On Jan. 23, the Chinese will usher in the year 4709, which on their 12-year zodiac cycle is a year of the dragon, symbolizing intensity, enthusiasm, vitality, leadership and strength.

Lucky foods eaten during the 15-day festival include noodles for longevity, peanuts for auspicious new beginnings, spring rolls for prosperity, dumplings for wealth, whole fish for abundance, melons for health and family unity, pork for strength, sweets for happiness, and oranges and other citrus for several reasons.

Restaurants across the United States are serving up many such dishes, and a number of them also are handing out hóng bāo, red envelopes traditionally containing money, but in this case containing gift certificates to be redeemed on their next visit.

P. F. Chang’s China Bistro is doing just that during the celebration. From Jan. 23 through Feb. 6, each guest will receive a red envelope to be opened by a manager or server on their next visit. The gift certificates must be redeemed by March 4. P. F. Chang’s is also offering a promotional Dragon Punch cocktail featuring Chinese beer, vodka infused with dragon fruit and Sriracha sauce.

Casual-dining Chi Dynasty in Studio City, Calif., also will hand out red envelopes with $8 in “Chi Bux” to be used at a future visit. Its celebration will feature a lion dancer, Chinese drummers and red paper lanterns in their parking lot.

The eight-unit Big Bowl chain, based in Chicago, is starting its celebration early, on Jan. 19, with specials such as shrimp and chive dumplings in a fiery sauce meant to represent a dragon. They also will serve a Cantonese-style lobster, as the Chinese word for lobster translates as “dragon shrimp,” and because lobster also is eaten for abundance. Almond cookies, representing gold coins and thus good fortune, will be served, along with spicy peanuts.

On Jan. 20, the Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises subsidiary will host a “good luck gamble” for each table to roll a pair of dice. Whatever number comes up, that number of dollars will be deducted from the check.

On Jan. 22, all guests will receive a hóng bāo with a $10 or $25 gift certificate or gift card for a free appetizer, dessert, housemade ginger ale or bottled Big Bowl sauce. Children will get a hóng bāo with a $1 bill.

Finally, on Jan. 23, a free dinner, dine-in only, will be provided to anyone born during a year of the dragon: 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000 and 2012.

Panda Express has relaunched its firecracker chicken breast as a limited-time offer from Jan. 4 through Feb. 15.

The spicy dish features wok-fried red and yellow peppers and spicy black bean sauce. Facebook fans of the quick-service chain will get a coupon for a free serving of the dish on Jan. 23.

Wolfgang Puck helped legitimize Chinese as fine-dining food in the United States with his restaurant Chinois on Main, and several of his restaurants are celebrating the New Year with specials.

His WP24 Restaurant and Lounge at the Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles, is offering a $16 Dragon Fire cocktail, made with muddled jalapeño, añejo tequila, orange liqueur, grapefruit juice, lime juice and simple syrup, served in a Martini glass with a salted rim and garnished with sliced jalapeño.

Puck’s The Source in Washington, D.C., is featuring a $125-per-person menu from Jan. 23 through Feb. 3, featuring dishes that represent the five Chinese “elements” of fire, water, wood, earth and metal.

Fire is represented by wok-fired lobster dumplings with XO chile sauce. The water course is a roasted loup de mer with preserved lemon and black pepper sauce. Next is an applewood smoked Peking duck with Chinese mustard and duck fried rice. For earth, chef Scott Drewno is preparing Szechuan pepper crusted filet with wok-fired “longevity noodles.” Metal comes with the dessert course: golden pineapple sticky cake with black pepper ice cream and a gold dusted chocolate talon.

The 26-property Destination Hotels & Resorts is launching a new culinary program for the Chinese New Year called “Destination Dish.” Each month, every hotel will highlight one “seasonally relevant” ingredient, starting with a lucky citrus fruit, the kumquat.

Koi in Evanston, Ill., will feature a traditional Lion Dance on Jan. 21, and from that night through Jan. 26 will feature a Good Luck Menu with items such as Szechuan won tons with peanut sauce, lychee chicken — chicken for prosperity, lychees for family harmony — beef with bamboo shoots — because “bamboo shoots” in Chinese sounds like “wishing that everything would be well” — and seafood pan-fried noodles. Additionally, the restaurant’s signature Dragon Maki sushi roll will be offered for $5 on Jan. 23 instead of the usual $12.95.

