Summer Fun for Restaurant Owners - Top 7 Ways to Increase Summer Business

The summertime can be a great and fun time for owners of restaurants and their guests provided that you stay busy enough to keep paying the bills! There are a few basic items to remember if you want to compete with the warmer temperatures, beach, vacations, loads of outdoor events and have customers coming to your establishment over and over again.

Here we'll highlight our Top 7 Ways to Increase Summer Business and draw customers to your place to keep your doors opened. We do them or we've done them and they work for restaurant success!

Restaurant Kitchen Gadgets/Tools We Recommend

Some of our Favorite Must Have Gadgets for the Professional Kitchen.

Every successful restaurant owner/chef/manager realizes that there are some tools of the trade that we all must have to make our prep time in the kitchen the most efficient and to produce quality food while maintaining safety in the kitchen, as well as staying in compliance with the commercial equipment requirements of federal and state regulations. Not all of your commercial equipment will cost a mini fortune! These are our favorite kitchen gadgets we love and use most often that help us get the best bang for our buck and should help you too. Home kitchens can benefit from these items too so have a look! If you haven't seen it yet, we also have a full list of commercial restaurant equipment you'll want to check out. Subscribe so you can get first hand information as we continue to add to this list of favorite kitchen tools and gadgets.

Commercial Drink Mixers

Stay in code for your restaurant with these best Commercial Drink Mixers used in your business. These industrial built mixers/blenders have come a long way over recent years, are well built, will last for years and help you to create soups, sauces, dips, marinades, ice cream, milkshakes, they mix - blend - grind - juice and you can easily create fun bar drinks for your customers quickly and most efficiently. These best product reviews are based on customer favorites and our own experience so you're sure to find the perfect drink mixer for your own restaurant or home use if you want a machine to last for years and within your budget!

Best Commercial Espresso/Cappuccino Machines

If you're looking for the best Commercial Espresso/Cappuccino Machines, we've located the best of the best machines here! We highly recommend that all restaurants buy one of these machines to boost your restaurant sales, increase your customer base of regular and returning loyal customers and to offer one of the world's most favorite drinks: coffee served several yummy ways! You could try to find used restaurant equipment on craigs list and amazon that would save you more money and you may want to look for used. Restaurants must use commercial grade equipment to follow all the regulations and guidelines set forth by communities to keep your business and customers safe. Home users of espresso and cappuccino may also want commercial grade equipment for those that want a machine to last for years when they drink this tasty beverage daily or several times a day. Subscribe so you get our updates as we add them!

Here are our picks for the best Commercial Espresso/Cappuccino Machines:

Crazy about Bacon!

Are you paying attention to the Crazy about Bacon phenomenon happening all around you? If you are a home cook and want the latest in bacon treats to wow your family and friends at your next gathering, we have it for you here. If you own a restaurant you need to stop everything and check out these amazing bacon flavored items to add to your menu. Boost your restaurant summer sales with a few of these very yummy bacon flavored treats. Try a new special, buy one or buy them all and see what happens!

Yummy bacon flavored items we love:

Restaurants - Increase Your Customer Base - Discounts on Restaurants

Yes, we want you to give discounts on your restaurant! Whether you're a brand new restaurant or already in business for a while, in a slow economy you'll want to increase your customer base so you always have regular customers coming as well as new customers through the door. Customers want to go out, they enjoy time with friends and family not having to cook at home all the time, they want savings and discounts and you can help them. This is one idea to boost your restaurant summer sales too. Oftentimes, customers will only try a new restaurant or a high end restaurant with some kind of coupon or discount item. Returning customers appreciate discounts too and both of these groups of customers will tell their friends about you, your staff, your food and your restaurant once they come and have a meal so it's a good idea to consider giving discounts.

Word of Mouth is one of your best advertising ideas - We'll talk more about advertising your business later but, here's an idea to get more customers through your doors quickly and returning more often:

White Dinnerware for Restaurants

White dinnerware for restaurants is the most popular color due to it's ease on the eyes, it makes all food stand out instead of the plate, it's more affordable than colored dinnerware and why we chose it ourselves.

Swordfish with Sobie Noodles on Syracuse Cascade Plate image copyright@healthy1chef

Happy Father's Day!

Just a quick note today to wish you all a very Happy Father's Day. If you're in business with a restaurant already, you'll probably be busy serving many customers meat and potato dishes - dad's favorites for the most part. If you're not yet in business, enjoy the day off if you get it!

In the restaurant industry, Father's Day is one of those holidays that often can improve your customer relations and sales. It falls on a Sunday so you'll want to consider being opened on Sundays or at least on those holidays that fall on Sunday - Mother's Day included.

Best Books on Management

We provide this recommended best books on management list for any restaurant owner, business manager, new managers and even seasoned managers that are in charge of small and large businesses. Reference books are handy to keep in your office, to refer to often for key reminders if nothing else and to provide the tools for your staff to give them all the information you need and want them to have. When you are continually learning and staying on top of new ideas or referring to your favorites, your staff will be more inclined to follow your lead.  Get books in hardcover, paperback, for kindle or pop the audio CD's in your car for all your driving time education! We love books and hope you'll buy a book to enjoy from our list of management books that we use and share here:

Recommended Books on Leadership

If you own a restaurant or any other business, you'll want to be the best you can be and that's why we recommend these books on leadership to help you. You'll need to understand people, be able to inspire them, be a great coach, improve your results and communication, get better teamwork and improve your bottom line for a successful restaurant. Build your business library a little at a time and refer to these great literary works often to help you when you need a boost. Subscribe or follow by email so you can get all our updates as we continue to add more all the time. These should keep you busy reading for a while:) Cheers!