Holiday Planning should include strategies to help your staff thrive Here’s the reality: the holidays in the restaurant industry aren’t easy. It’s controlled chaos. The big parties, the weird weather, days closed and staff gearing u...

Learning Management System Technology can help crew members learn and managers track progress Training systems have evolved. Instead of expecting new hires to read employee handbooks or sit at a desktop and watch a series of video modules, pizzeria o...

Cuffers & Barneys: Long-term and short-term employees One of my managers quit on the spot. I walked into his restaurant at 6:00 a.m. on Monday morning, the time every manager performs their weekly inventory and paperwork. He was sitting at his de...

Strategies to improve your hiring game Hiring has always been critical, but it’s more important than ever for the post-COVID pizzeria operator. Lots of workers have left the service industry, and those that are left have higher expectations than ev...

So many of us are guilty of falling into the same trap: over time, we develop great faith in our people, so we continually provide what we think are opportunities for their advancement. After all, they are punctual, responsible, caring, excellent at ...

Substance abuse in the restaurant industry Anthony Bourdain, on multiple occasions, compared a restaurant to a modern-day pirate ship filled with counterculture non-conformists who all band together for a singular purpose in a small stuffy room and s...

When restaurant staff are ready for a promotion People love to work somewhere they can grow. Most employees want not only a job, but a career. Right beside that, employers understand their business cannot grow without great people. So, putting both t...

Pizzeria owners are rarely only owners. Instead, we don many hats and understanding every role in the shop. In fact, I know one clever owner who wears a shirt that says “Maintenance Man” on the back. Even if we’re not masters in every facet of ...

How to handle the seasonal staff exodus at restaurants and pizzerias Handling the exodus. It’s a little dramatic, but it might feel like that when you have one, two or maybe even three employees that decide to leave all at once. I’ve noti...

Get more out of your team meetings “Like a human being, a company has to have an internal communication mechanism, a ‘nervous system,’ to coordinate its actions.” — Bill Gates OK, do you really need to run your company like Bill Gates does?...

Restaurant manager compensation isn’t what it used to be With respect to manager compensation packages in today’s hospitality environment, Uno Pizzeria & Grill CEO Erik Frederick acknowledges one overriding truth: “The old rules,” he says...

Common Compliance Issues with Tips, Tip Pooling and Service Charges Tipping models and service charges are some of the most discussed topics in restaurants today among restaurateurs, employees and customers alike. While tips and automatic service cha...