Americans spend more than 600 billion a year eating out. Busy consumers don't have the time or inclination to cook — they want tasty, nutritious meals without dishes to wash. More and more singles, working parents and seniors are demanding greater convenience and are turning to restaurants to fill that need. There's plenty of room for more food businesses, but for a successful startup you need more than just good recipes. You also need to know about planning, capitalization, inventory control, and payroll management.

The food and beverage aspect of hospitality operations is often the most difficult area to control effectively, but it plays a crucial role in customer satisfaction. Improving Food and Beverage Performance shows how successful catering operations can increase profitability whilst providing continuing improvements in quality, value and service. Keith Waller looks at the practical issues of improving performance, combining the key themes of quality, customer service and efficient management. This text will enable managers and students alike to recognize all the contributing factors to a successful food and beverage operation.

The restaurant business is both an established field and also an evolving one. Today more people eat out, having less time to cook at home. With the advent of the celebrity chef, many people are interested in trying new and different foods. The expansive cable television networks provide entertainment in the form of "reality shows" revolving around winning money to open a dream restaurant or be top chef. The globalization of food distribution allows people everywhere to become familiar with ingredients never before available, stimulating their interest in food as more than sustenance. Dining out becomes entertainment as well as filling the need for nourishment. With over 80 combined years of cooking experience, Meyer and Vann have seen the trials of opening and running restaurants-those they have worked in and those they have designed and helped to open. They bring this expertise to How to Open and Operate a Restaurant and will take the reader through al the aspects of opening and running a restaurant including many examples of pitfalls to avoid, rules to follow and guidelines for success.

This book is the only up-to-date book of its kind that will provide an introduction to franchising, its pros and cons, and other aspects pertinent to restaurant franchises. It is the only guide to franchising written exclusively for food service professionals and is an indispensable resource for anyone wishing to break into one of today's most dynamic service industries.Since the late 1800s, when the idea was first conceived, the restaurant franchise has become a worldwide phenomenon. Opportunities abound for restaurateurs and food service professionals with the know-how to dive into and stay

Now, the best ideas and articles from Restaurants & Institutions, the leading magazine in foodservice, can be at your fingertips. You'll get profitable ideas for R & I's "core four" foodservice areas: The Menu (food), The Staff (management and training), The Customer (marketing and merchandising), and The Kitchen (equipment and design). This book provides solid answers to the questions every foodservice operator asks as he or she goes through the daily restaurant routine: "What are we going to serve today? Are there people here to serve it? Is the physical plant in working order? Will the customers come?" This guide was designed to be a comprehensive, all-in-one resource that will help you run a high-quality, profitable foodservice operation.