HONOLULU (AP) — A popular Hawaii restaurant chain has purchased land in Las Vegas to open its first location outside the state.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports Zippy's Restaurants announced plans last week to open a 7,000-square-foot (650-square-meter) restaurant and bakery at the corner of Badura Avenue and Montessouri Street in southwest Las Vegas.
The Honolulu-based company says the new restaurant is expected to open next year. The Las Vegas location will serve the chain's standards, including Zip Pacs, Zippy's chili, Korean fried chicken and more than 100 other items.
CEO Jason Higa says in a statement the new location will be in a growing part of the city and near the 215 Beltway.
He says the site will provide easy access to the central production facility to support the opening of more restaurants.
Fast casual salad chain restaurant Chop’t recently decided to stop chopping their salads and instead use pre-chopped ingredients. Many customers have become accustom to Chop’t and its namesake tradition of chopping the salad in plain view of the customer. The process creates a bit of restaurant theater and shows the customer that the ingredients are freshly prepared and customized to their liking. The new process will speed up service and reduces labor cost by taking the manual process out of the order. Customers who still wish to have their salad chopped will need to ask for the preparation.
An employee grinds pepper onto a salad inside a Vapiano SE Italian themed cuisine restaurant in Cologne, Germany, on Monday, May 14, 2018. One of Germany's most-watched economic surveys is being revamped to reflect the growing importance of the service industry in Europe's manufacturing powerhouse. Photographer: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg
Minimum wage increases are putting greater pressure on restaurants as they find difficulty passing on the costs through menu price increases. Consumers remain sensitive to prices for food away from home seeking value through deals and affordable combos. Many restaurants reduce their staffing in order to save some cost, but this results in lower levels of customer service and ultimately, customer satisfaction. Full-service restaurants reduce their front and back of house staff to levels where customers wait for a table is based on limited server and cook availability and not open, clean tables. In limited service fast food and fast casual, reducing staff means longer lines and many customers “look and leave”. This is where a consumer feels that the line is too long and decide to dine elsewhere. Increasing speed build greater throughput and moves more customers through peak lunch occasions.
Pre-mixed salad moves down the assembly line for packaging and transport to customers at Earthbound Farms plant in Yuma, Ariz., Monday, Jan. 23, 2006. When Drew Goodman and his wife Myra formed Earthbound Farm Organic and began selling bagged salad salads 20 years ago, organic products were hard to come by and practically unheard of at the large retail markets. Since then, organic has boomed, showing up on the shelves of chain grocery stores across the country. (AP Photo/Alfred J. Hernandez)
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Does the change to pre-chopped ingredients really change the taste and flavor of the salad? It’s not likely this change will affect the end-product. Most restaurants today purchase pre-processed ingredients to increase speed and reduce costs in the kitchen. While very few restaurants practice scratch or homemade meal preparation, the term scratch has evolved toward what is commonly known as “speed-scratch”. Speed-scratch is when a chef or cook prepares a restaurant meal using homemade recipes and ingredients but allows the use of some pre-processed ingredients. These ingredients can include marinated ingredients that require time and can be portioned, packaged and marinated by a supplier. Often vegetables are purchased in bulk already chopped or cut to specifications. In addition, sliced meat and cheese is often brought in through the back door while few restaurants today slice their own.
As I See It, many consumers will be put off by the recent change at Chop’t. Consumers who value the control and larger ingredient sizes will likely show their frustration by avoiding the restaurant for a short time. Consumer behavior is very repetitive, and consumers tend to be very forgiving, especially toward a restaurant that they know and trust. Longer term, loyal customers will return and accept the change and likely just ask for their salad to be chopped by staff. In the end, these changes will make for a faster service time and customers will appreciate getting in and out more quickly while less customers “look and leave”.
At Off the Hook, the tuna comes fresh from HonoluluÕs fish auction and the flavors range from classic shoyu to the Chinese-inspired cold ginger ahi. CanÕt decide what to get? Try the sampler. (Off the Hook)
Born in Myanmar, chef Khun Sai serves up flavorful classic Burmese fare at his Rangoon Burmese Kitchen in Honolulu. (Courtesy Martha Cheng)
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Tonkatsu Tamafuji serves up some of the best deep-fried pork cutlets in Honolulu.(Courtesy Martha Cheng)
Tucked into a low-rise building in Waikiki, Zigu is an izakaya with a heavy emphasis on locally-grown ingredients, a rarity among Honolulu's Japanese restaurants. (Courtesy Martha Cheng)
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Like many other cities, Honolulu is witnessing a restaurant boom. Hawaiiʻs largest city continues to double down on excellent Japanese food — some of the best outside of Japan — but it is also now home to some new cuisines and flavors. Here are some of the hottest places that have opened recently.
