Carolyn Walkup

“Bar shrink,” an industry term for losing revenue on liquid assets due to bad practices—either inadvertent or deliberate—has been a perennial problem for restaurant operators.

While keeping customers happy is a perpetual challenge in the restaurant industry, some operators have learned that success may come from making a few guests unhappy.

“Wow! I haven’t been here for 20 years, and it looks the same!” exclaimed a man as he arrived at the host station of the Italian Village in downtown Chicago to meet a friend for dinner. ...

Operating full-service restaurants of any kind is not an easy way to make a living, but restaurateurs in locales where their business can fluctuate wildly with the seasons face even more challenges ...

Mention the sweet pink, white Zinfandel to wine connoisseurs and you’ll get snide remarks to the effect that no one who knows anything about wine drinks it anymore. But they would be wrong. ...