Don't miss any of the installments in our series on 2024 trends!
It's a fresh new year and that means opportunity for change and growth.
For bar and restaurant owners and operators, now’s the time to capitalize on new opportunities, strategize on business operations, and reflect on how to incorporate industry trends into the year ahead.
Recently, Restaurant365’s State of the Industry Customer Survey – which surveyed nearly 5,500 QSR, fast casual, casual dining, and fine dining locations across the nation – pointed out that food and labor costs, employee experience and retention, marketing programs, technology, and business expansion are just some of the key areas that owners and operators will be focusing on in 2024.
“Restaurant operators continue to show resilience and creativity as they find new ways to move their restaurants forward," said Restaurant365 CEO and Co-Founder Tony Smith in a statement. “We're seeing continued focus on the guest experience and a heavier focus on overall business operations. Expanding the use of integrated technology to drive efficiency, cost savings, and growth have propelled many restaurants throughout the year.”
To dive deeper, Bar & Restaurant News spoke with a panel of industry leaders to discover what they’re thinking about in 2024, and to gather some of their best advice for the new year.
These experts highlighted: prioritizing staff and memorable guest experiences; delivering a consistent product; being able to shift, adopt, and remain relevant; bringing back food and beverage classics; embracing the “treat yourself” culture; realizing that guests are more educated when it comes to spirits; and an overall commitment to innovate at every step and provide value above all else.
Here's our insightful round-up of bar and restaurant industry views and advice for 2024:
Abraham Merchant
President & CEO
Merchants Hospitality (Philippe Chow, Industry Kitchen, Merchants NY, Watermark NY, Ophelia Lounge NYC, and more)
N.Y.C.
“As a restaurant professional, my advice to restaurant and bar owners and management is to prioritize labor cost management, as it can significantly impact profitability. Additionally, paying close attention to social media presence and online reviews is crucial. Even a single-star improvement on platforms like Yelp can lead to a substantial increase in sales, typically ranging from five percent to nine percent. Therefore, focusing on efficient labor management and maintaining a positive online reputation can have a profound impact on your restaurant's success.”
Peter Hemsley
Chef & Proprietor
Aphotic
San Francisco, Calif.
"Despite the growth in the jobs market, the labor pool for restaurants, particularly for fine-dining restaurants, never ceases to cinch tighter and tighter. Talent in this niche sector of service and hospitality is an ever rare quality, and in many cases, needs to be taught to candidates with open minds who are willing to put in the time. Even in these competitive times, remember the old adage of ‘hire slow, fire fast.’ I'd rather do everything myself than rely on a team that is unwilling to make the effort that makes the difference between right and wrong, good or great, meh or excellent."
Eric Wyatt
CEO
NORMS Restaurants
Bellflower, Calif.
“2024 has the potential to bring even more dynamic headwinds, especially here in California. My best advice is to prioritize guest service and taking care of your teams every day. Our team members are our ‘lifeblood; it all starts with great people. Elevating our team members’ experience translates to a great guest experience. While it sounds so simple, it requires laser focus every day.”
Nathan Weinberg
Partner
Retrograde, Ugly Mugs – Nashville, Tenn.
Lily Hall – Pensacola, Fla.
“My best advice is this, be willing to be wrong, fail fast and innovate at every step. By thinking dynamically, you can better manage costs, offer creative menu options, and improve employee morale.”
Randy Evans
Director of Operations
Mírate
Los Angeles, Calif.
“Consistency is key in the bar and restaurant business. Providing a consistent product is paramount to the success and longevity of any operation. I also feel it is essential to offer something that is both aspirational but attainable. If you provide the same three beers, or same three spirits, or same three pasta dishes as everyone else with nothing unique about that offering, you’re boring. That is not aspirational, and you will not last. Finally, all of this must be done with passion. Hospitality is a tough business. If you don’t absolutely love it, don’t do it!”
Justin George
Assistant General Manager
FLINT Kitchen + Bar in the Colcord Hotel
Oklahoma City, Okla.
“At its core, hospitality is about creating a memorable experience. Guests could always eat and drink at home. What we offer is an escape. A moment in time where ‘let me take care of that for you,’ is heard, not spoken. If you take care of the guests, the guests will take care of you!”
Chef Alec Gropman
Partner and Director of Culinary Operations
Uptown Hospitality Group (Uptown Social, Bodega, Share House)
Charleston, S.C.
