r/restaurantowners

We run a 140-seat upscale casual spot in a busy suburban area. The last 4 months our POS has been freezing or lagging badly every Thursday–Saturday during peak hours (6-9pm). It’s usually the order entry or payment screens that lock up. We lose 10-15 minutes per night while the whole front of house grinds to a halt.

We’ve already rebooted the server, cleared cache, updated the software, and even replaced a couple of the terminals, but the problem keeps coming back. It’s killing our service times and stressing the whole team out.

I finally brought in hospitality it support last month and they’re still diagnosing the root cause. Has anyone here dealt with recurring POS issues like this? Was it network related, software, hardware, or something else? Any fixes that actually stuck long term?

Looking for info and other people’s experiences. I own a barbecue restaurant- 300 seats, 10k square feet. We opened in 2019, beat Covid, and would like to take the next step. Our building is for sale, holds 9 other tenants, is 24k square feet, and is being sold for $2.9 million. Our annual revenue plateaued in 2023, and has hovered around $2 million since. Our lease ends in February 2027. We are the largest tenant, the landlord is happy to extend our lease at the current terms

The thing is I have no idea where to begin for a real estate purchase. Yes, I’ve already gone to multiple banks to inquire, but want info and insight of other restaurant owners. What was your experience? How much money down was needed? Is SBA the only way? Any guidance is much appreciated.

OK, restaurant owners, I'm having a debate with a friend.

My wife and I went out to dinner last night at a local deli/restaurant here in our major metropolitan area. This particular deli/restaurant is known for its big menu and very big portions.

We frequent this restaurant quite regularly and are very familiar with its menu and the portion sizes.

We decided to split a meal. We ordered chicken schnitzel, which came with soup or salad and two sides. We knew that the portion of chicken schnitzel would be more than enough to feed both of us.

The server indicated that there was a $7 sharing charge. We had never encountered this at this deli/restaurant. I should note that this did include an addional soup or salad...so we were getting something for the sharing charge.

I was sort of complaining to a friend about the sharing charge, and he told me I was being "cheap" by only ordering one meal for the two of us. And that we were depriving the server of a larger tip by only ordering the one meal.

My POV is that there's no reason to order more food than we'll eat. More often than not, what I order isn't that great as leftovers the next day...or I forget about the leftovers and then throw them out. In other words, the excess food goes to waste.

As it was, we still went home with one of the three pieces of chicken schnitzel and some of the fries that came on the side.

As most of you restaurant owners know, the U.S. is very unique worldwide in the portion sizes that are served at restaurants.

So, restaurant owners, what say you?

Is it "cheap" to share a meal when it's more than enough food to feed the two people sharing the meal?

As a second and different question, what are your thoughts on the sharing charge?

Hey all,

Anyone in the Maryland area have someone reliable & knowledgeable to come out and help me remedy this issue? I’ve already tried the DIY solutions.

Thanks!

I’m opening a new takeout restaurant (walk-up and online orders only) and currently using

Toast POS. I’m trying to decide on the best website and online ordering setup. Is it better to

stick with Toast’s website builder and keep everything in one system, or go with something

like Owner.com (or a similar platform) that offers a branded app and stronger marketing

tools?

- For those who’ve used both ,what did you choose and why?

- Did you prioritize simplicity and integration, or growth and marketing features?

- Would love to hear real pros and cons before I commit.

This is our first peak season and we’re already seeing bottlenecks in the kitchen.

We’ve got a small prep area and a menu that includes fried food, drinks and a few extras, which makes things feel chaotic when orders stack up.

I’ve read about improving restaurant efficiency through better kitchen layout and prep systems, but it’s hard to know what’s actually worth changing.

Do you focus more on simplifying the menu, reorganizing stations or improving food prep efficiency?

Would love to hear what actually worked for others in a similar setup.

I opened a fast casual poké bowl spot back in October. It’ll be my six month anniversary here at the end of April. Here’s the good:

•4.9 star Google rating with 60+ authentic reviews.

•5.0 star rating on Facebook with 100% “recommends”.

•4.8 star rating on DoorDash with 35+ reviews.

• Constant, unsolicited “oh my God how did I not know about this place before?!?” comments.

•Top-tier customer service. With almost all reviews mentioning how friendly; informative and nice the experience was.

•Several viral TikTok’s that gave small to moderate, temporary bumps in revenue.

•Steady, but *extremely* slow growth, month over month.

Here’s the bad:

•Barely enough sales to stay above water.

•People; without any asking, *rave* about us while they’re dining; and most on their way out the door; yet those people rarely; if ever, return.

•What little advertising I’ve done seems to do absolutely nothing to drive sales.

•Competitors like Chipotle, Bibibop, Honeygrow, QDoba etc are all regularly packed. So the people are out there… just not here.

•Still seeing about 50% of people through the door ask “what is this exactly?”

•When gas spiked, I noticed an immediate drop off of about 15%

•Starting running an aggressive TwoForTuesday campaign giving customers two premium bowls for $20, which would normally cost $16.49 each ($11 value) and almost no one takes advantage.

I’m trying not to spiral, but I’m kind of at a loss here. If our food was bad, I could understand. It’s not. If our service was bad, I could understand. It’s not. If our prices were out of line, I could understand. They’re not. If we sold something so niche that most people don’t eat it, I could understand. We don’t. We basically sell sushi bowls. And the sushi spots around here are some of the most busy restaurants in town.

