Hive to Honey

three in four people think the economy has prompted the average consumer to eat out less often. Yet despite declining visits to restaurants, consumers indicate they are just as loyal (68%), or even more loyal (15%) to the restaurants they frequent.
“In hard times, many consumers crave familiarity and reliability. When choosing to dine out, it’s [...]

Remember when “health” and “diet” were considered dirty words in restaurants? When good-for-you foods were a few items hidden on a remote corner of the menu that consumers rarely ordered? Those days, it seems, are over.
Today, health, or at least the current definition of it, is all the rage. According to new data from [...]

Amid signs of thawing consumer spending, US restaurants are starting to walk a fine line between turning diners on with new lower-calorie dishes and tapas-style small plates and turning them off with creeping price increases.
The course change comes as cost-cutting opportunities dwindle and restaurants try to wean still-skittish diners off discounts and special offers.
“2009 was [...]

“The big, well-positioned players like Darden that are very disciplined in their growth are going to find a lot of opportunities at the expense of people who don’t have the same financial strength,” said Rick Van Warner, a former company spokesman who now is president of a consulting firm.
Darden has been growing its restaurants at [...]

With its slate floors and subdued lighting, Arne Jacobsen-inspired egg-chairs and printed wall panels by French architect Philippe Avanzi, a certain lunch spot in Manhattan’s uber-hip Chelsea district fits right in with the nearby boutiques and art galleries. Less predictable is the place’s name: McDonald’s.
Late last year, the franchisee Paul Hendel became the first operator [...]

I’ll wager you two bits your bartender’s wearing muttonchops and a waistcoat. If not you should ask for your money back, order your Sazerac elsewhere.
A decade into the 21st century, much of the populace seems to believe it’s the late 19th to mid-20th. Look around: at the schoolhouse lamps and Edison bulbs illuminating so many [...]

Classic, in fact, was the watchword of the night. “I just wanted to do a straight-up, classic burger,” said former Top Chef contestant Spike Mendelsohn of Washington’s Good Stuff Eatery, the defending champion, clad in a boxer’s robe and wearing a giant title belt. “We do classic burgers at Bill’s,” said Brett Reichler, chef of [...]

AT Bistro 55, an upscale restaurant in Rochelle Park, the staff is accustomed not only to customers talking on cellphones, but also to people using phones to take pictures of the food, according to Lorenzo Catlett, the general manager.
“People come in with iPhones, and it might have seemed strange at first, but now we’re [...]

Many Americans still think of canned seafood as a weekday sandwich stuffer fit solely for low-budget brown baggers. But professional chefs increasingly are hooking high-end customers by featuring tinned fish on their menus.w
Chefs sing its praises for quality, ease of use, almost infinite shelf life and promotion of sustainable seafood stocks.
For instance, celebrity chef José [...]

It’s getting more expensive to be a wing man — or woman — these days. The skyrocketing cost of chicken wings is causing restaurant and tavern owners to raise menu prices and threatening to put some out of business.
“Chicken wings once were so cheap,” says Ken Moran, owner of Rochester, N.Y.’s Jeremiah’s Tavern, which has [...]