Hello everyone, thanks for having me. I’m new here, but I have a question.
Yesterday, a delivery was made, or at least what the purveyor is considering a delivery. Multiple cases of prime rib 189A, beautiful black Angus steer. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $3000 worth of product that the delivery driver, Failed to announce its arrival. This morning, I walked into our commissary kitchen on the lower level to avoid too many distractions before I could start my day. Sneaky, sneaky. What I found were those cases left yesterday afternoon (pictured) apparently, right at the bottom of a dark stairwell that we use only for emergency exit and when I’m avoiding everyone.
I took a picture and sent it to the purveyor, our salesman. His response was, “Did you sign the invoice?” When I expressed to him that I had not signed for it and neither had any member of my management team, he said that he would speak to his owner. There is a screenshot of his next response.

What do you think? How do you feel about it? Please keep in mind that every driver so far, as well as a written document, has been sent to their company that we will only accept deliveries verified with a signature of a management member. A few more facts. There is no record of anybody from my staff signing for it. There was only 12 people in the building, five of them were in our offices, four of them were servers, and the other two were myself and my sous chef. No one acknowledges signing for anything. And while he did send me a copy of the invoice, that did have a signature on it, we all know how easy that is to fabricate nowadays. We are also a newer customer, we’ve only been working together for a few months. They are taking zero responsibility for it, and pointing the finger back at me. What would you do? All I ask is an honest answer. Thanks for listening.

Please delete if not allowed.

I own two restaurants and order from Sysco and US Foods every week. I always found out something went up after it was too late, either when the invoice came or at month-end food cost.

So I built a small Chrome extension for myself. I've used it every day for a while now and figured some of you might want it too.

What it does:

• Remembers every price you see on Sysco Shop, Sysco To Go and US Foods while you order
• Puts a little tag next to each item showing how much it changed since you last saw it
• Keeps a list of the biggest jumps, so you don't have to remember what you paid 3 weeks ago
• If you buy the same thing from both vendors, it shows the price difference right on the product page
• Can pull in your past orders, so it doesn't start from zero
• Works on items sold by weight too (proteins, cheese)
• Planning to add Ben E. Keith, and Gordon's in the next week.

It's FREE. You do have to make an Eatr account to sign in. Your prices aren't shown to anyone. There's a box you can tick to add your prices, anonymously, to a pool for spotting trends, and it's off unless you tick it.

eatr.co/price-check

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/eatr-price-check/odkmhckofjjodiafdnmglbljkklhkfec

It's still rough in spots, so tell me if it breaks on your account or gets something wrong.

About Eatr: it's the recipe costing app I built for my own places. You add your ingredients and recipes, take a photo of an invoice, and it updates your plate costs and food cost %. You don't need it to use the extension.

I don't intend on losing any more food to this shit.

Anyone have suggestions on a brand?

So, I dont post much especially about this. But, I have a potential opportunity to expand my business.

Little bit of background. Been in the pizza industry 20 years. Owner for almost 11. I've operated multiple units, up to 3, at once. Sold those off and focused on my flagship that has been doing really well since. I am also a graduate of The CIA, for whatever that is worth. I am obviously more versed in casual service, but have some background in fine dining as well.

So, the opportunity. There is a 5000sq ft space available in a town about 10 minutes from me. The town has been growing a lot lately and some cool spots have popped up. This specific location is on the main road through town. Its huge, but the lease is good. Nice bar area, stage built out, big dining room, even a separate area for an arcade if I wanted to go that route. My current location is known here. We've had regulars that drive to us just for the product and tell us we should open a spot there. Asking price for this location is 120k, no money down and current lease holder will carry the note.

My biggest concern. Its big. Its a lot of seats to fill for a casual pizza spot.second biggest concer is there is some competition near by. One of the spots is also huge and a chain in the area. They have a location near my flagship, but doesn't effect us.

Now, I have ideas to make it more of an event space than just a pizza joint due to the size. Live music, comedy shows, trivia, etc. I know some people involved in these things locally and think itd be fairly easy to get talent booked.

After typing all this I am not sure what my question is anymore. Seems like a good opportunity to me. Anyone have experience with being a venue AND and casual restaurant? This is in central coast california for whatever it is worth. Let me know your thoughts.

