. There are numerous other opportunities that you can use in developing HR Strategy. A good business example of HR Strategy in business would be IBM. In the restaurant industry you might look to good examples such as McDonald’s, Starbucks or A&W. You might not have the leverage they have to offer some of the services of strategies but there are opportunities to offer similar environments. This however, takes a lot of time and work and having a hr consultant or business consultant would be beneficial.
Having team uniforms may be one way to identify with your customers and may also benefit your staff’s hygiene. A good example is:
http://www.bestbuyuniforms.com/

5. Layout, Design and Attraction- This can make or break some businesses in the restaurant industry depending on their competition and consumer demand. Some areas expect a certain level of quality in service or food or variety in food selection. Other areas demand a layout that is unique and appealing or beneficial for movement. There are many options and completing a little research, getting feedback from other developers and restaurants.

A good book to read on restaurant design is:
http://www.successfulrestaurantdesign.com/

6. Business Systems- There are numerous business systems available in the restaurant industry such as Squirrel, Microsoft etc. For more information on some of the current advanced portable systems see:
http://www.actionsystems.com/