Foumami, an independent quick-service restaurant in Boston that makes sandwiches in thick Chinese pancakes called shaobing, will offer a La Long, or spicy dragon, sandwich of pulled pork rubbed and braised in a lucky red-colored spicy Chinese barbecue sauce topped with red cabbage and scallions and drizzled with a spicy jalapeño-based sauce. It also will be serving a longan melon soda, since melon promotes family unity and the Chinese word for longan translates as “dragon eyes.”

Many restaurants also follow the custom of giving to charity during the season.

Big Bowl will donate up to $5,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation from sales of its seasonal blood orange ginger ale.
Panda Express is offering its free Chinese New Year Learn with Me Program to elementary schools across the country. Geared for second through fourth graders, it teaches about traditional Chinese holiday celebrations.

Doc Chey’s Noodle House, based in Atlanta, is donating $2 for every purchase of its $12 Lucky Sampler trio to the Atlanta Community Food Bank. The sampler includes shrimp rolls, dumplings and peanut noodles.

Read more: http://nrn.com/article/restaurants-offer-chinese-new-year-specials?page=0,2&ad=news#ixzz1kJk3xPFE

Five to seven locations in Chicago were already scheduled to offer alcohol and the expanded menu this year in a move to build evening daypart traffic.

Currently, Starbucks offers the options only at five locations in Seattle — the company’s home base — and one in Portland.

The first to test the expanded menu was the Olive Way location in Seattle, which began offering the expanded food and beverage menu in October 2010.

In December, Starbucks officials said units testing the new format have shown double-digit same-store-sales increases after 4 p.m.

Starbucks said the expanded format will be available in four to six units in each market of Atlanta and Southern California. The beer and wine list will be selected to reflect local customer tastes and preferences, the company said.

Food offerings will include savory snacks and small plates, as well as hot flatbreads.

The restaurants will also incorporate more flexible seating to accommodate both individuals and small groups, as well as larger parties like community meetings or book clubs, the company said.

Clarice Turner, Starbucks’ senior vice president, U.S. operations, said building an evening daypart is a natural progression for the coffeehouse chain.

So far the company is pleased with results and eager to test it in new markets, she said.

“As our customers transition from work to home, many are looking for a warm and inviting place to unwind and connect with the people they care about,” Turner said in a statement. “At select stores where it is relevant for the neighborhood, we are focused on creating an atmosphere where our customers can relax with a friend, a small bite to eat and a cup of coffee or glass of wine.”

Four restaurants in the Washington, D.C., area currently are testing delivery service, said Kristen Hauser, a spokeswoman for the Miami-based quick-service chain.

The test will be expanded to 16 stores by Jan. 23, she said, but no specifics regarding the timing of a possible national roll out were available.

Burger King said it has been offering delivery for years with great success at locations in Mexico, Turkey, Brazil, Columbia and Peru.

For the U.S. test, guests can order online at www.bkdelivers.com or by phone. The restaurants will deliver to a physical address within a 10-minute drive of test units.

Guests are charged a $2 fee for delivery and the minimum order is $8 to $10, depending on the store.

The delivery menu includes items like burger combo meals, chicken tenders and bottled drinks. But the chain is not delivering fountain drinks, ICEE beverages, shakes, coffee or breakfast items, Hauser said.

The test stores are using new delivery packaging technology in conjunction with thermal bags to keep food hot and fresh, Hauser said, although no details were available.

If the company decides to expand the service nationally, Burger King could become the first national quick-service burger chain to do so.

McDonald’s for some time has offered delivery service in select stores in Manhattan, but spokeswoman Danya Proud said the company has no immediate plans to expand the option.

Johnny Rockets has tested bicycle delivery in some cities, as have other limited-service brands, like Subway, Pinkberry and Wow Bao.

Burger King, which operates or franchises about 12,400 locations globally, has been exploring a number of innovations since it was acquired by private investor group 3G Capital Management in 2010.

In December, the company said it plans to expand use of the new Coca-Cola Freestyle beverage machines to more than 850 company-owned locations.

Earlier, the chain rolled out new French fries as part of an ongoing menu upgrade. Other additions have included new soft-serve ice cream and desserts, and the premium Chef’s Choice burger.

