As if you didn’t already have enough to prepare for this holiday season, Small Business Saturday is just around the corner! With the ability to attract new business and increase immediate sales, here are some innovative ways to reap the most benefits during Small Business Saturday.

The equipment you outfit your kitchen with affects not only your immediate restaurant. In fact, the environmental impact of the appliances you choose can vary drastically! Sustainability is more than just saving the environment. By investing in environmentally-responsible foodservice equipment, you open a host of benefits from energy and money savings to waste and water reduction.

From delivery to take-out to packaging customer leftovers, styrofoam boxes are an integral part of food transportation for many. As part of environmentally-friendly initiatives, many large cities are choosing to ban the use of foam containers altogether.

For bakeries, creative desserts are old hat; for restaurants, the story may be quite different. Your chefs should have a well-rounded knowledge of basic cake decorating techniques, tools, and tips.

When we think of movie theaters, we normally think of big screen TVs paired with buttery popcorn and a soft drink beverage, so theater owners and operators should also consider catering to these essentials first. In terms of foodservice, here’s the equipment you’ll want for the movie theater basics.

Whether you’re designing an entire menu with adding a hint of ethnic entrees to your lineup, there are a few essentials to keep in mind for your Mexican menu.

Your walk-in freezer can be refurbished into a walk-in cooler to reflect your restaurant’s needs, but it’s a little more complicated than simply turning up the temperature. Have a look at these tips to see if changing your freezer to a cooler is do’able and appropriate for your restaurant.

As trends continue towards healthier meal options, the cut-backs on sodium in foods is still in high demand. Customers seek nutritional information, and items notorious for having higher amounts of sodium are typically some of the first to hit the chopping block when it comes to decision time. 

Heated shelves are very useful pieces of commercial equipment for your restaurant kitchen, concession stand, catered event, and the like. They are a great fit for buffet lines, pass-through areas, hors d'oeuvre displays, and workstations.

Snacking has long been a part of American cuisine. Bite-size and small portion foods help to fill out the day in between our standard meal times, and many opt to snack as a way to indulge rather than sustain. The Millennial generation has further fueled the demand for snacking options, and restaurants who choose to forego these small-portion dishes can be missing out on a large chunk of profit.

Products, dishes, and menus vary from restaurant to restaurant, but most all restaurants use knives in their kitchen. As probably the most used tool in your kitchen, your knives need to be well maintained to achieve the best results and longest life. A high-quality knife set can be a big financial investment, but the payoffs can be longstanding, especially if you regularly maintain your set! Investing in the proper knives and maintaining their quality is key to extending the life of your knife set.

Boost your profits during the fall and winter seasons with hearty, roasted dishes! Here are some essential tools to add to your lineup.

Watching trends in foodservice is key to staying ahead of the game. In fact, we blog weekly about different ways to freshen your menu to keep up-to-date with the latest trends! A group of patrons who are having a big hand shaping the foodservice industry are college-aged millennials. With around 52 million millennials accounting for 13 billion visits and $73 billion dollars in foodservice establishments in 2010, it pays to take their heed and spend the effort and time in investing in their preferences.

Macchiato, latte, cappuccino: many espresso terms used today have far strayed from their origins. Regardless, if your restaurant serves coffee and espresso, then understanding basic terms as well as their modern meanings holds value.

Foodservice is sometimes a smaller cog in the larger machine, and hotel foodservice is just one of those situations. The backbone of these operations is the foodservice equipment!

Here are some things to keep in mind if you’re considering opening one of these espresso-sized coffeehouses.

Small display items such as display risers, mirror trays, cake stands, and display bins all add convenience and appeal to a restaurant. Just like larger pieces of commercial equipment, these smaller items can introduce a host of benefits to your customer’s satisfaction as well as your restaurant’s bottom line.

Stay trendy and topical with what is predicted to be in high demand this fall by stocking your shelves with quality fall wines.

Summer brings with it peak business and busy hours for most restaurants, forcing owners and managers to analyze their current setup and the effectiveness of their equipment. Prepare your restaurant for the summer!

While the large units in your kitchen are typically focal points that get a lot of TLC, it’s the smaller pieces of commercial equipment that can sometimes get left on the back-burner when it comes to maintenance and cleaning.

Refrigerators are a costly investment for any restaurant, so knowing how to properly maintain them is key to getting the most out of their life. Here are a few tips for repair and maintenance of your kitchen’s commercial refrigerator.

Your walk-in unit is arguably the most important and understated piece of restaurant equipment you have. This is PART 2 of Walking Through Your Walk-In series!

Hands-free faucets have become a widely-accepted part of restaurant bathrooms, but have you considered using them in the kitchen as well?

Revolutionizing the foodservice industry, consumers are driving restaurant owners to be creative while paying close attention to the upcoming year’s trends. Based on consumer surveys and site visits, here are some trends to keep an eye on for 2015.

Specialty equipment like pizza ovens are essential to any Italian restaurant or pizzeria. Even traditional restaurants and small diners choose to invest in pizza ovens, as pizza has become such a popular menu item. Additionally, the evolution of these ovens have made them ideal for cooking foods in addition to more than just their namesakes!

To prolong the life of our ice machines and extend the time between maintenance calls, many choose to spend a little more time on the extras! With a few simple add-ons, one can turn their ice machine into a long-lasting, energy saving unit.

If you’re a pizzeria owner, you’re probably no stranger to conveyor ovens. True, conveyor ovens can improve your kitchen’s speed, durability, and overall efficiency, but these ovens are sometimes taken for granted, and the basics of proper installation, operation, and maintenance can get left by the wayside.

Here are a few maintenance tips for your soft serve machine as reviewed and confirmed by Jeff Resnick with Spaceman USA.

It is clear that back-of-house preparation, cooking, and storing equipment is crucial to keep a restaurant up and running smoothly. Similarly, front-of-house serving equipment is equally as important to run a successful restaurant. Commercial serving equipment includes pieces such as serving spoons, serving trays, and serving bowls, each consisting of a variety of sizes, shapes, materials, and purposes.

2015 is a whole new year, and you may be considering a swath of new and trendy ways to cater to your customers. As it were, many restaurants are tapping into the ‘restaurant kiosk’ fad which allows customers to self-serve and order without the help of employees.

Like decorating a house, table settings enhance the aesthetics of the location while serving a pragmatic purpose.

Whether you’re opening a new convenience store or looking to revamp your old establishment, checking your ‘must have’ equipment should be your first step. 

The holiday season typically means more traffic and busier peak hours, and making the most out of each and every customer can substantially boost your overall profits. Gift cards are a great way to tap into the holiday season while promoting your business in the long-run. 

Brand names say a lot about your company and what a consumer should expect.  If you’re looking to rebrand yourself without changing the name, here’s what they’re doing right now!

While designing your breakfast menu, knowing what your customers want and where the breakfast trends are headed can keep your morning meals profitable and desirable.

From the French word ‘braiser’, braising is a combination-cooking method that uses both moist and dry heats and is typically reserved for meats from the front end of the beast. Meaty beef short ribs in particular are a great choice for braising! 

If your restaurant serves cocktails, then having a well-rounded selection of classic favorites and trendy mixes is the key to increasing your margin of profit and boosting sales. For the perfect cocktail, it requires a skilled bartender and knowledgeable creator. Restaurant Hospitality has selected their 29 favorites from 2014, and the list is interesting, creative, and delicious! 

Millenials, also known as the ‘Demand Generation’, have grown up on a foodservice style focused on DIY and customization. Let’s have a look at what some of the popular chains are delving into to cater to this DIY demand.