Based on what I’ve described above, what are you sensing as some issues that could be causing the slow sales? As a locally owned, non-franchised, single location operator; I don’t have a national advertising campaign behind me. What little advertising I’ve done, has gone absolutely no where. Which makes me nervous to spend even more money I don’t have.

I know part of the problem is that I’m in a very blue collar area, and poké is still unknown to a lot of average everyday people.

But those same people regularly go to the sushi spot and spend as much or more, for far less food. How do I break through to them and make them understand that they can get double to triple the protein, and a very similar culinary experience, for LESS MONEY? On paper, I should be getting tons of those types of customers. Yet I don’t.

I’m sure this comes across as depressing, but I’m kind of at my wits end and was hoping for some help from you guys out there who have been doing this for a while. I appreciate any and all responses, and I’ll try and reply to comments as quickly as I can. Thank you!

I dont get it guys, been running a small italian spot for like 4 years now food is solid and prices are fair. We got 4.7 stars from like 200 reviews. My Google Business Profile is filled out completely. Photos of the food the inside the outside. I post specials every week. reply to every review.

and yet. this other place two blocks down. same type of food,same price range. but they have like 4.2 stars maybe 80 reviews and blurry photos. never posts anything and somehow theyre always busy.i walk past on a tuesday night and they got a wait. Meanwhile im sitting there watching the door.I asked a few customers who came to me by accident. They said "oh we meant to go to the other place but couldnt find parking so came here lol

when I search italian restaurant near me on my phone from home they show up first Im like third or fourth. When I search from my restaurant parking lot im first. So its proximity right?

Weve been here longer. We got better reviews. we update our profile. why does google still push them above me for most searches?Is it because they have more photos? We have like 50 they have maybe 30. Is it because they post more? They post maybe once a month we post weekly. Im not technical with this stuff. I just want people to find my restaurant when theyre hungry.

Has anyone here figured out the actual google maps ranking factors for restaurants? Is it really just about being close to the person searching?what worked for you guys? did you change something on your GBP that made a difference? do google posts even matter? like nobody reads them but maybe google uses them as an activity signal?help guys pls

I’ve been open just over a month and right now I’m hovering around break even. Not losing money, but definitely not making much either. Part of me is stressed because this obviously isn’t sustainable forever, but another part of me is wondering if this is just… normal early restaurant life.

We’re getting great feedback, solid reviews, and repeat customers already, which feels like a win. At the same time, I know I need to push marketing harder, extend hours, and probably hire more staff, all of which costs more money before it makes money.

For those of you who’ve been through this, how long did it take before your restaurant was actually profitable? And what were the biggest changes that helped you turn that corner?

Hi all, I've just taken over ops at a bar and 2 of their most popular items are battered, which absolutely destroys the fryer. One is battered onion rings, and the other is a cornmeal crusted pickle. It's not crazy high volume, but the fact that we only have one fryer creates some issues. It's also a 2 man line IMO, but the cooks always want a third, because the fryer is such a pain to manage. My background is in more fine dining and brunch, so battered fried stuff is kind of new to me.

Any tips for managing this? Do you just accept that you have to constantly skim the fryer? Or is there maybe a par cook method for this kind of stuff? Purchasing prepared frozen products is def not an option.

Does anyone have general advice as I consider adding pizza ovens into the mix (the brick dome, Neapolitan type) at my 200-seat restaurant?

Also, does anyone have a good idea as to how much this might cost us? We would need to create a whole new station for it with its own exhaust line.

Thanks in advance

I work for a local restaurant equipment store and do the social media, marketing for the brand. I try to follow all of our local restaurants and customers and support them, but it genuinely breaks my heart how down bad the restaurant industry is with using AI menus, AI food pictures, etc. I even saw one restaurant had AI photos of their food on their website. It all just feels icky. I would rather see a tacky paint edit or canva edit than a “fancy” AI slop photo.

What are your thoughts?

I have see some people who won’t eat at restaurants that even do that.

Hello,

I have been considering investing in a restaurant so I started doing some research. I am green, so I wanted to hear from people who made it happen from themselves.

What are the most important factors that impact the level of success of a restaurant?

How do you deal with no-shows and empty tables on slow days? What are your strategies for inventory management?

I recently opened a 2nd location and I’m having trouble with when to hold back and when to override my operator. Do yall let some small things go to maintain the overall relationship or stay diligent about your specific convictions? Some examples are: using expensive label date stickers instead of painters tape, insisting on iceberg lettuce for a special he ran (which I would never use).

Just as the title says need some ideas. Added a pizzeria to our brewery. Going great,but running into issues I never that I'd have.....like getting staff to pickup food.

Can anyone recxomend a system for up to 5 servers that won't break the bank and is actually worth it?

Cheers and thanks

Anyone have a rec besides SimpliSafe?

My camera connection stinks through them, most of the reason I use SimpliSafe since we are in a huge building with additional security.

Their customer service did nothing but tell me how good my internet connection and download speed is

I came across a small problem/business opportunity thought I’d run it by this sub.

Today I went out for a breakfast. Menu they brought us had no food photos. I was googling each of the item to see what it looked like.

Then I realized actually most of the restaurants don’t have food photos on their menus. Right away I thought to build an app that scans the menu and shows photos of all items.

But before I spend any time on building the app I wanted to validate the idea.