Author Archives: Zen Media

With the anniversary of COVID-19’s arrival in the United States approaching, restaurants aren’t looking to a return to normal, but to a potential second wave, and all that comes with it. While each state will respond differently, no restaurant can rule out the possibility of lockdowns, new local and state restrictions, and enforced closures. Restaurant […]

Dining as we knew it hasn’t been the same since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Community tables, food truck rallies, packed food halls – these, at least for the past year, have been a thing of the past. But will that continue? What’s changed that consumers now believe is for the better when it comes to […]

Operating a restaurant means constantly reassessing how to make things more efficient. Would changing the layout give servers more space to drop dishes faster? Would switch to counter service increase sales? Would adding online ordering improve take-out numbers? Restaurateurs agonize over these factors. But one space it’s easy to make changes for the better is […]

It’s no secret that the restaurant industry has been hit incredibly hard by the global COVID-19 pandemic. In December, Bloomberg reported that “more than 110,000 restaurants have closed permanently or long-term across the country” due to the pandemic. But unlike other businesses that saw help from Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program […]

Ever since the pandemic started last March, restaurants have been treading water to continue to operate. First lockdown measures required that they close their doors, then social distancing requirements made them upend their indoor dining policies.  To make their service work, many implemented contactless technology and took their dining outdoors, creating patio spaces, covered rooms, […]

Americans have been trained to expect lots of choices. We want choices in everything: clothing, cars, insurance, and grocery stores. Naturally, menu options are no different.  But for many restaurants, the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated stripping menus back to just the best-selling items or to fundamental, easy-to-prepare, low-overhead dishes in order to keep business afloat. […]

A year ago, if you’d said “What does value mean to you?” to a room of restaurant customers they might answer with: Getting great food for a low price Receiving excellent, personalized service Having a unique and memorable dining experience In COVID-era dining, however, values have changed. What customers want out of a dining experience […]