Chapter 6 Restaurants Questions

Contrast independent and chain restaurants.

A chain restaurant is part of a brand, with each restaurant in the chain offering the same menu, identical concepts, and similar dining experiences compared to an independent restaurant, which is not affiliated with any brand and has complete creative control and independence.

Describe some characteristics of a fine dining restaurant.

A fine dining restaurant offers a good selection of menu items, provides a high level of service, and is generally independently owned.

The Lost Café aims to be a fine dining restaurant serving sophisticated customers in and around the downtown of a large city. The concept revolves around the idea of the "Lost Generation"—the generation of writers and artists that came of age during WWI. The décor is Art Deco. A host, dressed as a flapper, welcomes guests and either whisks them to their table or discreetly whispers them the password to a speakeasy located in the basement behind a false wall. Captains and servers advise customers about the specials. They suggest individual craft cocktails (named after writers and artists—the Fitzgerald, the Stein, and the Hemingway, for example) to complement the food. To continue the French 1920s theme, the kitchen serves some classic French dishes like liver pate, salmon rillettes, quiche, and chocolate mousse. To save on labor costs, much of the food is procured from a food service company. The bar receives rave reviews on Yelp. However, the restaurant's reviews are not as good. What could the Lost Café's management do to improve the dining experience?

Address the menu, offering food made from scratch on the premises.

Examples of Midscale Casual restaurants

California Pizza Kitchen, Olive Garden

Which restaurant combines a sophisticated lounge, an extensive wine list, and contemporary Mediterranean cuisine?

Carmel Kitchen & Wine Bar

Alice Waters is an award-winning chef who has served as a role model, is a noted cookbook author, and owns _____________.

Chez Panisse

Examples of Ethnic restaurants

Chipotle, Panda Express

This family restaurant brand has created a high-end family dining experience that is somewhere between a traditional coffee shop and casual dining.

Coco's and Carrow's

This specific back-to-basics technique redefines the mother sauces by replacing egg-based sauces and béchamel with these ingredients.

Coulis, salsas, or chutneys

Examples of family restaurants

Cracker Barrel, Denny's

Name four back-to-basic cooking methods.

Experimenting with sweet and hot flavors, substituting herbs and spices for salt, returning to one pot cooking, and redefining the mother sauces

Describe characteristics of family restaurants.

Family restaurants are often located near the suburbs, have a casual atmosphere, and are often family owned.

A restaurant that offers at least 15 or more different entrees that are cooked to order, uses mainly raw or fresh ingredients, prepares most of the food on premise, and provides a high level of service describes this type of restaurant.

Fine dining A restaurant that provides high levels of service, uses raw or fresh ingredients, prepares most of the food on premises, and has a good selection of menu items describes a fine dining restaurant.

Explain the term fusion cuisine.

Fusion cuisine refers to menu items that are a combination of two or more cuisines combined together.

An independent restaurant is owned by one or more proprietors who are involved in the day-to-day operations of the business and are not affiliated with a national brand or name. A chain restaurant may or may not be part of a franchise and is affiliated with a national brand, which provides training, support, and marketing assistance. If you were to own your own restaurant, which method of ownership would you select? What factors would you use in making this decision?

If I were to own my own restaurant I would have an independent one. The reason that I would go this route is because I would want my restaurant to be able to offer something different that the others wouldn't offer. It would allow me to be creative and more flexible to meet the needs and taste of my customers. Although the risk are greater for this type of business such as cash flow to make a profit, I do believe that creating something unique is better and will bring you customers that are tired of the same old thing that they can get anywhere.

What is the advantage of different restaurant chains teaming up to serve products from both chains in the same location?

Increased sales.

One or more proprietors who are involved in the day-to-day operations of the business and are not affiliated with a national brand or name own this type of restaurant.

Independent

This popular chicken chain has more than 15,000 units worldwide with more than 5,000 in in China.

KFC

Quick-service restaurants serve this type of menu.

Limited Quick-service restaurants serve limited menus in order to provide the fastest possible service.

Using sites such as Instagram to promote menu items and build a following might be very useful for a restaurant that is focused on using _________________.

Locally sourced food

This steakhouse chain, owned by Darden Restaurants, has approximately 450 locations around the country.

Longhorn Steakhouse

Chefs need to have a wide range of skills for the 21st century, including one that prior to social media was never a consideration. According to the video, what is this unique skill?

Making food "Instagram-ready" for sharing on social media

How is McDonald's responding to the saturation of traditional markets?

McDonald's has responded to the saturation of traditional markets by expanding overseas.

Name three quick-service/fast-food restaurants.

McDonald's, Zaxby's, and Pizza Hut

This quick-service restaurant chain has sales in the billions, and its sales are more than its top three competitors combined.

McDonald's. McDonald's is the industry giant and worldwide leader in the quick-service category, outselling its three closest competitors by billions each year.

What is the fastest growing segment of ethnic restaurants in the United States?