Read more: http://nrn.com/article/burger-king-tests-delivery-united-states?ad=news#ixzz1jeSG4lGa

Several suspects have been charged in Fresno County, Calif., in connection with the Dec. 23 theft of the bright orange No Tomatoes truck from its commissary in Los Angeles. Police discovered the truck three days later in a motel parking lot six hours away in Fowler, Calif., with its signage skin partially peeled off and repainted with the words “Bad Boy Burgers.”

“The food truck industry out here is still a little bit like the Wild West,” said Kim Billingsley, director and co-owner of No Tomatoes, which took to the road on Oct. 22, 2010. A year later Billingsley opened the brick-and-mortar No Tomatoes! Indian Café in Los Angeles.

The theft generated attention on Twitter, where fans joined the hunt with Tweets about the license plate number.

Billingsley said the truck driver left the leased truck at the Slauson Foods commissary in Los Angeles at about 3:30 p.m. on Dec. 23. The truck was reported missing on the afternoon of Dec. 25, after a search failed to turn up the half-ton truck.

Billingsley filed a stolen vehicle report with the Los Angeles Police Department, and authorities in Fresno County, Calif., nearly six hours away, discovered it in a motel parking lot on Dec. 27 near Fresno.

One of the suspects is a former employee of No Tomatoes, Billingsley said. “The manager of this little motel had seen these guys spray-painting the truck,” Billingsley said. “He questioned them, got a license plate number and then called the police.”

The suspects had repainted the passenger/service side of the truck, as well as the front and part of the driver’s side. They also had peeled off any reference to the brand and city-issued permits, decals and health department grades.

“The one thing they didn’t remove was the license plate,” Billingsley said.

Billingsley said the truck, which is leased from Slauson, is covered by insurance, but she is unsure if the insurance company will cover any loss of income. The truck returned, in its “Bad Boy Burger” state, for service on Jan. 2 during the Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, Calif., Billingsley said, but the owners hope to get it rewrapped with No Tomatoes signage

“Because it’s still kind of the Wild West,” Billingsley said, “you don’t always get the cream of the crop people to work for you. It’s long hours. It’s often affected by the weather, or the truck breaks down. It can be very stressful. It’s not for everybody.”

The New Year holiday has delayed getting the No Tomatoes signage back, but the owners hope to have it back in shape by next week.

Billingsley said her insurance company told her food trucks usually are stolen and sent to a chop shop to be sold for parts, and that an intact truck repurposed is rare.

She also said the commissary is changing its security policies and now keeps the truck keys themselves under lock and key to prevent further thefts.

“Food trucks are not for the faint of heart,” Billingsley said. “For our café, I don’t have to worry about someone coming in and moving my restaurant.”

Read more: http://nrn.com/article/california-food-truck-recovers-after-theft?ad=news#ixzz1izbYKPzA

The Dunkin’ Brands Inc. subsidiary said Blue Star Food Corp., a Vietnamese food manufacturing company, has agreed to open approximately 50 units over the next several years.

The first three units are slated to open this week in Ho Chi Minh City. Among them is a three-story flagship store featuring a new design for international units. The flagship location includes an expanded topping station and interactive LCD menu displays, as well as new pink spoon-shaped door handles, walls textured like waffle cones and more lounge-style seating.

Popular American ice cream flavors will be available, as well as those more suited to Southeast Asian palates, such as green tea and Mango Mania — mango ice cream with pieces of mango, kiwi, pineapple and strawberry.

Baskin-Robbins recently opened its 4,000th location outside the United States in Singapore. The snack chain operates about 2,600 units domestically.

Baskin-Robbins’ international division accounted for about 15 percent of Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin’ Brands’ total revenue in the third quarter ended in September.

Dunkin’ Brands’ chief executive Nigel Travis called Baskin-Robbins a “jewel in the crown,” when discussing the results in November, and said it had significant growth potential.

He noted that customization was necessary overseas, citing traditional moon cakes in China and snowman cakes and scoops in the Middle East and South Korea.

“Baskin-Robbins is one of the world’s most respected brands,” said Nguyen Thanh Nam, general director, Blue Star Food Corp. “We are proud to represent Baskin-Robbins in Vietnam and look forward to bringing Baskin-Robbins’ world-class ice cream, cakes and treats, along with the fun and great value associated with the company, to people throughout the country.”

