The Educated Franchisee:
The How-To Book for Choosing a Winning Franchise
Are you looking for a business to invest in, perhaps becoming an owner-operator of your own established chain of [whatever]?
If so, then you probably already subscribe to Entrepreneur magazine Continue reading "List of 2012 Top Business Franchises" 
Would you have guessed that THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY would be named the 2011 FAVORITE CASUAL DINING RESTAURANT in a recent consumer survey?
Continue reading "America’s Favorite Casual-Dining Restaurant is…. Cheesecake Factory?"
Did you know that Heinz Ketchup is NOT served in McDonald’s restaurants?
(disclaimer: it’s still served at McDonald’s in Pittsburgh and Minneapolis, but try to go with the concept here, people)
We know! Who would believe that any major fast food restaurant chain would serve anything other than Heinz Ketchup?
A few year’s ago, Web Watch was out shopping and saw a bottle of Hunt’s catsup in the shopping cart. We asked about it, and we were told “Hunt’s is on sale, so we’re buying it.”
Now Web Watch has always been a Heinz Ketchup family. No other ketchup even comes close in flavor to us. We’ve tried those others, and they were just lame imitators of the true Ketchup King.
End result, we said, “we’ll pay you the extra $0.30 you’re saving on that Hunt’s catsup if that means we get to stick with Heinz Ketchup.” And it’s been Heinz ever since.
Continue reading "Surprise! McDonald’s doesn’t use Heinz Ketchup"
Fast Food: A History of Wendy’s, Arby’s, Burger King
and Other Popular Fast Food Restaurants
When we see a question like the one above (“What’s the most popular fast food restaurant in the world”), the answer can be quite varied.
If you’re talking about the most popular in terms of “french fries”, you’re likely going to be talking about McDonald’s.
If you’re talking about most popular in terms of number of US outlets, then Subway has almost twice as many as the next nearest chain.
No, today we’re going to look at this in a slightly different way — using the power of social marketing and community engagement, Web Watch is going to determine the Most Popular Fast Food Chain, based on the number of Facebook Likes. (the list of Top Fifty Fast Food Restaurants provided by QSR magazine)
Continue reading "What’s the most popular fast food restaurant? It’s all about who has the most friends."
“I’ll have what she’s having.”
Everybody knows the classic deli line delivered by Billy Crystal’s real-life mom in the movie WHEN HARRY MET SALLY.
But it ends up that what everybody is having in the traditional Jewish deli may not be what you’re going to get anymore. There is a referendum among deli owners to CUT DOWN ON THE SIZE OF THOSE GIANT SANDWICHES, and instead serve meals that are a little bit healthier and better for the customer.
Continue reading "Nobody wants those traditional giant sandwiches at Jewish delis anymore"
Fast Food Panic for Nintendo. Buy now!
When you order a fast-food combo meal, like Web Watch did today, you’re not just getting a burger and fries – that is, a meal made solely of meat, bun, ketchup, pickles, cheese, potatoes, some salt and oil.
No, you’re getting quite a few more ingredients thrown into the mix. That bun? Probably has some sugar in it. Those fries? Maybe some extra starch was sprayed on them before cooking.
Continue reading "The 10 most common ingredients in Fast Food"
Buy the book “Eat Healthy Without Going to Extremes”
For the past few years, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has been monitoring what restaurants have been serving, as a way to inform the public about the horrors that await them when eating wonderful, delicious restaurant food.
Web Watch, like you, loves cheese.
We apparently didn’t know that adding cheese to any meal is typically a no-no when it comes to eliminating fat and calories from one’s diet. So we’re torn – cheese tastes good, but it’s bad for you.
Oh well – maybe we’ll just have one or two small bites, then set the rest of these phenomenally sounding meals away to snack on later. Can’t let all that cheese go to waist, can we? (See what we did there? Looks like we mispelled “waste” as “waist”. Ha!)
Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip–Confessions of a Cynical Waiter
Eating out is fun for us, the customer.
We get some (usually) good food, brought to us by (usually) attentive waitstaff.
Sometimes, everything lives up to our expectations; sometimes it doesn’t. That’s the risk we take when we decide to put our food preparation into someone else’s hands rather than doing it ourselves.
But there is a flip-side to everything. Which is why Web Watch readers should pay attention to these TOP TEN THINGS YOU SHOULDN’T DO WHILE DINING OUT, as compiled by Jessica, a former food-service employee and inspired by stories she’s read on WAITER RANT, a blog of restaurant horror stories.
