The start of a new year is not truly complete without a look back at the past. That said, we appreciated the hardcore foodies who surveyed the U.S. in order to create the following “best of” pizzerias lists of 2014:

• Thrillist: The Best Pizzeria in Every State of America
• Gayot: 2014 Top 10 Pizza Restaurants in the US
• MSN: 101 Best Pizzas in America 2014

We too have literally traveled around the U.S. (and globe for that matter), seeking out the best pies out there. So what really makes a pizza outstanding? What makes one pizzeria stand out from the rest?

Through our travels, we have learned there are numerous factors that can affect the quality and ultimately, the taste of a pizza. What kind of flour is used? Is the pizza baked in a wood-fired, gas, coal, or electric oven? How long is the dough fermented? What kind of water is being used for the dough?

The perfect pizza? Is it an art? Is it a science? Perhaps it’s a thoughtful synergy of both!

Be sure to check out our past pizza blog articles on some of our favorite pizzerias.

 

 

We read about it in the news and you see it in grocery stores and restaurants: Food prices are hitting all-time highs. Driven by increased inflation rates from commodities like butter, eggs, pork and beef, year-to-date wholesale food prices are at their highest in three years, up 5.3% according to the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index. See video below for more details:

 

 

What can a restaurant operator do to curtail the effects of food inflation? Menu optimization and innovation can point to the items you want to sell. Play up lower-cost proteins like chicken or showcase in-season vegetables and fruits in your dishes to make the most of taste and value.  Earlier this year we wrote about how you can use the versatile potato to your advantage in order to curb high food costs. And don’t forget your beverage menu: Aside from your usual sodas, consider offering coffee, tea and wine by the glass in order to maximize profits.

 

Looking for expert help with your menu optimization? Contact Synergy for more information.

 

 

 

One of the most difficult aspects about managing a restaurant is deciding your price points. You have to take into account your costs, your competition and your target market. You may have a handful of menu items or dozens. Where do you start? Are there certain strategies you can apply to offer your business an edge?

 

AmericanExpress.com’s OpenForum recently featured an excellent article on 6 steps to help determine the right price for your product or service. The piece highlights the importance of pricing based on the value you can bring to your customers, what the customer needs, what your competitors are doing, and of course your costs and cash flow.

 

We wanted to share with you some more great articles to can shed some more helpful insight onto this crucial piece of your restaurant business plan.

• Houston Chronicle: Restaurant Food Pricing Strategies
• FoodServiceWarehouse: A Quick Guide on Pricing Restaurant Menu Items
• QSR Magazine: The Price is Complicated

 

Looking for professional assistance with menu pricing? Contact Synergy for more information.

 

When you think of cocktails, you may conjure up images of margaritas, martinis, Bloody Marys and Mai Tais. But a newer trend is bringing the spotlight back to some other familiar faces. Combining coffee with alcohol has produced plenty of delicious cocktails concoction in the past (White Russian, anyone?). Tea has also been a staple in famous drinks such as the bourbon iced tea. Now, there are newer, more inventive ways to showcase coffee and tea in cocktails.

 

If you ever wondered how you can jazz up your cocktail menu to entice guests and garner more sales (especially toward the Millennial crowd), here’s some inspiration for you! The varying flavor profile combinations you can achieve by mixing and matching different types of brewed teas and coffees will only be limited to your imagination.

 

Check out these exciting coffee and tea based cocktails to get your creative juices flowing:

•  BFB Highline’s Right Swipe: rum, cilantro simple syrup, and a Darjeeling-hibiscus tea from Owl’s Brew
•  1022 South J’s Hot Spiced Toddy: bulleit rye, allspice dram, honey, black tea,  and lemon
• Emmanuelle’s Filibuster: Jamaica rum, 5 year Demerara Rum, Swedish Punsch, spice curacao, allspice Dram, raw sugar, and cold-brewed coffee.
•  Geraldine’s The Scarlet Carson: Tanqueray gin infused with jasmine and rose petal tea, Campari, lillet blanc, grapefruit, and honey syrup

Hot tip: want to cut down on prep time? Try tea concentrates and cold-brewed javas! Happy mixing!