Other American restaurant chains also are finding opportunities in Vietnam. Yum! Brands’ KFC already operates about 100 restaurants there, while CKE Inc. has at least one Carl’s Jr. unit open and said it plans to open 25 outlets there over the next six years. Pizza Inn already operates in Vietnam, and Round Table Pizza recently announced plans to open in the country as well.

Read more: http://nrn.com/article/baskin-robbins-expand-vietnam?ad=news#ixzz1izTQSX00

Hudson Riehle, senior vice president, research, National Restaurant Association

There’s no economic rebound to prosperity, but it will continue to be a better environment than it was in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

Restaurants will benefit from pent-up demand. Two out of five American adults said in a recent survey that they are not using restaurants as often as they would like. Even modest employment growth should boost confidence and cash on hand, encouraging consumers to return to restaurants.

Food costs will remain a huge challenge, with wholesale food price inflation running at 8 percent — the highest it’s been in three decades. Operators won’t be able to pass on high input costs on a one-to-one basis, so the focus will remain on driving out costs while hopefully growing sales.

Nancy Kruse, president, The Kruse Company

The three ‘zations will grow in importance.

• “Premiumization” is now a basic diner expectation, given the proliferation of upgraded, enhanced, or higher-end products at modest prices. Examples: T.G.I. Friday’s new Langostino Lobster-topped entrées or Arby’s medium-rare Angus beef sandwiches.

• “Customization,” which is the have-it-your-way notion brought into the 21st century by concepts like Chipotle’s ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen and Pizza Inn’s Pie Five Pizza Company.

• “Miniaturization,” or the continued growth of small plates, snacks and downsized portion options, which have been driven by price sensitivity, consumer interest in sampling, grazing or sharing, and health concerns.

More chains will return to the earth and emphasize real, fresh or local foods to the maximum extent that they can, given the constraints of their systems. For example, McDonald’s new ad campaign emphasizes farmers and ranchers. Similar efforts have been seen from Culver’s, Wendy’s and Domino’s.

Daypart disintegration will accelerate as snacks and off-hours options like “linner” – a daypart between lunch and dinner – make inroads at the expense of conventional meal periods. Drivers behind that trend include 24/7 lifestyles, declines in conventional 9-to-5 work habits, interest in less expensive options and the growth of the Millennial generation. For example, the super-hot Publican in Chicago has a formalized “afternoon menu” starting at 3:30 p.m.

Bonnie Riggs, restaurant analyst, The NPD Group

Fast casual will remain hot. The segment’s year-to-year traffic rose 6 percent for the year ended Oct. 31, and more operators are looking to capitalize on its appeal. With quick-service brands like McDonald’s upgrading menu items and decors and casual-dining chains introducing fast-casual variants.

Better-for-you foods are in, as consumers trade French fries and soft drinks for items deemed more healthful, such as Subway’s Fresh Fit offerings and those with a health halo, such as Carl’s Jr.’s turkey burger line.

Darren Tristano, executive vice president, Technomic Inc.

Consumers hesitant to spend want twists on the familiar, such as comfort foods with gourmet, ethnic artisanal or wood-fired flare, and innovative sandwiches, wraps, pizza and pasta.

Commodity costs will drive rustic fare made in-house as operators stop buying value-added items in favor of cheaper cuts, beans, grains and produce that require more back-of-house prep to make into honest, home-style food.
Seasonal and local sourcing will continue to grow, driven by a less-is-more culinary trend and the need for a more transparent and efficient supply chain.

John Barone, president, Marketvision

Choice beef prices will rise. Drought in the southern plains has reduced cattle herds and caused a lot of feeder cattle to be marketed at lower weights, resulting in less overall beef, even less choice-grade beef and higher prices in 2012. This situation may not improve much in 2013.

Another year of high fuel prices. Diesel prices jumped 28.7 percent to an average $3.85 per gallon nationally in 2011, and look to be similar in 2012. The logistics of managing freight into distribution centers, and then on to restaurants will be one of the biggest challenges for supply chain professionals in 2012.

Lower grain prices. Record-high grain prices led to more planted acres globally, and those added supplies will dampen U.S. export prospects. The result will be lower year-over-year corn and wheat prices, albeit these will be coming down modestly from record-high levels.

Larry Miller, analyst, RBC Capital Markets LLC

There’s more risk than reward in restaurant stocks in 2012, as food costs remain high. If sales slow while costs are high, companies will experience multiple compression — and miss their earnings-per-share estimates — since average checks are already under pressure from discounting and soft traffic.

