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Good luck booking that big birthday dinner

Mar 13, 2024
Alina Dizik wrote in The Wall Street Journal about why some restaurants don't want parties of six or more people.
Bigger tables are harder on kitchens and servers, and they're not always welcomed. You may have better luck at less trendy eateries or at off-hours.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Are we entering a world of surge dining?

Jan 11, 2024
Dynamic pricing is the practice of having prices that vary by demand or even customer type. We're used to it when it comes to airlines and ridesharing. But what about restaurants?
With the introduction of digital menus during the pandemic, the restaurant industry gained the ability to change their prices in real time.
Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

"Endless shrimp" and other deals can backfire on restaurants

Dec 1, 2023
If bargain hunters skimp on the add-ons, the business may have to eat a loss. For Red Lobster, it was $11 million last quarter.
Red Lobster had to eat a loss because its shrimp promotion was too big a bargain for diners.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

6 p.m. dinner reservations are losing their stigma

Sep 22, 2023
People are eating earlier everywhere, according to data from Yelp. Lifestyle changes are part of the reason.
The amount of diners making reservations in the 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. window is double what it was pre-pandemic, according to Yelp.
Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images

Food businesses across the UK pivot again as crowds return to restaurants, shops

Apr 21, 2022
Food delivery operations were activated as eateries and grocery stores emptied. But with restrictions lifted, those changes are fading.
Diners eating outdoors at a London restaurant in April 2021. With lockdowns over and pandemic anxiety easing, many Brits are returning to pre-pandemic habits.
Rob Pinney/Getty Images

Indoor dining returns to New York, but is it too late for some places?

Sep 10, 2020
It's the latest step in rebuilding the city's decimated restaurant business. Will it be too little too late?
 A restaurant offers outdoor dining as the city continues Phase 4 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus on Aug. 22, 2020 in New York City.
Cindy Ord/Getty Images

How delivery apps are changing the restaurant industry

Nov 19, 2018
"We have to adapt every single thing we do," one eatery owner says.
Sara Deseran and Joe Hargrave have made changes to their restaurant to adapt to third-party apps.
Sam Harnett for Marketplace

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Why you should listen to Leonard Cohen music when you eat toffee

Jun 20, 2017
Restaurants and food companies can change the way you think their food tastes, and it has nothing to do with the recipe.
Brian Ach/Getty Images for New York Magazine

Restaurants are off to another tough year

Mar 8, 2017
The restaurant industry is getting hit hard by diners who have lots of good reasons to eat at home.

Doing farm to table in the 1800s (before it was cool)

Sep 20, 2016
Paul Freedman on his new book, "Ten Restaurants That Changed America."
FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images