 

The word, “breakfast” often conjures up images of a large hearty meal of foods such as pancakes, waffles, eggs, bacon and sausage. Comfort foods like these, and even healthier breakfast options, are embraced by many Americans, but especially Millennials, as indicated in recent research by Datassential. Not to say that people of all generations don’t love breakfast, it appears that Millennials are more likely to eat breakfast outside traditional hours, according to this new study.

Datassential provides even more interesting findings regarding breakfast trends:

 

• Over half of consumers surveyed showed interest in elevated comfort foods, single-focus restaurants and better-for-you concepts
• Time, convenience, ease and health were reported as important factors when choosing to eat breakfast at home
• Lunch and dinner menu items are being seen more on breakfast menus

 

In this WSJ article, it’s noted how breakfast wars are heating up between fast-casual restaurants and cereal brands such as Kellogg Co. They are both vying for consumers in a time where many are steering away from carbs for breakfast and toward meals higher in protein. Still, companies such as McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Brands Group are still dominating breakfast sales.

 

If you need assistance analyzing your breakfast menu for efficiency and profitability, please contact Synergy Restaurant Consultants.

 

Breakfast photo credit: Nana B Agyei License CC by 2.0

Mintel just released new consumer research with some interesting statistics on healthy eating and what drives the purchases of health-conscious consumers. Here are some facts you should know:

• 38% of adults are more likely to order a healthy menu item if it sounds delicious in the menu description
• 27% of consumers prefer to order healthy menu items with familiar ingredients (as opposed to unfamiliar superfoods)
• 9% of Americas feel that ‘gluten-free’ denotes a healthy choice
• 39% believe that entrees with more fruits and vegetables are healthier
• 37% believe that items with low calorie counts are healthy choices
• 34% believe dishes with low sodium are healthy options
• 24% of American consumers are not interested in eating healthfully at restaurants. They view eating out as a treat.
• 24% of Americans are interested in healthy choices at restaurants but usually opt for the unhealthy meals instead.

So, what does this data mean for foodservice operators? While some diners are not interested in healthy restaurant choices, there are still many who are seeking healthful options. Take time and make sure your healthy menu items are described well and sound delicious in your menu descriptions. In order to entice diners to order these options, be sure to include familiar items and fruits and vegetables in your healthy menu choices.

Read the entire article here.

For help with menu design and innovation, contact Synergy Restaurant Consultants.

 

 

Lunch is the meal consumers most often eat away from home, according to a new report from Technomic, a leading market research firm.  The study found that consumers eat lunch out, on average, a couple days a week and convenience is the most important factor in determining the establishments they patronize.  Consider these facts:

 

• 53% of consumers who have increased their lunch visits to fast-casual restaurants have done so for convenience
• 41% of people who eat lunch at restaurants at least once a week do so to save time
• 51% of consumers studied chose a restaurant based on the taste of the food and beverage offerings
• 43% chose a restaurant based on the value offered
• 47% visited restaurants in a narrow radius, often repeating visits to a select few restaurants
• 18% of consumers purchased lunch from a mix of both new and familiar restaurants
• 63% of diners felt menu variety and diversity of offerings were very important
• 28% of consumers preferred frequent or new limited-time-offerings to try new foods and branch out

 

 

 

Would you like to increase your lunch business? While you can’t (easily) change your location, you can improve your speed of service and menu mix. By offering quick, efficient service and a diversified menu, you’ll have lunch consumers coming back for more. For help with menu innovation and restaurant efficiency, please contact Synergy Restaurant Consultants.

Read the entire article here.

 

By Jeffrey Manno

It seems like every week presents another obstacle for restaurateurs in order to make a profit. This year alone, the industry has been confronted with a rising minimum wage, increasing costs of food, and a rapid climb in rent prices, all of which cut deeply into an already slim profit margin. Despite all of these challenges, smart operators continue to not only profit, but to grow. One key way of achieving such success is by developing a highly appealing, profitable beverage program that doesn’t just compliment the food, but creates a destination.

 

So how can we create such a highly valuable beverage program? Beverage expert, David Flaherty, points out Five Elements to a Profitable Beverage Program:

 

1. Great Team:

Your team must have keen abilities, a thorough education, and an abundance of passion. Not only does your staff need to make the drinks, but they must share a passion for it to intelligently sell the drinks and enhance the guest experience.

2. Balance:

With the increasing challenge to maintain and grow the bottom line, the last thing a restaurateur wants to do is tie up loads of cash in an extensive beverage selection that won’t sell. Instead, one should strive to create an enticing array of beverage offerings that not only create appeal, but also fly off the shelves and drive profits. To avoid costly mistakes and achieve this unique balance, consult a skilled beverage professional.