Continue reading "10 Things NOT to do while eating at a restaurant"
Nobody likes dirty kitchens, whether it be a dirty restaurant kitchen or watching what is perceived by some to be unhygenic food handling practices.
According to an October survey of pver 1,000 adults regarding reasons to eat (or not eat) at a restaurant, it ends up that the primary reasons people choose not to eat at a restaurant all pertain to restaurant cleanliness.. or lack thereof.
Below the cut is the LIST OF REASONS PEOPLE CHOOSE NOT TO EAT AT RESTAURANTS:
Continue reading "Nobody likes dirty restaurant kitchens"
Working the Plate: The Art of Food Presentation
Web Watch enjoys food – whether it be the business of running a food place, the art of creating delicacies, or random food-related TV shows, food can be very entertaining.
Both the National Restaurant Association and food trend firm Technomic have released their lists of 2011 restaurant trends – so be on the lookout for these over the next few months as you go out to eat at your favorite place.
Continue reading "Top Food Trends to Watch in 2011"
If you are a family with kids and you’re on a budget, eating out can definitely be a problem. Kids just want to eat, and don’t necessarily have the concept down about eating within a budget. They just point at the macaroni-and-cheese, chicken fingers, fries (and other brown and tan foods without a vegetable in sight) and say “I want that!”
This is why the Disney Dining Plan that offers a “pay-one-price” for all members of your family is so popular. Families on those massively-planned-out Disney trips can go to any restaurant on property and tell the kids to “eat whatever you want”, because the meal has already been paid for.
And yes, those kids are in for a shock when they return to the real world and discover that they can’t just eat anything on the menu again. It’s just another way Disney makes a vacation seem more special.
So what can families do to continue that type of “eat anything you want” Disney magic when they’re dining out with the kids again once they’re back at home?
Remember the Men’s Underwear Economic Index that Web Watch mentioned the other day?
Have you heard about the HOT WAITRESS ECONOMIC INDEX?
As the creators of the index note, it is similar to the Overeducated Cabbie Index or Speed at Which Contractors Return Calls Index, both of which should give the casual observer some indication of how desperate for work some people are during certain economic times.
Restaurants and Institutions magazine has released their 2009 list of the TOP 400 RESTAURANT CHAINS, in terms of revenue.
Coming in at top is no surprise: McDonalds, with over US$70 billion in sales.
Rounding out the rest of the top ten are:
The magazine also released their annual list of the TOP EARNING INDEPENDENT RESTAURANTS FOR 2009 as well.
Just as Web Watch reported a few years ago the first time we looked at these statistics, Las Vegas-based TAO is still at the top of the list, with $68m in 2008 earnings and an average dinner check of $72. Not bad, when you have 785,000 people coming through your door.
The rest of the top 10 independent restaurants were:
Falling just out of the top 10, at spot number 11, is our first Walt Disney World property, Fulton’s Crab House. With an average check of $45, Fulton’s made $20m in 2008. Other Disney properties that made the list include Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe at #25 ($15.7m), and the Contemporary Resort’s California Grill at #97 ($11.1m).
ZAGAT surveyed 6,100 hungry fast-food and full-service restaurant patrons about their favorite places to eat, and has finally compiled and released the results for 2009.
The best fast-food hamburger, which should come as no surprise to anyone who has eaten there, is from IN-N-OUT BURGER. Best burger from a full-service restaurant came from RED ROBIN.
The other fast-food winners included:
Continue reading "Survey: What’s Your Favorite Fast Food?"
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How much do you tip your waiter? Chances are, you’re paying them way too much
How to Make Money and Bigger Tips as a Waitress
How much do you tip your wait staff when you visit a bar or restaurant?
Some people go for the standard 20% off the final total of the bill — just take the total, move the decimal point, and multiply by 2… voila! No math required and you left a 20% tip.
Some people jump through complicated hoops to come up with a 15% or 18% tip.
We’ll be honest here – there have been times that Web Watch has left less than 15%… but trust us, the wait staff didn’t do their job that day by listening to what the customer wanted (they didn’t bring us the requested drink, the requested condiment on the side rather than on the sandwich, etc – and it wasn’t because the restaurant was busy that day… it was just bad service all the way around.)
Continue reading "How much do you tip your waiter? Chances are, you’re paying them way too much" »