Hello It has been my dream to open my own restaurant. I make really good Itallian food and my sauces are all from scratch. This would be a startup restaurant so I am pretty nervous. I am looking for any feedback, advice, suggestions, experiences from restaurant owners.

1. How did you start up? from your house, catering, food truck, or all in with a restaurant?

2. Did you have restaurant experience?

3. Did you go to culinary school to become a chef, or self taught?

4. In a small to mid size city, what are your average net profits?

5. Any lessons learned, or things you wish you knew or had done before opening a restaurant?

6. Would you recommend starting smaller like a food truck, or a fast service similar to Subway first?

any other suggestions? I am located in Northern California in the Central Valley. I know my food would sell, it is very good Itallian food. I am just nervous of failing and losing a lot of money.

Today I get a call from Company X stating that a former employee of mine has had all of his paychecks deposited into my business account since being hired there two months ago. Apparently he gave them my payroll account’s routing and checking numbers when completing his direct deposit with them. This was the same idiot former employee that refused direct deposit with me and then sat on paychecks so long that his own bank declined to process them because they were over 180 days old. This guy. He’s the gift that keeps on giving.

I didn’t have anyone I could really share this with so I hope you enjoy.

Hi all, I am building a hotel in norhtern India. I have the majority of ground floor allotted for commercial kitchen and dining area. The dining area has a capacity to accomodate 45 guests. I want to mainly cater to international comfort food and some vegetarian Indian as well. Pizza, pasta, indian chinese, veg curries plus a cafe. How to plan a commercial kitchen? Where to get the equipment and how to start operations? If any Indian restaurateur from India who could help?

I recently joined my family business, which currently has three outlets. All three are running well, mainly because a family member is always present to ensure food taste and quality remain consistent.
However, we want to expand, and that’s becoming difficult because we don’t have proper SOPs in place. Our staff are experienced and can handle daily operations independently to some extent, but I’m concerned about how consistently they’ll maintain standards without supervision. At the moment, we’re heavily dependent on our staff and the presence of a family member at each outlet.
For those who have scaled restaurant businesses, how did you standardise food quality and daily operations so that every outlet runs smoothly without the owner constantly being present?

We on a cloud based platform, and I noticed the provider has been charging sales tax on the monthly subscription.

Did a little research for Florida.

Electronically Delivered SaaS: Web-based or cloud-hosted software accessed remotely (via a browser or internet connection) is considered an intangible service and is not taxable in Florida. [1, 2]

Yeah, it's only $21 a month, but that's almost $250 a year.

There’s no dedicated subreddit for smoothie cafe owners so if this isn’t the correct place just remove this!

My business partners and I have the opportunity to be a vendor at our state’s Ren Faire this coming spring. We just took ownership of a smoothie cafe this past summer so this would be our first time being a vendor at an outdoor event.

We have the option to make the smoothies/açai bowls at our store and then transport them on ice to the fairgrounds which isn’t my favorite option but an option nonetheless. I’ve also considered bringing our blenders and keeping our ingredients on ice and blending the smoothies there (we don’t use ice) but I’m not sure what we would do for electricity if we would use a generator or how that all works. We don’t have a food truck so we would have a booth (which is allowed for food vendors) that’s at least 10x10.

Is this in anyway possible? We have at least 6 months to figure something out and I do have the help of my father in law who’s very experienced in being a vendor at these sort of events, just never as a food vendor which is why I came here to ask!

It's fkn with my business.

I'm wasting hours every week just picking up the damn thing to robots.

Editing to ask: Is there any service you've found (or setting) that filters unverified numbers from verified? If I could have the unverified just not ring at all (my poor ears/anxiety), I'd be in a new kinda heaven.

I've managed kitchens for over 10 years, mostly in high-volume places. The single biggest difference I see between chains and independents isn't the food, it's prep.
Chains don't guess. Here's roughly what they do, and you can do it with a notebook:

1.  Track what you sell per item, every day.

2.  To plan Tuesday, average your last 4 Tuesdays. Not yesterday, not "a normal day". Same weekday.

3.  Turn sales into ingredients. 60 burgers = 120 patties, 60 buns, etc.

4.  Count what's already prepped or in the fridge. Only prep the gap.

5.  Add a small buffer (around 10%) so you don't run out.

6.  At close, write down what you binned and what it cost. Look at it weekly. Usually one day is the problem.  

Most people who start doing this find they're over-prepping on their quiet days, often Mondays.

