Dear Independent Restaurant Owner, I really appreciate what you are trying to do. It is tough to run a restaurant. I appreciate you trying to bring a local alternative to the chain restaurants that are all over town. We are on the same team. I work at a locally owned independent restaurant and try to […]
Welcome To The Restaurant Manager's Office
The Manager’s Office is designed to be a free resource for professional restaurant managers and restaurant owners to learn the skills that will help them advance their careers and improve the profitability of their restaurants. Within the pages of this website you will find posts covering restaurant operations, leadership, motivation, marketing, as well as up to date reporting on industry issues. With over two and a half years of post, first time visitors might be overwhelmed. At the top of the page you will find a number of categories to help you find specific posts on topics of interest to restaurant managers. Below this introduction, you will find the most recent updates to this website.
The Manager’s Office is just one part of a network of sites known as The Hospitality Formula Network. This network was created in 2010 to provide insights to all parts of the restaurant industry. The original sites included Tips Squared, Foodie Knowledge, and Restaurant Laughs. In 2011, Tips2: Tips For Improving Your Tips was added to the network to showcase the restaurant server training manual of the same title. In 2012, Restaurant Marketing Plan was added to the network to help restaurant managers and owners take advantage of the best practices for online restaurant marketing.
All of the sites on The Hospitality Formula Network are written by restaurant industry author, blogger, and consultant, David Hayden. David has nearly 20 years of restaurant experience in almost all facets of the restaurant industry. He is the author of Tips2: Tips For Improving Your Tips and three time winner of the Best of Kansas City award for Best Server. His mission is to provide restaurants and those that work within them with the knowledge they need to succeed. You can learn more about The Hospitality Formula Network on the about page or reach Mr. Hayden on the contact page.
Most Recent Posts

The Theft Mentality
I recently read an article in which a local club owner justified the situation at Jardines Kansas City by stating that all employees steal. I found this quite shocking because I have never stolen from an employer and feel that most restaurant employees could say the same. I did agree with him on one point, […]

Seven Habits Of Highly Ineffective Restaurant Managers
Seven habits to avoid in order to be a better restaurant manager The main reason this blog exists is to help restaurant management professionals seeking insight on how to be a better restaurant manager. As a result it is filled with tips on what restaurant managers can do to improve their effectiveness. Today, I wanted […]

Managing Restaurant Hosts And Hostesses
tagged front door staff, hiring, maitre d, managing, restaurant host, Restaurant hostess, restaurant training, training. The first impression your guests receive of the hospitality and competency of your staff is the professional host or hostess standing at your front door. This hospitality industry veteran of forty years greets all returning guests by name and asks […]

Five Reasons You Should Have A Slip Resistant Shoe Program
Tagged chef shoes, cook shoes, lowering worker’s comp claims, manager shoes, non slip shoes, payroll deduction, preventing restaurant accidents, restaurant shoes, server shoes, shoe requirements, shoes for crews, slip and fall, slip resistant shoes, uniform requirements, uniform spec, worker’s comp in restaurants I don’t think anyone has ever taken a job as a restaurant manager […]

Five Questions To Ask About Your Restaurant’s Website
Not what you want your potential guests to see at your website Let’s face it, your restaurant’s website is probably not that great. I can say this without looking at your restaurant’s website because a vast majority of restaurants websites range from underperforming to an annoyance that drives away guests. I am not the only […]

The First Impression
It was 7: 45 am on April 2nd of 2007 when I arrived for my first day of work at my previous job. I hadn’t slept much the night before because of nerves. I had closed my old restaurant the night before and departed that night knowing that I was leaving a great deal of […]

A New Study Sheds Light On Groupons
Tagged are groupons good for restaurants, are groupons good marketing for restaurants, Customer Response to Restaurant Daily Deals, Daily Deal, Dholakia, groupon, Kimes, marketing, profitable, Restaurant, Sheryl E. Kimes, Utpal M. DholakiaThe “daily deal” wave took the restaurant industry by storm. It became prominent so quickly that most of the information restaurant owners had to […]

How Non-Alcoholic Beverages Can Increase Sales
tagged beverage costs, grown up soda, increase restaurant sales, jones soda, non alcoholic, profitable, Restaurant, restaurant market segment, soda vie. Stop for a moment and think about the bar in your restaurant. You most likely have set up a tremendous display with it. In many cases it will be the focal point of your restaurant. […]

Three Court Rulings You Should Be Aware Of
One of the most difficult facets of managing a restaurant is keeping within the limits of the vague laws regulating restaurants. Lawmakers are not doing restaurants any favors by writing laws that leave critical issue unclear. This ambiguity is often left to the courts to be clarified. The courts have handed down three very significant […]

Five Ways To Reduce Server Turnover
Recently, I wrote a list of interview questions for servers. While I think these are great questions, today I want to discuss how to avoid using them. Retaining your top performing staff members is far more cost effective and will provide greater benefit to your restaurant than replacing them. Some of your staff will inevitably […]
- The Greatest Customer Complaint Response Ever September 23, 2010
- A Food Critic Intervention August 31, 2010
- My Response: 25 Things Chefs Never Tell You September 16, 2010
- Advice For A New Restaurant Manager January 18, 2013
- Learning Restaurant Spanish (Nouns) June 2, 2010
- Advice For A New Restaurant Manager January 18, 2013
- Was The 20/20 Restaurant Episode Fake? A View From The Cutting Room Floor November 21, 2012
- How To Hire Professional Restaurant Servers Fast September 10, 2012
- The Importance of Speed in Hiring Restaurant Servers July 2, 2012
- Six Dangers Of Restaurant Server Understaffing June 19, 2012
- Shiya Soni: One very important advice here would be to use a g...
- Colin Wilson: Please Charles Ferruzza keep your gentrification o...
- Ina Stefanova: This is an excellent resource, David! I will defin...
- John Blackman: My first visit to this site and what a great lesso...
- Master_Rabbit: Here’s advice from a 10 year veteran. Try anot...
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About The Author
David Hayden was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. He took his first serving job in 1996. Since that time, he has worked for over a dozen different restaurant companies. He has held both hourly and salaried positions at independent and corporate restaurants. He has waited on over 100,000 guests and trained hundreds of servers. He has been named "Best Server in Kansas City" the last three years by the local weekly paper.