Restaurant Customer Service

How Independent Restaurants Hire and Keep Great People When the Labor Pool Is Small

Small labor pool? Practical hiring and retention strategies for independent restaurants: cut turnover, find overlooked talent, hire faster, and run leaner.

By Jaime Oikle

/ 26 Oct 2026

How Independent Restaurants Hire and Keep Great People When the Labor Pool Is Small

Everyone on Your Team Is Better Than You at Something: Emerson's Leadership Lesson for Restaurant Operators

Your dishwasher knows which dish comes back half eaten. Your server knows why Table 12 is unhappy. Are you asking? Four practical ways to learn from everyone in (and around) your restaurant, inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

By Jaime Oikle

/ 21 Oct 2026

Everyone on Your Team Is Better Than You at Something: Emerson's Leadership Lesson for Restaurant Operators

Stop Taking Orders, Start Making Sales

Order takers leave money on the table. Roger & Jaime share how independent restaurants can turn their front of house into sales stars through daily pre-shifts, pop quizzes, two-choice suggestions, and genuine hospitality.

By Jaime Oikle and Roger Beaudoin

/ 15 Oct 2026

The Indirect Correction: Carnegie's Rule for Fixing Mistakes Without Losing People

Your sharpest correction might be costing you your best server. Here's how independent operators can use Dale Carnegie's "indirect" principle to fix mistakes with staff, managers, and guests without losing them.

By Jaime Oikle

/ 13 Oct 2026

The Indirect Correction: Carnegie's Rule for Fixing Mistakes Without Losing People

The Invisible Sign: Why "Make Me Feel Important" Is the Most Profitable Habit in Your Restaurant

Everyone in your restaurant wears an invisible sign: "Make me feel important." Your staff, your managers, and your guests. Here's how independent operators can read that sign and turn it into lower turnover and more regulars.

By Jaime Oikle

/ 22 Sep 2026

The Invisible Sign: Why "Make Me Feel Important" Is the Most Profitable Habit in Your Restaurant

Atomic Restaurants: Small Habits, Big Wins

Independent restaurant operators can borrow James Clear's Atomic Habits framework to learn practical, tactical ways to apply the four laws of behavior change to your floor, kitchen, and team culture.

By Jaime Oikle

/ 17 Sep 2026

Atomic Restaurants: Small Habits, Big Wins

7 Ways Your First Five Minutes Are Costing You Repeat Visits

How you handle your first five minutes might be why some guests don't come back. Here are seven specific, fixable gaps between your door and your dining room, and how to close them this week.

By Jaime Oikle

/ 14 Sep 2026

7 Ways Your First Five Minutes Are Costing You Repeat Visits

Scorecards & Dashboards: How to Use Data to Drive Staff Performance

In the heat of a busy service, it's easy to feel like everything is moving - yet nothing is improving. That's where staff scorecards and dashboards come

By Jaime Oikle

/ 8 Sep 2026

Scorecards & Dashboards: How to Use Data to Drive Staff Performance

The Sun, Not the Wind: Why Warmth Outperforms Force in Restaurant Leadership and Service

Yelling gets the ticket fixed tonight. It doesn't get you a team that stays, or a guest who comes back. A 2,500-year-old fable, applied to your floor and your front door.

By Jaime Oikle

/ 17 Aug 2026

The Sun, Not the Wind: Why Warmth Outperforms Force in Restaurant Leadership and Service

Lessons on Leadership, Growth and the Exit: Darren Spicer of 110 Ventures

RunningRestaurants.com founder and podcast host Jaime Oikle interviews Darren Spicer, founder of Clutch Coffee Bar and 110 Ventures. Darren shares his journey from working at Dutch Bros at 18

By Jaime Oikle

/ 12 Aug 2026

Lessons on Leadership, Growth and the Exit: Darren Spicer of 110 Ventures

What Restaurant Employees Really Want in 2026

We welcome back Jordan Boesch, CEO of 7Shifts, to discuss their 2026 report "What Restaurant Employees Want". Key findings reveal that understaffing remains the top employee stressor, great

By Jaime Oikle

/ 6 Aug 2026

What Restaurant Employees Really Want in 2026

7 Ways Your Staff Could Sell More Without Being Pushy

Your servers don't need a harder sell, they need a better one. This article breaks down seven specific tactics, from sensory descriptions to timing checkpoints, that help staff suggest more without ever feeling pushy. Includes an operator checklist you can roll out at your next pre-shift meeting.

By Jaime Oikle

/ 27 Jul 2026

7 Ways Your Staff Could Sell More Without Being Pushy