Mexican

This celebrity restaurant called Nic & Norman's is located in Senoia, Georgia, and is owned by ________________.

Norman Reedus

Name three casual dining restaurants.

Olive Garden, Cracker Barrel, and Bob Evans

What are the strengths and weaknesses of celebrity-owned restaurants?

Potential weaknesses of a celebrity-owned restaurant are it might fail if the food isn't good enough or the concept is no longer popular, while potential strengths include good design, strong menu, and the chance of the celebrity owner stopping by.

This sector continues to drive the industry, while home meal replacement and fast casual restaurant concepts are also gaining momentum with the public.

Quick service (fast food) The quick service concept continues to drive the industry with the wide variety of operations.

This sector drives the industry by offering limited menus, convenient locations, and low competitive prices.

Quick-service restaurants. The quick-service sector continues to increase in popularity through its market strategies of convenient locations, low prices, and fast service.

This segment of the restaurant industry owns the top spot in terms of market share.

Sandwich Sandwich restaurants are responsible for approximately 40% of the restaurant industry market share.

How is the "no tipping" policy impacting the restaurant industry?

The "no tipping" policy has caused a change in restaurant pricing based on increased menu prices that provide a higher wage for servers. The success of a "no tipping" policy has not yet been determined.

What are the pros and cons of franchised restaurants?

The pros of owning a franchise restaurant are a proven concept, assistance in marketing, and pre-opening and ongoing training. The cons of owning a franchise restaurant include ongoing royalty payments, limited flexibility and creativity, and construction costs ranging near $100,000.

What are some skills 21st century chefs will need?

The skills needed by the 21st century chef will include a strong culinary foundation, passion, and training in everything from accounting to marketing.

What are the seven GRA Environmental Categories?

Water efficiency, chemical and pollution reduction, waste reduction/recycling, disposables, sustainable furniture/building materials, energy, and sustainable food

Fusion cuisine is defined as ____________.

a blend composed of cuisines from two different styles, such as French and Thai A restaurant serving a fusion menu serves food that combines flavors and techniques from different styles combined into single dishes.

Restaurants identical in market, concept, design, service, food, and name describe the characteristics of _______________ restaurants.

chain Chain restaurants offer a consistent product no matter where they are located or who owns them.

The trend in ___________ restaurants has been toward more casual dining and reflects the mode of society.

dinner house

Most of these restaurants are independently owned and operated and provide a "taste of home" for some diners and for others who want an adventure in dining. These casual restaurants can be classified as _____________ restaurants.

ethnic These restaurants provide a variety of food for diners who might be missing a "taste of home" or who want to try food from another culture. Italian, Chinese, and Mexican are all very popular in this category.

Restaurants that fall into the casual dining category include concepts such as ethnic, midscale casual, and ___________.

family

The casual dining restaurant category includes midscale casual restaurants like Romano's Macaroni Grill, ____________ restaurants like Cracker Barrel, and ethnic restaurants like Del Taco.

family. The casual dining segment encompasses a wide variety of restaurant chains and types including family, ethnic, and midscale.

A restaurant that offers at least 15 or more different entrees that are cooked to order, uses mainly raw or fresh ingredients, prepares most of the food on premises, and generally provides a high level of service is an example of a(n) ______________ restaurant.

fine dining

Many restaurants are moving to a "no tipping" policy, which results in restaurant prices rising by about 20 percent in order for servers to receive _________________.

higher wages Instituting a "no tipping" policy results in higher menu prices, but it also allows restaurants to pay servers a higher hourly wage.

Back-to-basics cooking refers to ___________.

infusing modern technology and science into classical cooking methods When discussing back-to-basics cooking today, the focus is to incorporate modern technology while cooking classical items.

As society continues to be more focused on creating healthier lifestyles and better eating, more restaurants are offering specialized _________ meals that are healthy, appetizing, and aesthetically appealing.

kids As society focuses on healthier eating and lifestyles, kids meals are also undergoing a change as more healthy options continue to be offered.

The Green Restaurant Association's seven environmental categories do NOT include __________.

pest control The GRA focuses on seven clearly defined categories that restaurants can use as a guide for improving their operations and their environment, but pest control is not one of those categories.

One goal of the Green Restaurant Association is to help restaurants ____________.

reduce their environmental footprint A primary goal of the GSA is to help restaurants minimize their environmental footprint by providing guidelines for change and rewarding the behavior by awarding stars and points.

The word restaurant comes from a French word that means __________.

restore

The Green Restaurant Association (GRA) has been certifying restaurants for over two decades and awards points in _________ environmental categories.

seven

The primary benefit of franchising a restaurant is ___________.

the concept is proven and less likely to fail The primary benefit of owning a franchise restaurant is knowing the concept is proven and less likely to fail.

Owning an independent restaurant has several risks EXCEPT___________.

the restaurant has a marketing strategy designed to remove uncertainty from the dining experience Independent restaurants have more flexibility and opportunity to be creative, but this also comes with other risks the owners may not have planned for.