Because the restaurant business is a relatively safe business, ie. it survives rough economic times as “everyone enjoys going out to dinner”, merger and acquisitions (M&A for short)have always went on. Now we have seen huge companies, like BurgerKing, swallowing up successful fast food chains, like Popeye’s, becoming all the rage in the industry. There are different opinions as to whether or not this is a positive or negative trend in this complicated and huge industry.

Key Takeaways:

• bigger restaurant chains are taking over and buying out smaller restaurant chains
• The restaurant business is a good business to invest in because there are always consumers despite the economy
• it is good for restaurants to buy smaller similar restaurants and implement the bigger restaurants ideas into the smaller restaurant

“Limited capital, real estate, and market share suggest that, like the rule of the jungle, the proven concepts will succeed, often at the expense of their competitors.”

Read more: https://www.qsrmagazine.com/finance/why-ma-hot-again

How your coffee is brewed can have a lot of effect on its taste. At the Starbucks Reserve coffee bar, guests often encounter new techniques in brewing their favorite cup. Such techniques include a siphon brewer, Pour-over coffee, Chemex, coffee press, clover brewer, espresso, and Nitro coffee. These techniques will bring out different notes in the coffee itself. A siphon brewer is sure to garner a crowd even though the technique was first created in the 1830s, where as Nitro coffee is cold coffee served through a Nitrogen tap.

Key Takeaways:

• The Siphon brewer, which came about in the 1830s has a 10 minute process that makes enough coffee for two. It has a great taste.
• The pour over technique requires the barista to pour hot water over ground coffee in a steady annular motion. This technique helps to bring our flavors in the coffee and usually takes 3 minutes.
• Espresso is brewed quickly in just a few seconds and is made when hot water is pushed through ground coffee while under pressure.

“When customers come here, they encounter brewing methods they may have never seen before,” Sternquist says. “We try to cultivate their curiosity, and ask them to come on a journey with us.”

Read more: https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/coffee-brewing-tips-experts-starbucks

Reducing property taxes is an important financial step for a restaurant owner. There are different things that can reduce your tax bill including making sure your property assessment is fair. You can also appeal your property taxes to try to have them lowered. In order to do this, you will need help from an attorney. You will also need to collect data on the local market. The data supporting your appeal could be wide ranging.

Key Takeaways:

• Make sure you have an up to date assessment of the property.
• You can appeal a decision from the property assessors office.
• When appealing a decision, try and provide as much evidence as possible to support your request to have the assessment lowered.

“Property taxes can be one of the biggest line item costs for restaurant owners, but they don’t have to be. There are strategies they can use and information they can gather to help manage, and even lower, the amount operators pay in property taxes.”

Read more: https://www.qsrmagazine.com/outside-insights/4-tips-keep-property-taxes-hurting-your-bottom-line

In Queens, there is a special event called Restaurant Week where several restaurants in the area lower their prices, usually to a fixed number. It usually attracts many more people, especially people that are unpleasant to be around. A group of women walk into a restaurant the author is in during this event and begins a blog post about 22 ways that they annoyed the author. Some of these include reserving a large table and not sitting at it, being very indecisive, and being loud and obnoxious.

Key Takeaways:

• A large party meeting dinner, arrive staggered fashion, changing number of people ready for drinks food
• Diners require special attention, have the waiter running back forth make quite a few demands.
• Steak ordered medium sent back under cooked rain back inside move tables ends with 22% tip

“It’s Restaurant Week in my Queens neighborhood and I just had my ass handed to me on a tray. Unsurprisingly, the tray hadn’t been wiped down in two weeks and it’s sticky on both sides. For those of you not in the know, Restaurant Week is when a group of restaurants offer special deals to entice customers to come out to eat.”

Read more: http://thebitchywaiter.com/2017/10/the-22-ways-table-28-annoyed-me-during-restaurant-week.html

Up-and-coming food trends are often birthed in New York City. Currently, we’re seeing a few types of cuisine take off in the Apple: Poké (a type of Hawaiian cuisine), paleo-style foods, modern twists on Chinese and Indian, proteins derived from plants, and, believe it or not, an increase in street food. We’re also seeing a rise in food served in bowls, and finally, for dessert, we’re seeing soft-serve ice cream make its mark on the city.

Key Takeaways:

• Poké is a hawaiian dish that has risen in popularity.
• Indian as well as Chinese cuisine shows no sign of stalling in popularity.
• Soft serve ice cream has risen in the ranks of being included in the most decadent of menus.

“Aside from restaurants specifically catering to meat fans, the popularity of eggs as an addition has risen.”

Read more: https://www.qsrmagazine.com/outside-insights/7-fast-casual-trends-taking-nyc