Best products from r/restaurateur

We found 23 comments on r/restaurateur discussing the most recommended products. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 19 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.

2. Brightech Ambience Pro - Waterproof Outdoor String Lights - Hanging Industrial 11W Edison Bulbs - 48 Ft Vintage Bistro Lights - Create Great Ambience in Your Backyard, Gazebo

    Features:
  • Energy Saving Outdoor String Lights: 48 ft long string lights with 15 hanging 11 watt bulbs spaced 3 feet apart. Brightech porch string lights are approved for residential and commercial lighting. Works with Alexa to turn on/off, requires hub sold separately. Connect up to 5 strands end to end. (Please NOTE: Bulbs are dimmable, dimmer sold separately. Made for use with 110v only.)
  • Commercial Grade Weatherproof Patio String Lights: Brightech’s Ambience Pros hanging lights string has our own WeatherTite technology - withstood winds up to 50MPH, rain & snow. The rubberized flexible heavy-duty cord withstands the wear of indoor and outdoor use. The core is UL listed. Confidently leave these lights on display year round.
  • Flexible Installation & Widely Used Backyard Lights: Brightech outdoor decorative yard lights are the perfect decoration for balcony terrace, garden, bistro, bedroom, living room, pergola, gazebo, tent, barbecue, city roof, market, cafe, umbrella, dinner, wedding, birthday, party etc. Brightech string lights are easy to assemble, plug to play. You can string them straight, or wrap them in trees for unique shapes.
  • Classic Cafe Ambience: Brightech indoor outdoor string lights use vintage Edison Bulbs. Install this hanging lights string with old-fashioned filaments to give off a warm, old-time glow so that you can come home after a busy day and enjoy your very own retreat. Make your pergola, porch or other space to be an enticing, relaxing and soothing retreat with Brightech heavy duty outdoor lights.
  • Brightech's 3-Year Product Warranty: We proudly stand behind all of our products 100% and offer a full 3-year warranty for all our string lights. This will cover you if the products stop working within 3 years or if there are any defects within those 3 years. Note: incandescent bulbs are only covered for 3 months, strand for full 3 years.
Brightech Ambience Pro - Waterproof Outdoor String Lights - Hanging Industrial 11W Edison Bulbs - 48 Ft Vintage Bistro Lights - Create Great Ambience in Your Backyard, Gazebo
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Top comments mentioning products on r/restaurateur:

u/bigwetbeef · 4 pointsr/restaurateur

Don't give up buddy. I'm 39 and I am a franchisee of a chain my father started up. Being partners with your dad is a blessing and a curse. I have gone through every battle you have described with your old man. Every stinking one. From the massive overwhelming menu to the insane resistance to new technology. It was a soul draining slog for a long time. I tried to gently coax ideas into the conversation, I tried to point out the competition was employing these same tactics against us, I tried to use logic & reason.... nope, nope and more NOPE.

After barely getting by for 4 years listening to his "I've been in this business 30 years speech" about how things should be done, I went rogue. I stopped asking permission and started doing things the way I wanted. I bought a POS system, I added a second drive thru window, optimized the kitchen for speed & efficiency & redecorated the lobby. Sales responded in a big way... which is what I thought we all wanted, to make money, right? No. I was wrong yet again. The modest success of my shop drives him crazy because it's all the things he said would never work working out beautifully. It's a huge threat to him and his ego but, I'm not a kid anymore. I need volume and sales now. entertaining his antiquated ideas just doesn't rank very high on my priority list any longer. We never really got along great but, now that I'm starting to make decent money with my rogue shop we barely talk and he never visits. Which is fine. I'm going to continue to max out my sales volume, build my war chest and open a few more concepts. It would have been great to do it together with my dad but, oh well. Life without daily arguments at work is pretty sweet. I can live with it just fine.

Things turned around for me when I started reading. Start reading books of people you look up to. I would suggest reading Danny Meyer's (Shake Shack, Union Square hospitality group) book "Setting the Table". Excellent insights on hospitality and acquiring the correct mentality on serving people. For tons of good nuts and bolts operations info, you can't go wrong with this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0910627975/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481377874&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=restaurant+managers+handbook&dpPl=1&dpID=51jXHNnpfML&ref=plSrch

Good luck!

u/gummigulla · 4 pointsr/restaurateur

Check out the book Restaurant success by the numbers. It’s no holy grail but I’ve found some valuable info there. Especially what metrics you should be tracking and estimating success.

Make sure the POS you select doesn’t slow down the service and has numbers/reports readily available.

I second having a relationship with an industry bookkeeper. They can often provide more services beyond bookkeeping and know a lot about the business. If you feel this might be pricy I’d still suggest it to begin with while you and your in laws get up to speed. Then scale down as you become more comfortable.

