Dine for the Charleston

Hi!
I work in a one bar, one dining room pub in a country town in Australia. My boss asked the staff the other day if we had any promotional ideas which we could use . Just wondering if anyone has any ideas which has worked really well in their local pub.Ideas which will really involve the patrons in a fun way. The staff get to run the promotion themselves which would be great experience… so any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
The locals are farmers and working class people who are ’salt of the earth’ kind of people who work hard for their money, also we get a young crowd..18 to 25 who like to party hard about once a week…
Thanks in advance

A fund raising benefit for a local cause. Have drink specials and drawings PLUS a cover charge. Have some kind of local entertainment. Make it an event they have to go to to support there cause. You could even have a vote for which cause it will benefit. Maybe a bachelore or bachelorette auction also?

Does it matter if the restaurant is a little slower than cheaper restaurants such as Ruby Tuesdays or Houlihans? Do people usually tip better when fine-dining?

The big money comes from wine sales.

I have no cooking skills, my gourmet dish is the chilli dog and chips. Is it really less expensive to eat in than eat out? Whenever I try to go grocery shopping I’ll end up spending maybe 100 bucks and that 100 bucks turns into about 5 meals or so. Where-as that 100 bucks could’ve been spent on 10 meals eating out.

So how do you people do it, what’s the secret to not eating out?

You need to learn some very basic recipes and expand from that. Any easy way to learn is to search online for "crockpot" recipes and invest in a crockpot. If you are only cooking for one you will have leftovers. Repackage them into gladware, seal and date and freeze. After a few weeks, you will have LOTS of convenient meals to use when you don’t feel like cooking. You can actually get away with cooking once or twice a week when you master this technique. Good luck!

-You have a choice of 2 ovens. The used oven is $100 less than the new oven, but its calibration is off by 20 degrees. Which 1 is better buy
-Jim owns 3 real estate offices in Anytown. He has decided to open 1 more office in either Hometown or Uptown. He will compare the mean # of homes sold per agent + the mean commission % earned by agents in the 2 towns to make his decision
-A study to determine if job absenteeism is distributed evenly over a week.
-Mels Diner has been surveying their customers for the past couple of years about their dining experience in the restaurant. The survey uses a scale of 1 to 5, 5 is the best. Mel’s customer satisfaction averaged 2.5 last year, but this year it is 2.9. Is this difference statistically significant
-Sally’s Beauty salon just opened. Sally assigns the stylists customers on a rotation so everyone busy all day. 1 month after she opened Sally’s customer count for each stylist was a 20 b 30 c 15 and d 25. Has Sally been fair

parametric data can be evaluated by statistical methods assuming normal distributions.

non-parametric data assumes the distribution is not normal.

I noticed on my trip to Europe that beer was sold in McDonalds. Why not sell beer in America? Beer is sold in casual dining restaurants like Chilis. Fast food restaurants would make a nice profit. Sure, they would have to card their customers and this would take some extra time, but I think the benefits would outweigh the costs.

Getting and sustaining a liquor license is costly and troublesome. They may feel the "return on investment" isn’t worth it.

However, more likely, they want to maintain that ‘family’ feel. Remember that they make a lot of money on kids, consider how many have playgrounds, offer birthday parties, and other ‘enticements’ targeting kids. If they started serving beer they might drive that business away. Whereas, in Europe, there is more acceptance of alcohol as a regular beverage.

I have seen some conflicting answers on other web sites. I am going to Hawaii in January. I have signed up for "anytime dining". My understanding is that it has the same menu as the "traditional dining". What do I therefore miss by have "anytime" over "traditional"? In other words why select traditional?

Is anytime dining in separate dining rooms from traditional?

Other than the buffet, hot dogs and hamburgers, and pizza, what else is free.

What is the price and selection for the non free dining choices?