“Treat yourself culture: Looking back over the past few years, the pandemic shaped the course of so much of our lives and the American food scene is no exception. We saw an increased uptick in delivery, zero contact meals that were fast, cheap and satisfied the harsh demand of daily life. However, as the world begins to recuperate, gone are the days of one pot feta pasta, touchless deliveries, and homemade bread, as people look for more luxurious ways to indulge, that previously their wallet or waistline did not allow. As we look forward into 2024, I expect diners to allow themselves the well-deserved slice of pizza or breakfast sandwich more than they have in the past. Look out for more indulgent items like chocolate, caviar, and lobster to be the stars of the show next year, as treat-yourself culture takes center stage.”
Chef Hunter Evans
Owner and Head Chef
Elvie’s
Jackson, Miss.
“Back to the classics – I think the hyper-trendy initiatives are fading and chefs and restaurants are going back to classical cooking and design. Looking ahead to 2024, I think we will see simple technique driven food. This is one of the foundations of what we do at Elvie’s – classics never die. I foresee chefs continuing to take classic dishes and add some freshness to them through local ingredients and seasonality. In the beverage world, cocktails being kegged on bar programs also seem to be a trend that could take off."
Brad Stewart
Director of Food and Beverage
Noelle
Nashville, Tenn.
“Food connection – quality matters, but it still must be approachable. It could be the best dish or cocktail in the world, but if there is not a way for a guest to identify with it, it will be hard to sell. Experience – more than ever, the experience trumps all. If you are only trying to sell food and beverage, you will get lost in the mix of all the ‘new’ in this city. People are not coming in to pay for food and beverages, they are coming to pay for an experience. Whether that experience is nostalgic, breathtaking, quick and easy, some sort of experience.”
Chef Fernando Soberanis
Executive Chef
Laurel Brasserie & Bar
Salt Lake City, Utah
“At Laurel Brasserie, we are seeing a strong and growing demand for private dining events. Since we offer three beautiful private rooms that each seat 20 to 30 guests, our regulars are increasingly asking for social and corporate events in these rooms. We prepare and serve Laurel menu items in a ‘family style’ format. The feedback has been incredible, and the sales have doubled in each of the past two years.”
Carlos Grotewold
Director of Restaurants and Bars
Quinto, located at EAST Miami Hotel
Miami, Fla.
“Miami has seen – over the last few years – a constant evolution of its restaurant and bar scenes and has, at the same time, seen the growth of industrial neighborhoods that are driving a lot of attention and interest. Being able to shift, adopt, and remain relevant is a new mid and long-term game that management and ownership of different concepts across the city need to incorporate into their service, culinary, strategy, marketing, and PR plans. With the presence of Michelin in Miami, diners will continue to show interest in exceptional service and culinary experiences. Well-established chefs and hospitality groups from other major cities will see a business and expansion opportunity, which will continue to shape the experience, the product, and the expectation of Miami dinners. Diners are now embracing the old-world glamour, lifestyle, and refinement that Miami is rapidly adapting, with exceptional restaurants, bars, and nightlife venues across most neighborhoods."
Tara Lewis
Trends Expert
Yelp
“After reflecting on some of the most popular food and beverages of the year and what’s to come in 2024 in Yelp’s 2024 Food and Drink Trend Report, we recommend taking a look at the new cocktails and mocktails people are searching for. Diners are still loving their martinis, but as you stock up the bar and update your menus, it might be time to integrate more savory ingredients. Searches for truffle martinis are up 92 percent, matcha martinis rose 1,323 percent, and tomato-tinis increased by 131 percent. Also, with more people exploring ‘sober curious’ options, we’ve also found that searches for mocktails are up 137 percent. Whether it’s a full zero-proof section on the menu or offering mocktail versions of your signature drinks, it’s important to add options to your drink menu that will open up the door to new customers.”
Vincent Chirico
Owner and Bartender
Idlewild and The Ugly
Charlotte, N.C.
“Many cocktail bars are embracing a very prep-heavy, batched technique driven methodology. This makes bars feel less like bars and more like a showcase of batched prep ideas. I believe that this trend will continue to uptick, but it’s nearing its peak. We’ll see things shift away from this maximalist ‘science lab’ approach sooner than later.”
Dylan Stewart
General Manager
Blind Barber (Chicago Location)
Chicago, Ill.
“People seem to be moving away from the big, ‘top shelf,’ flashy celebrity bottles. I think today and tomorrow's consumer is more educated – regarding tequila – and are focusing more on smaller batch and craft. Asking questions like where is this from, how was it produced, tell me about the family? Whiskey sales have also declined heavily and tequila still reigns supreme, more specifically, reposado tequila.”
Brian Livesay
Beverage and Operations Manager
The Matador (with multiple locations, including Charleston, S.C. and Portland, Ore., with 2024 openings in Charlotte, N.C. and Greenville, S.C.)