Finally, don’t be afraid to ask around for advice of other owners. If there are local networking events for owners/managers, attend. Use any excuse to meet people in the industry and make connections.

Good luck!

u/seagazer · 2 pointsr/restaurateur

There are some good books about restaurant finances. Two I found very useful are Restaurant Financial Basics and Restaurant Success by the Numbers.

u/zipadyduda · 1 pointr/restaurateur

That sounds fantastic. Good luck.

I have often wondered about 'breakfast only' restaurants. I can see that at first glance it would seem like you are saving money by running fewer shifts, but this to me seems like a math problem. What I wonder is, if you have the infrastructure, why not capitalize on it by running dinner also?

Now if it's a lifestyle business you're going for where it depends on you being there all the time, then I can certainly see why. But then you run into the E-Myth situation. Why not implement standard operating procedures to take yourself out of the day to day grind?

u/icecreamman99 · 4 pointsr/restaurateur

I bought these two years ago and ended up replacing the bulbs with LEDs within 6-12 months as the incandescent Edison bulbs went out. Ours are about 3' over our visitors heads and light a patio excellently, with no dimmer. We regularly get comments about how the lights really add to the patio's ambiance. We are a seasonal ice cream shop and I lazily left them out over the winter this year and they still function great.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K0VTVTA/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

u/LolBanany · 1 pointr/restaurateur

It's been quite a while so you may have found a solution, but if you haven't, what has worked for me is the following:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BJOFPNM?th=1

It's a wireless printer by Star Micronics. Connect all your tablets to your network and use WPS To hook up the printer to your router as well. It works for Uber Eats, Postmates and Grub Hub, even though they don't list it as supported. Doordash I can't get it to work but maybe in the future someone will find a workaround for that one.

u/hopsoulbrewer · 2 pointsr/restaurateur

Yep. We use this for our manager log: https://www.amazon.com/AT-GLANCE-Standard-Reminder-SD38913/dp/B07CZKTWB9 basically the paper version. Even easier and the managers have actually used it every day without a hitch!

u/[deleted] · 1 pointr/restaurateur

I was wondering what you'd think about using this as my booths
http://www.amazon.com/TMS-3-Piece-Nook-Dining-Black/dp/B000RWUD94

and instead of the bench use 2 chairs.

u/Vagabond_Hospitality · 1 pointr/restaurateur

This is the best book that I've ever found on this subject. It answers these questions and is quite detailed and in-depth.

u/Woop_De_Doodle_Do · 3 pointsr/restaurateur

After trying so many touchless types, and not touch less, I decided to never use battery operated again, because the battery decides to die when the health inspector is there, and paper towels and soap are part of the inspection. I liked this one because it actually dispenses only one towel at time instead of a bunch, which saves some money. San Jamar T1755 Ultrafold Fusion Towel Dispenser, Fits 400 Multifold/240 C-Fold Towels, 11-1/2" Width x 11-1/2" Height x 6" Depth, Black Pearl https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005H0AJBI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_63epzbPDB19JF

u/mynameisblaine · 5 pointsr/restaurateur

Second vote for the rolling storage bins. You could also keep them in large poly containers, like these. That would probably lead to less waste from improperly closed bags, spillage, etc.

If you are dead seat on keeping the bags, try a reusable zip tie.

u/interzil · 5 pointsr/restaurateur

Read. Read a lot. Reading can help prevent you from making dumb decisions in the future by learning about what problems lie ahead. Owning your own restaurant is not easy. It's really really hard. Celebs, millionaires, etc. fail on the reg trying to open up restaurants. The most you'll ever make working for a restaurant in management is $50k a year unless you have a trick up your sleeve that lands you a sweet gig (sommelier training, chef experience, connections, etc.). You also have to have a serious passion for pleasing people and hospitality. You put in hard hours for someone to be like "ew, this isnt what I want. You're inferior. You're bad at your job. Gross." Seriously, you get more respect in the military. But if you are a sick fuck who wants to try it. Be my guest. I was/am. There are some really cool aspects to it: you meet some crazy people, get to eat delicious food and drink great wine. But a lot of people cant take the stress for the more than a few years and resort to alcoholism or worse. It's difficult to explain restaurant management stress. It's like you're walking in the park and everything is perfect. Birds are singing and shit and then you see your dream girl coming towards you then BAM someone sucker punches you in the dick, she starts laughing at you, you're suddenly naked and everyone joins in the mockery.

Anyways. Read this: Setting The Table and this: Kithchen Confidential, BEFORE you even touch this dick stroking sensation: The Art of The Restaurateur. Read this shit before you lock yourself in to any deals. I'm serious. You'll thank me. Fuck these bus boys need to finish mopping the bar so I can go home and dream about P&Ls.