Late 2012 could benefit from the presidential election, especially if same-store sales can stay in the 2-percent to 2.5-percent range through the first few quarters. On top of electorate optimism, easing year-over-year food cost comparisons could lift stocks. In the meantime though, consumers seem to be tapped out and will keep their spending in check.

Stock picks: Yum! Brands Inc. because emerging markets such as China, India and Africa still show promise; Starbucks Corp. could benefit from favorable coffee costs later in the year and the full contribution of K-cup sales; and Jack in the Box Inc. is poised to benefit from its refranchising efforts, higher margins and revved-up growth at Qdoba.

Steve Caldeira, president and chief executive, International Franchise Association

Franchising is expected to grow in 2012, with, franchised quick-service restaurant sales increasing an expected 4.4 percent and franchised full-service restaurant sales expected to increase 4.2 percent in 2012. Both projections are lower than the 5-percent average growth anticipated in 10 franchise segments, based on a survey conducted for the IFA by the IHS Global Insight consultancy. In addition, the number of franchised quick-service restaurants is expected to grow 2.6 percent, to 151,347 units, and the number of franchised full-service restaurants is projected to grow 2.1 percent, to 36,095 units.

Access to capital will remain the No. 1 issue for franchising in 2012. While there’s been a bit of a thaw for both big and small businesses, there is a long way to go.

Tax reform will be a huge issue in the coming year as uncertainty surrounding tax issues and health care reform inhibit the ability to make informed business decisions.

Read more: http://nrn.com/article/industry-experts-forecast-2012-foodservice-trends?ad=news#ixzz1iQkst9vh

At Frank Kent Motor Co. in Fort Worth, Texas, a Honda dealership recently upgraded its 40-seat dining area, called Twin Creeks Café, which had opened with the showroom and service area last fall. The dealership revamped the menu and repositioned the offerings, while taking the foodservice management in-house.

Frank Kent Motor co-owner Corrie Watson said the recent rebranding has provided a helpful service to customers.

A Frank Kent spokeswoman said the menu now offers an array of options, including salads with house-made dressings, grilled fish of the day and tenderloin filet. Prices are generally under $12, and the café is open from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Monday through Saturday.

“The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,” Watson said. “Our customers appreciate a convenient, healthy option.”

Additionally, Watson said Twin Creeks has even been receiving catering requests.

The dealership tapped David Rotman, the former owner of Fort Worth’s popular Café Aspen, which closed in February 2010 after more than 20 years in business, to revamp the menu.

Besides lunch and dinner items, Rotman added breakfast dishes, like Mexican- and Greek-style omelets, waffles, pancakes, egg and cheese tacos and paninis, and chorizo quesadillas.

“Café Aspen had a faithful following in Fort Worth, and the team at Frank Kent was sad to see it go,” Rotman said. “It’s an honor to give some of these dishes a new life at Twin Creeks Café.”

In early 2012, the Cohn Restaurant Group of San Diego expects to unveil a 10,000-square-foot restaurant in the three-level Lexus Centre in Escondido, Calif.

The California Lexus restaurant project, called Vintana, remains in the planning stages, according to a Cohn representative, but the company is developing a menu. The project also calls for 20,000 square feet of outdoor event space that could be used for private functions, as well as for other meeting and banquet facilities.

Read more: http://nrn.com/article/car-dealerships-become-non-traditional-restaurant-sites?ad=full-service#ixzz1iQ6unM3Q

The research firm found that many restaurants have increased menu offerings that are low in fat, calories and sugar and are promoting them more prominently on menus.

“Dieting consumers don’t always view restaurants as a safe place to eat, either because they don’t recognize diet-compatible options or are too tempted to indulge themselves when eating out,” Darren Tristano, executive vice president of Technomic, said in a statement “However, the number of healthful dishes offered at restaurants continues to grow, and operators are increasingly interested in touting healthy benefits on their menus.”

Technomic found that:

• Use of the word “healthy” within menu descriptions has increased 86 percent over the past year.

• Use of “low fat” within menu descriptions has increased 33 percent over the past year.

• Use of “fat free” and/or “nonfat” has increased 12 percent over the past year.

• Use of “no sugar” has increased 51 percent over the past year.

