Latest News on Virtual Restaurant Consulting and Industry Trends

The notion that bigger is better is quickly beginning to diminish among restaurant owners. Many restaurants are downsizing in order to meet the demands of customers in various areas. While they may be losing space, one thing these restaurants are not losing is profits. In fact, these smaller restaurant spaces allow owners to maximize their return on investment, all while keeping customers happy. There are a number of reasons why restaurants are buying into this smaller footprint and statistics show that this idea is paying off.Reduce Operating CostsSmaller restaurants cut down on more than just square footage. They cut down ... Read More

It takes more than delicious food, beverage, and engaging service to create a great restaurant concept. Strong restaurant brands utilize appealing interior designs to influence a positive guest’s experience. Much like meeting someone for the first time, a restaurant’s design vibe creates the all important great first impression. It sets the stage for the guests experience and can affect everything from how much your guests spend to the quality of the reviews they post. There are several elements that factor into a restaurant’s design vibe and atmosphere. Specifically the seating plan, finishes, fixtures, lighting, art and décor, and music hold ... Read More

Many restaurants offer gift card purchases, but are these pocket sized gifts really beneficial for the restaurant? The answer is yes! Gift cards are an extremely effective marketing tool that can produce strong profits for the restaurant. Here is a look at just a few of the ways gift cards are beneficial to restaurants.Increase Brand AwarenessEach time a customer gives a gift card, they are essentially acting as an advertiser for the restaurant. When gift cards display the company logo, it presents a great marketing tool for the restaurant. As customers hand them out as gifts, they are dispersing the ... Read More

The dining experience is quickly changing as a result of this new generation of tech savvy consumers. Today’s consumers rely on their smartphones and mobile devices for nearly everything, so why not take that technology into the restaurant? Thanks to the many apps, tablets, and mobile services that have recently hit the market, technology is beginning to change the entire restaurant experience.With the decline of the “baby boomers,” the “millennial” generation is beginning to take over and they now make up the majority of consumers dining out. This generation is certainly fond of technology and is likely to embrace all ... Read More

It’s no secret that the millennial generation is quickly becoming the dominant customer base for dining out. As more and more “baby boomers” are reaching retirement, millennials are beginning to take over the restaurant scene. With a projected annual spending of nearly two and a half trillion dollars in 2015, the millennials are certainly a huge target for restaurant owners. So, just how do these restaurants attract this new generation? Here are a few strategies for bringing millennials into your restaurant.Personalize the ExperienceWe are talking about a generation that demands choices and the ability to customize their order. They want ... Read More

VERACI PIZZA – Seattle, WA veracipizza.com Since 2004, Veraci has been Seattle's original, award-winning wood-fired pizza company. Unique to a pizzeria, Veraci designs and builds their ovens. Each oven is a functional work of art. Burning apple wood in the ovens with their secret recipe creates an ultra thin artisan crust in less than 3 minutes.Veraci has locations in Portland, Bend, Spokane, Coeur d'Alene as well as Seattle. TGRCG assessed the business and provided suggestions on improving company financials. Veraci sells their award-winning pizzas at Farmer’s Markets and includes a catering business as well as their pizzeria in Ballard. Read More

URTH CAFFE – Los Angeles, CA urthcaffe.com Urth Caffé’s 5 locations, located in the Los Angeles area, offer organic specialty coffees, teas and high quality foods. Urth Caffé is also a pioneer in the roasting of heirloom organic coffees and teas, which they personally source from throughout the world. Since 1994 Urth has served light, healthy meals, organic salads, soups, homemade fresh-baked pastries and desserts. In addition they sell gifts and brewing accessories. TGRCG is supporting Urth with it’s operation manual and company SOP’s following their license agreements in Japan and most recently in Kuwait. Read More

EZELLS FAMOUS CHICKEN – Seattle, WA ezellschicken.com Ezell’s Famous Chicken has been a Seattle restaurant staple for over 20. Ezell’s is family owned and operated, providing genuine high quality chicken from original Texas recipes and fast courteous service. The story began when the family, moved to Seattle from Texas. Shortly thereafter together they decided that they’d start a business making chicken like they used to back home in Texas! Lewis and the family saw their mission as simple: Provide FRESH high-quality chicken and GOOD homemade side dishes, served with FAST courteous service. In short, Ezell’s Famous Chicken had to be ... Read More

VIVO 53 – Ft. Worth, TX vivo53.com For the last 18 months Starpoint Property owners and the Gilkey Restaurant Consulting Group have been crafting a new pizzeria, Vivo 53. The owners selected TGRCG to develop the brand, design the concept, design the kitchen, develop the menu, write the recipes and develop the operation’s manual. After creating the brand, TGRCG lead the opening process, trained the management team as well as the team members. Two locations have been selected for the Vivo 53 brand. The Ft. Worth location, which opened in January 2015, is in a 4,500 square foot space and ... Read More