“Tequila Splurge – In the beverage industry, there will be greater emphasis and care about the production process of tequila. While people buying cheaper tequila must accept the compromises made to put a cheap product into the bottle, individuals willing and wanting to spend a bit more will become more and more aware of which brands use traditional processes, don't use additives, focus on transparency and sustainability, etc. Agave curiosity – in 2024, there will be further acceptance and interest in the more exotic agave spirits. Getting consumers to accept mezcal has been an uphill process, but we are seeing slow growth at Matador year-over-year. With an ever-increasing amount of products becoming available, and more and more education and publicity, I expect this trend to continue and also to start to include some of our more esoteric offerings, such as sotols, bacanoras, and raicillas.”
Levi Brown
Bar Manager
Blind Barber (Highland Park and Culver City Locations)
Los Angeles, Calif.
“I think in the upcoming year, we are going to see more and more utilization of culinary techniques applied to cocktails with freeze-thaw or ‘switching’ really taking off, due to its ease and low cost of investment to start doing. Cocktail programs everywhere are competing with who can make their drinks more complex and complicated. It’s not just about utilizing a specific ingredient but also processing it in a way that is unique or unusual, like brewing coffee with vermouth, or stirring a Negroni with sushi rice, or putting parmesan cheese on top of an espresso martini. We’re really seeing an explosion of innovation in the drinks industry that I find to be very exciting and overwhelming to keep up with. I did see fig leaf used a lot this past year, and I think that pandan is starting to get a lot of attention in programs outside of the ‘tikiverse’ for its versatility. Cocktail programs are looking beyond what it is to make a good drink and are turning the drink into something that is an experience itself. While that is really intriguing, I think that from a service standpoint the industry needs to remember that people come to a bar for a reason, and that usually has nothing to do with your smoked, barrel-aged, eight ingredient old fashioned. Focusing on why guests are in your establishment and what you can do to make that experience stellar is always more important than all the efforts you put into making a house cocktail.”
Adrienne Fornier-Belonio
General Manager Bodega SF
San Francisco, Calif.
“Alcohol-free cocktails are now becoming year-round staples, and Dry January and sober-curious lifestyles are proving to be more than just an internet trend. Guests are increasingly searching for locations that offer alcohol-free cocktails that are innovative, exciting, and full of new flavors and are willing to pay a similar price to their liquor-based counterparts. A key differentiator is to focus on new ingredients and moving beyond non-alcoholic beers to non-alcoholic spirits, such as Seedlip, Lyre's, or NON.”
Brian Livesay
Beverage Operations & Training Manager
The Matador (with multiple locations, including Charleston, S.C. and Portland, Ore., with 2024 openings in Charlotte, N.C. and Greenville, S.C.)
“Above all else, provide value! While it seems that everyone is – begrudgingly – accepting the new normal of higher prices for everything, it means that expectations and the potentials for disappointment are rising just as quickly. Get ready to hear ‘I paid $xxx for THIS???’ more than ever before, unless you are showing your guests an amazing time. So, whether it's your atmosphere and vibe, your service, your food and drinks, or a little bit of everything, make sure that whatever you are providing for your guests is the absolute best you can do and show them the value of their time and money spent at your establishment.”
Aaron Kiel is an editor, writer and public relations professional in Raleigh, N.C. He’s worked in the beverage, tea and coffee industries for two decades, as well as hospitality and technology. He’s a journalist at heart, but he also wears a PR hat through his consultancy, ak PR Group. He’s a contributing writer/reporter for Questex’s Bar & Restaurant News, and he recently worked as the editor of World Tea News with Questex’s Bar & Restaurant Group. In 2023, he was a finalist and honorable mention in the “Folio: Eddie & Ozzie Awards” for "Range of Work by a Single Author – B2B.” Connect with him on Instagram: @adventurer_explorer.
Plan to Attend or Participate in the 2024 Bar & Restaurant Expo, March 18-20, 2024
To learn about the latest trends, issues and hot topics, and to experience and taste the best products within the bar, restaurant and hospitality industry, plan to attend Bar & Restaurant Expo 2024 in Las Vegas. Visit BarandRestaurantExpo.com.
Veronica Gonnello (for companies A to G) e: [email protected] p: 212-895-8244
Tim Schultz (for companies H to Q) e: [email protected] p: 917-258-8589
Fadi Alsayegh (for companies R to Z) e: [email protected] p: 917-258-5174
Also, be sure to follow Bar & Restaurant on Facebook and Instagram for all the latest industry news and trends.