• Use of “low-calorie” has increased 154 percent over the past year.

Read more: http://nrn.com/article/technomic-restaurants-increase-mentions-healthy-menu-items?ad=news#ixzz1h6qJpxz3

So says Carin Galletta Oliver, president of the San Francisco-based world-of-mouth marketing agency Ink Foundry, who predicts six restaurant marketing trends for 2012 — plus one trend she contends restaurant operators should rethink in the new year. Ink Foundry has worked with restaurant brands such as Bonefish Grill, Fogo de Chao, California Pizza Kitchen, Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill and Carl’s Jr.

Consumers are growing ever more selective about restaurant choices as they cut back on dining out occasions, Oliver said.

“They’re going to want to feel they’re making a safe choice,” she said. “And that puts more pressure on restaurant operators to make a connection.”

Oliver predicts five key tactics restaurant operators will use next year:

Data. The number of tools that allow restaurant operators to collect information about social media, public relations, e-mail marketing and advertising is growing. Savvy restaurant operators are also collecting data on their customers in various ways.

The key, however, will be how well restaurant operators integrate that data and develop a more holistic analysis across all platforms.

Most restaurants keep data in separate silos, Oliver said, thinking of marketing, public relations and influencer relations as separate departments.

“You need to break down those walls,” she said, and merge that information to more effectively mine insights.

Identifying and activating influencers. Restaurant operators tend to define their customers in demographic terms, but today’s restaurant influencer is likely to defy or transcend more traditional demographic characteristics, like income level, gender or age.

A powerful restaurant influencer today, for example, might be a young woman who traveled through Europe, living in bargain-rate hotels so she could spend more money on high-end restaurants.

“If you looked at her on paper, she probably wouldn’t be on your list” based on demographics, said Oliver. “But if you listen to her conversations, you’d realize she’s in your restaurant five times a month and spends more money” than the average diner.

Those are the people who are driving restaurant recommendations these days, Oliver said, and restaurants next year will be developing tools to encourage those people to spread the word about their brands.
“We need to identify those folks and create programs for them so they can more easily pass along information to friends and family,” Oliver said.

Some restaurants, for example, have used gift certificates given to specific influencers to share with friends and family members. “That’s like a third-party endorsement from someone they really trust,” Oliver said.

And as gift certificates become more available in digital form, restaurants can track how they’re used, who is sharing them and their impact.

Signature items. Most restaurants have a signature item or two that stands out, but Oliver sees the role of the signature dish becoming increasingly important.

Having a great signature dish is one way to offer influencers a “wow experience,” Oliver said. “It gives them something to tell their friends about.”

It also gives people something to search, she said.

Consumers tend not to search online for generic terms like “steak restaurant.” Instead, they’ll look for where they can find a great macaroni and cheese dish or taco.

Oliver noted the Bonefish Grill chain, which is known for its Bang Bang Shrimp appetizer, an item that creates positive chatter on Yelp.

“It’s extremely challenging to sway diners from one restaurant to another, but a great signature item has the power to do it,” she said.

Loyalty programs look to gaming. Loyalty programs are effective tools for driving traffic, but next year Oliver predicts more restaurant operators will be integrating aspects of social gaming — offering rewards for certain actions, like referring friends or multiple visits.

Rather than offering guests nebulous titles, like the mayors of Foursquare, Oliver said restaurants will offer more tangible offline incentives for participation in loyalty games.

One-to-one accessibility. Restaurant chefs used to stay closed in their kitchens, but the age of social media has allowed those who cook to engage with those who eat in ways that were formerly impossible.

In 2012, however, Oliver predicts that customers will be demanding even more direct interaction with chefs, both on and offline — and not through an intermediary on the marketing team.

Expect to see personal messages directly from the chef to his or her best customers informing them of menu changes, nightly specials and suggestions based on past orders, Oliver said.

“As chefs get more comfortable with being in the limelight and with using technology, we’ll see even more engagement,” she said.

Coupon personalization. In 2011, many restaurants experimented with social coupon sites, such as Groupon or LivingSocial, with both positive and negative results, Oliver said.

Next year, Oliver predicts restaurants will continue to experiment with social couponing, but they will do so with more realistic expectations. They will also look for ways to have more control, to customize the offers and to ask for more data on results.

Oliver said more restaurants will use their customer lists to promote such social coupons, focusing on top influencers to provide a value-added experience and reward pass-along recommendations.