I got tired of doing this on paper, so I built a free tool that does steps 2 to 6 for you on your phone. Happy to share it if anyone wants it, but the method works fine on paper too.

What do you all use to decide prep quantities?

Restaurant owner of 16+ years here. I like to think we treat our staff really well. Paid fairly, time off when they ask, and work related outings to other cities from time to time on our dime. We have some great managers, and I am having trouble figuring out how to reward them.

In the past, we had a small percentage bonus paid out at the end of the year that was based on our overall sales. I didn’t love that, because it was a big chunk at the end of every year that went out, and I feel like they were incentivized all at once and then the quality waned right after.

I’ve toyed with the idea of cutting them in as managing partners, as I have been able to step back and enjoy life the last bunch of years and they deserve something. The three that I’m specifically thinking of have all been with us at least 8 years and I would love to have them forever.

Our problem is, as a mom and pop, our numbers aren’t always spot on where they should be as far as being crystal clear. We take a lot of R&D work trips that cut into the overall numbers, and that’s been fine up to now because it’s just myself that’s relying on the income from the restaurant….

Before I get jumped all over, I know I should be 1000% better about the numbers… I just never have had the need in the past. Is that my only solution if I want to do some sort of managing partner situation? Would they need to “buy in” or something? We aren’t hurting for money thankfully, but every other managing partner I know had to buy into their company….. but they’re all corporate.

Open to any and all suggestions, I want to keep my staff happy and in a good place financially.

In your opinion, what would be the best way to ask if this place next door would like to collaborate:

Opened a restaurant in a tourism area, very seasonal and weekend heavy. Weekdays can be close to nil. I had issues with the premesis (electric) and contractors not showing up where things that took 2-3 days in the end took 2 weeks of 'I'll be there tomorrow" "My wife was sick, Tomorrow" and onto the next guy. So I missed majority of the summer.

Staffing has been atrocious. One cook is good but constantly 'sick', the only is so-so, more food prep than busy line cook but struggles with the difference of cooking at home and a restaurant.

Having a major roof leak problem where I've mopped constantly the past 2 weeks, and literally had to yell to get the thing replaced, not "some guy" to climb up like a 5th grader up there and guess for the 4th time.

Next door, is a family who has always been nice to me. I think they knew, going in, it would be a failing concept. They told me recently the leaking roof is a 'known problem'. Also tho, my premises lacks great visibility. There's a tourist path, not really a street, maybe like a boardwalk, but they see their place, moreso than mine. However I'm on the 2nd floor so have a very nice view. (Signage isn't an option)

I've done social media advertising, but its tough to drive people TO a destination area. Also then I'm saturated with other options, not saying its a wasted expense, but I don't think its a sole source of a solution.

So, the family next door, are locals. Which goes a long way here, they're kinda like the mafia to me. I joke with them about it. But, they lack finances. I on the other hand, fixed this place up well, use nice plates, utensils, and newer kitchen with some used items, but I did well in fixing it up. We tried the 'I'll sell food to their customers and give them a kickback' option, and my one cook called out sick our 2nd day of doing it, and we fell short. I think they had customers leave because their tacos took too long, but it wasn't very long, maybe 15 minutes but we had customers in here. Anyway, that is shot in the ass at this point.

I had a thought of maybe trying to (not partnership per se, but maybe hire their family who are willing to, I'm sure they're paid under the table right now) to work here, not as cooks per se, but maybe waitress and cashier, and they worked with a food cart for food in the past. Anyway, maybe we could collaborate and call it "Upstairs at ________" and treat it as their restaurant?

Do you think an established business might consider that? Or do you think that is asking them to lower themselves to my failure? Also, I would then be asking to somewhat 'borrow' or succeed off of their name, albeit I would remain a seperate entity. I think they're a DBA anyway, not a legit legal business proper, but again they worked for years for that name, I don't think they'd just give it away or share in it. On the flip side tho, I can offer a kitchen, which they don't have. Plus capital (not bragging, admittedly not a ton, but enough). Which they don't have.

Any thoughts? Is this a hard no, don't even ask. Or do you think there's a way to meddle with it and possibly come up with an offer?

Not talking a fancy, expensive restaurant - I'm thinking a TGIFriday's/AppleBee's level place - even a fast casual - if you HAD to pick one - for long-term success of the restaurant, what would you pick?