It is the exact same food that is served in the traditional dinning room. It is in a separate dinning room to keep down the confusion. What I have found is the main difference in doing traditional dinning and anytime dinning is the wait staff do not get to know your likes and dislikes with anytime dinning because you have a different waiter every time. Plus you eat with different people at dinner. For a treat, at 3pm you can get free ice cream in the buffet court. Dinning in the speciality restaurants varies in price. I believe Sabatini’s is $20 per person(well worth it for a one time deal) The steak house is like $15. You will find food at the buffet 24 hours a day. Believe me, no matter what your taste is, you will not go hungry. Oh, I forgot, they also do an afternoon tea where you get finger foods and pastries. Also near the buffet but right before you go inside, they usually have some speciality foods. This varies from a variety of fruits, or pastries, or sushi, or a variety of other yummy items.

My girlfriend and I are going back to Disney in January…last year we ended up going to Rainforest cafe, Planet Hollywood, Sci-Fi Dine In Theater, and Tony’s in Magic Kingdom…other than those restaurants what are some other ones that have good food?? Any opinions on San Angel Inn (Epcot) or Coral Reef restaurant? Thanks.

Coral Reef is one of my favorites. The food is excellent and the fact that you are sitting in front of one of the largest aqariums in the world makes the experience that much better. The last time we were there a shark was hanging out near the glass by our table, it was the coolest thing! Be prepared however because it is expensive.

There are a bunch of other restaurants that are really good as well. Fulton’s Crab House in Downtown Disney is tops. If you like seafood and don’t want to go to Coral Reef, try Fulton’s. It is also pricey, but well worth it. The staff was courteous and friendly, and the food was to die for. Also on our list of fav’s is Chef Mickey’s in the Contemporary. If you want to do a character meal, this is the best. The food is average to above average, however Mickey and the gang take turns coming directly to your table. Le Cellier steakhouse in Canada is also good, along with the restaurants in Japan and Germany. In MGM try the 50’s Prime Time cafe. It is just like eating in a kitchen in the late 50’s complete with "Mom" barking at you to eat your veggies. My wife didn’t eat hers last time, so the waitress brought them out hidden under whip cream and sprinkles as a dessert!

For a quick casual place to eat Casey’s Corner is a family favorite in the Magic Kingdom, as is the Columbia Harbour House and El Pirata Y El Perico. Each has quick service and the food was reasonable.

If you need more info, I would recommend checking out the disboards. The disboards is a message board website that is all about going to Disney. You can get resort reviews, reviews on each restaurant, trip reports, tips for avoiding crowds and much more from people who go often and know what they are talking about. I put the link below.

Hope this helps, have a great trip!!

I spend too much money every week, eating out at fast food joints and other restaurant bars.
Every time I go out with my buddies, I end up inviting them to get a drink or go to the buffet? What’s going on?
I don’t plan on leaving my friends.

But what do I have to do to stop this spending habit?
P.S. don’t say "leave your friends", its not their fault.

Just go out less, tell your friends that you are busy sometimes. They wont be upset if you don’t go out EVERY time. I’m sure that not all of your friends go out every time you do. Also, try not to order drinks, soda and alcohol are generally the most costly part of the meal (since water is a free alternative). Dessert is a good thing to skip too.

I am taking a fine dining course and I have to do some definitions for restaurant terms. The only term I could not figure out was trail.

I can think of some meanings that might apply in that context.

to follow:
…. you could have a trainee waiter "trail" an experienced one to learn the routines

To come later than:
…. the entree should trail the salad by 5 minutes – meaning be served 5 minutes after the salad.

a path:
Designated trails for staff to follow so they are not strolling down the main aisle with a cartof dirty dishes

Hope it helps

I had surgery three weeks ago yesterday and the area involved (my shoulder) was covered with a beta dine infused patch. I broke out in a red, itchy rash about a week later. The Dr. recommended Benadryl and Hydrocortisone and said it will work its way out. It isn’t as red but still itchy as hell. How long will this take?
Yes, when they took the stitches out he saw it. Maybe I am just super sensitive?

Well, it’s definitely an allergic reaction. Did you actually go back to your doctor recently and let him know that the Benadryl and Hydrocortisone isn’t helping with the itching? I guess the time it takes to heal up differs with the person, but it usually takes up to one week or so. Hope your shoulder gets better
xXx