More generalized coupon seekers “tend to just come for the coupon and never come back,” Oliver said. “And you can’t upsell them.”

Search local. Allocating resources to enhancing local search engine efforts is not likely to drive traffic, Oliver said.

Surveys by Ink Foundry have found that consumers tend not to select where they dine out based on online search engine results, she said.

Word of mouth is far more effective, Oliver said. Once consumers have a recommendation from an influential friend or family member then they turn to sites like Urbanspoon or Yelp to look up information.

Restaurants may be better off spending marketing dollars on identifying and courting those influential guests, rather than pouring dollars into local search enhancements.

“You want a well-rounded approach,” Oliver said. “Remember, most influence happens offline.”

Read more: http://nrn.com/article/top-restaurant-marketing-trends-2012?page=0,2&ad=news#ixzz1h6pSACOL

Minneapolis-based Famous Dave’s opened one of its “Famous Dave’s BBQ Shack” prototypes Monday in Eden Prairie, Minn. Unlike other BBQ Shack units, the location includes counter service and a pick-up window.

Famous Dave’s president and chief executive Christopher O’Donnell said the company-owned unit allows for faster service while serving the same St. Louis-style ribs and barbecued meats smoked on-site as the fare available at the chain’s 184 casual dining locations in 37 states.

He added that the BBQ Shack also would be a lab where the brand would try out new menu items.

O’Donnell said the fast-casual concept will feature the same menu items as Famous Dave’s, “but in a smaller footprint and with quicker counter service for both dine-in and to-go orders”

In addition, he continued, “Our founder, ‘Famous Dave’ Anderson, will use this location to try new menu ideas and to experiment with new seasonings, sauces and flavors.”

The BBQ Shack prototype also will accommodate phone-ahead orders with a pick-up window, which is not traditionally part of a fast-casual restaurant, but would benefit Famous Dave’s carryout and catering business, O’Donnell said.

“We understand that sometimes guests are in a hurry, need to pick up a quick dish for a party, or just want to get home quickly with a delicious meal they can share with their family in the comfort of their own home,” he said. “The pick-up window is our version of curb-side service.”

Throughout December, Famous Dave’s is celebrating the debut of the BBQ Shack by accepting entries for a drawing for free monthly, catered All-American BBQ Feasts for a year to one winner, who will be selected on Jan. 6, 2012.

Columbus, Ohio-based Charley’s also makes its initial foray into fast casual waters this week, opening the first Charley’s Philly Subs unit in its headquarters city Wednesday. Since opening its first restaurant 25 years ago near the Ohio State University campus, Charley’s has grown mostly through on-site locations at malls, airports and military bases. But chain founder and chief executive Charley Shin said the new freestanding fast-casual concept gives Charley’s several ways to grow.

“This is the next step in taking the Charley’s brand around the globe,” Shin said. “Charley’s Philly Steaks is a two-fold achievement: better options for our loyal customers and more opportunities for interested franchise buys.”

The Charley’s Philly Steaks prototype also has a drive-thru, and the brand has included several more upscale service features inside. The paper plates of Charley’s traditional quick-service locations will be replaced with real silverware and ceramic plates, and the to-go packaging is made from 60-percent post-consumer recycled materials. Modern décor, lighting and seating are also featured.

Charley’s has paired several new menu features with the debut of Charley’s Philly Subs, including an option for three different sizes of sandwich rather than a “one size fits all” approach at its quick-service locations.

Philly Bowls, which ditch the signature sandwich’s bread and combine the ingredients and toppings with rice, will be available for the first time. Also, all of the brand’s signature lemonades will be prepared fresh with real fruit, in strawberry, blueberry and peach flavors.

Charley’s Philly Subs will offer eight types of French fries, including Ultimate Fries with Cheddar cheese, bacon and ranch dressing, or Philly Funnel Fries with cream-cheese icing and powdered sugar. Desserts include new Signature Frozen Treats, all made with low-fat frozen yogurt.

Charley’s said it would open between five and 10 more Philly Subs locations in 2012. The chain’s system of more than 430 units in 44 states and 16 countries is 90-percent franchised.

Read more: http://nrn.com/article/famous-daves-charleys-launch-fast-casual-concepts?page=0,1&ad=news#ixzz1gRKJnaH2