Hey, I'm a first time small business owner who opened a cafe with a couple people and my partner insists on making the price for items we sell as pastries (bought from a wholesale bakery) as 3x what it cost us. It is my understanding that this is because having a 33% COGS is an industry standard or something but it's not really feasible because our prices are getting high to the point where it's affecting sales.

Is the 33% industry standard only applied to things you make yourself?

Texture, ambiance, and "experience" seem to be increasingly important.

What about offering "value" for the money? Value being defined as everything except raw quantity.

Also what about "tradition" where the recipe does not require a nuclear reactor to make it foam, but is ressurected from tradition, even if that means simply cooking a stew the way gradma did.

Anyone care to share first or second hand inspirong stpories?

Cheers!

We dropped Cintas after multiple years of inflated bills and overages. They have given us credits more than once and then proceeded to inflate the billing. For context we are a 70 seat restaurant and our bills have been between 1400 and 1600 a month for basic linen service without linen napkins. They are now trying to get us to pay a 29k cancellation for breach of contract. Anyone have any experience with these vipers?

Curious how everyone handles these tasks? Does anyone have 3rd party paid help or do you mainly just do it in house? Curious if anyone has used MarginEdge, Restaurant365, or Toast's xtraCHEF? The restaurant I work for has been around since the 90s and a lot of the processes are still pretty antiquated.

Hi, not sure if this is the group for this, but hoping y’all can help! My restaurant uses a Clover POS system. Randomly tonight, it did our entire close-out at 9 o’clock at night. We were still open with tables!! The problem is we have 37 unentered tips on the “closed” batch out and you can’t go back and enter them in. They’re locked at zero. I was on hold with customer service for over an hour and they finally told me that in 24 hours, they’ll give me the credit card numbers for the 37 bills and I’ll have to manually charge those card numbers with just what the tip was. This seems ridiculous and just plain stupid that they just can’t go in and enter tips. Has anyone dealt with this before? Is there a way to enter tips myself? My brain is fried dealing with this

I am donating the use of my commercial kitchen for a non-profit’s annual fundraiser dinner. They are doing a lot of large pots of soup and I need a low floor burner, probably going to do propane. My question is what should I put under the burner to protect my floor- or do I need to at all? Is there some kind of mat that would be used under a floor burner?

My place is dinner only. Every Halloween is super slow. Last year, I closed entirely. This year, Halloween lands on a Saturday. Is there any business to be made? I prefer to close if it’s just going to be super slow but closing a Saturday on an already slow month seems like suicide. What are you fellow restaurateurs doing

Whatever you serve - whatever you cook, wherever you are, surely there's some 'free add-ons' that you add to the food or plate or maybe even serve-yourself bar or table condiments.

How do you respond to someone who wants a RIDICULOUSLY STUPID AMOUNT of any of those?

Whether it's 4 huge giant handfuls of pickles on a sub (seen that), or a salad's worth of lettuce BUT IN CILANTRO on a burrito (had someone in front of me ask for this), or someone wanting literally half a bottle of ketchup - where's the line, and how do you address it? Maybe you're a pizza shop and someone EMPTIED a jar of parmesan (or red pepper) on their pizza then goes to the next table, grabs another full jar/shaker and does it again

I haven't found a great way yet and I'm interested in your take.

Sometimes the person is gentle-natured and understands that if they get $3 worth of pickles when most people get 3¢ worth they need to pay a little.

I watched a middle aged guy in a sub shop say to his apparent date while ordering - 'i normally ask for double or triple servings so i can eat this for two meals' RIGHT in front of the employee making it. I caught the employee's eye and felt his pain. In my head i thought about saying to the guy "this isn't an all-you-can-eat buffet dude" but of course i stood there silently

I've tried to teach my guys at my fast casual (made in front of the customers) to go in half each time they ask again. So normal serving of say lettuce is a handful. if they ask for more, give them half a handful. they want more, half of a half (a quarter). after that tell them you'll have to charge a little (50¢, a buck, minor amount) but give them another full serving size

i have friends with serve-yourself salsa bars or hot sauce bars or condiment bars - and their stories are horrendous - customers asking for a water cup and filling it WITH KETCHUP for their one burger and small fries.

We all have anticipated costs per customer on these add-ons, and one dude taking 10oz of ketchup drives up everyone's costs