3. Moving Target:

In the highly competitive world of restaurants, the old adage is true, “if you are not moving forward, you are falling behind.” Keep your beverage program exciting, fresh and always appealing to guests and employees alike. Regularly tweak your menu with seasonal offerings, beverage pairing dinners, and a rotating selection of favorites.

4. Systems:

Let’s do some simple math. If your team over pours Beverage Y 30 times/day at an over-pour cost of $0.50/pour, how much are you losing annually if you are open every day? That’s right, approximately $5475 per year! Assuming the pattern holds true for all of your beverages, the amount of lost profit can be staggering to an operator. As Flaherty points out, implementing some rather simple, yet attentive systems of inventory control and operations management can result in substantial improvements to your bottom line.

5. Competition:

As former fashion mogul Gianni Versace once said, “It is nice to have valid competition; it pushes you to do better.” However don’t just watch and study your competition like it’s your enemy, but rather befriend your competition and learn from each other. You may even collaborate together to create the next great trend.

 

It is not easy to make a profit in the restaurant industry, and it is not getting any easier. However, through intelligent planning, a passionate team and effective operations, a restaurateur can develop a beverage program that drives profits and increases appeal of the venue.

 

If you are looking for ways to increase your restaurant profits and enhance your beverage experience, give Synergy a call. We are always here to help you and your team to learn and grow your bar, your business and your profits.

Cheers!

 

 

 

 

 

Housemade sodas have been popping up at restaurants across the country and the trend is not fading out anytime soon. Our consultants at Synergy are big fans of this trend because it helps increase check averages and provides a fun, artisanal drink option for diners. As diners become more health conscious and traditional soda sales plummet, we’re learning of another great benefit to housemade drinks. According to Technomic, 87% of diners associate ‘fresh’ with ‘healthy.’ This means that consumers perceive that artisanal drinks made in-house with fresh ingredients provide good-for-you health benefits.

 

While many restaurants are aware the popularity of housemade sodas, two Chicago restaurants have especially capitalized on the trend. Mercadito in Chicago offers their signature Refrescos, a combination of fresh fruit juice with fruit-flavored soda water, at $6 a glass and has sold over 2,700 this year!   At sister restaurant Tavernita, diners are thrilled to find an entire section of the menu dedicated to housemade sodas. With flavors such as orange, white grape, and ginger chile ale, the menu also suggests pairing the soda with a favorite spirit. Tavernita’s sodas have accounted for nearly 14% of beverage sales this year.

 

While traditional soda sales are down across the country, consider adding fresh, housemade sodas to your menu to give beverage sales a boost.

 

Here are five fun flavor ideas for housemade sodas:

– Caramelized Pineapple
– Grapefruit
– Cucumber Mint Lime
– Orange Vanilla Cream
– Ginger Lemonade

You can read more about this trend here.

Please contact Synergy for help with menu innovation.

 

 

 

 

So what goes well with a warm and fresh chocolate chip cookie? The almost universal answer would be “milk,” would it not? Of course it is! While many restaurant owners are focusing on pairing wines with entrees or appetizers, why not do the same for the dessert menu? We already know that practically nothing goes better with cookies than milk, so let’s take this concept even further in order to elevate the best course of the meal.

This recent NRN article illustrates the ingenious ways that chefs are pairing some unlikely drinks with delectable desserts. Notable pairings were Strawberry Shortcake with house-made Kumquatcello and a Bourbon Bread Pudding and Green Flash’s Double Stout from Easy Bistro and Bar in Chattanooga, Tenn.

We did our own research and found these smart dessert and drink pairings:

• The Gage, Chicago, IL: Trifle with cherry compote, bourbon sabayon, salted-caramel ice cream with a shot of Maker’s Mark bourbon tableside.
• JJ’s Coffee Company & Wine Bar, Eden Prairie, MN: Framboise raspberry lambic and New York style cheesecake with raspberry sauce.
• Firefly, Washington D.C.: Chocolate hazelnut ice cream sandwich and The Indulgent which is a combination of Cointreau, Cynar, and Duck-Rabbit stout.

So get creative with your dessert menu and have your guests looking forward to the sweetest course of the night!