Zigu
Tucked into a low-rise building in Waikiki, Zigu is an izakaya with a heavy emphasis on locally-grown ingredients, a rarity among Honolulu’s Japanese restaurants. Chef Masaki Nakayama’s standout dishes include a tuna cheek teriyaki ($26), a big, meaty wedge roasted to tenderness; braised pork belly ($22) with laulau (stewed taro leaves) and pohole (fiddlehead fern), a melding of Japanese with Hawaiian fare; and the deceptively simple sounding egg and potato salad ($8.50), the egg poached in dashi and then smoked.
Details: Open daily for lunch and dinner at 413 Seaside Ave.; www.zigu.us.
Tonkatsu Tamafuji
Honolulu already has one excellent restaurant specializing in tonkatsu — Ginza Bairin. Now Tonkatsu Tamafuji vies for the mantle of the best deep-fried pork cutlet ($19.50) in town. Here, the panko crust is made in-house, resulting in an especially light and delicate crust — if you could deep fry cotton candy, this is the texture it might have — protecting a juicy cut of meat. An unlimited supply of shredded cabbage, pickles and tonkatsu sauce, to which you add sesame seeds you grind yourself tableside, help cut through the richness. With no reservations taken, waits of up to two hours are not uncommon. Call ahead — 808-922-1212 — to put yourself on the wait list.
Yes, the rest of the world loves poke, but no one loves it more than Hawaii locals. In a town already filled with excellent poke, Off the Hook decided it still wasn’t enough. And judging by the crowd, people agreed. Bowls start at $11.99. The tuna comes fresh from Honolulu’s fish auction and the flavors range from classic shoyu to the Chinese-inspired cold ginger ahi. If you can’t decide, get the sampler, which includes all of Off the Hook’s eight different varieties.
Details: Open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, except Sunday, at 2908 E. Manoa Road, 808-800-6865.
Off the Wall
A number of craft breweries have opened in Honolulu in recent years. You could schlep all over town seeking them out, or just head to Off the Wall, where 24 self-serve taps offer local brews, plus cider and kombucha. The breweries represented include Aloha Beer Co., Beer Lab Hawaii and Waikiki Brewing Co., as well as some non-Oahu companies, such as Big Island Brewhaus. And the bites are Latin-inspired, from the empanadas ($11) to the cinnamon and Oreo churros ($9).
Born in Myanmar, Khun Sai lived in San Francisco before moving to the islands, watching Burmese restaurants explode in popularity. With his Honolulu restaurant, he wanted to feature more traditional Burmese dishes. So at Rangoon, you’ll find Kachin whole fish ($24), smeared with a paste of fresh herbs and prickly ash, wrapped up with fern shoots in a banana leaf. There’s also a pennywort salad ($10), its tender leaves tossed with copious amounts of sesame seeds, and a sour leaf shrimp curry ($18), the leaves from a hibiscus varietal lending a lemony tang.
Details: Open for lunch and dinner daily, except Sunday, at 1131 Nuuanu Ave.
New York City restaurants are eliminating jobs, reducing employee hours and raising prices due to the higher costs of the $15/hour minimum wage.
A once-growing industry is contracting, according to an online survey conducted by the New York City Hospitality Alliance, an association representing restaurants in the city.
Last year, “full-service restaurants recorded a 1.6 percent job loss, which is the first recorded annual loss in two decades,” said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the trade group.
The survey also said about a third of respondents will eliminate jobs and most will raise prices this year because of the new $15-an-hour law backed by Gov. Cuomo and other state officials, which took effect on Dec. 31, 2018.
A total of 76.5 percent of full-service restaurant respondents reduced employee hours, and 36 percent eliminated jobs in 2018, the survey said.
Also, 75 percent of limited service restaurant respondents reported that they will reduce employee hours, and 53 percent will eliminate jobs in 2019 as a result of the wage increases, according to the survey.
The governor, through a spokeswoman, defended state policies: “All New Yorkers deserve to make a living wage and under the governor’s leadership, more minimum-wage workers than ever before have received an increase in their wages. The fact is that increasing the minimum wage puts more money in the pockets of hardworking New Yorkers, which creates more demand for local businesses and increases economic activity.”
A spokeswoman for Mayor de Blasio didn’t respond with a comment.
The Hospitality Alliance said, “The results of this survey, and other industry trends, signal that a once-growing industry responsible for hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic impact has become stagnant.”
A few years ago a well-connected friend of mine suggested that I join her for one of the first, invitation-only nights at what was sure to be the hottest new restaurant in Washington. When I told people, they were so jealous of me I became jealous of myself.
Then we got there. The place was rigged for bedlam: awkward corners, tight squeezes and, of course, the merciless ricocheting of sound. We were seated at a communal table of sorts with strangers — festive! — and there was so much sharing of so many dishes that I lost track of what I’d tried, what I hadn’t, what I’d loved and what I’d loathed. By the hour mark, I had heard about one stranger’s European jaunt, another’s job promotion and, if memory serves, a third’s veterinary bills. The pooch maybe had respiratory problems. Please pass the shrimp.
Did I used to enjoy this? I don’t anymore, and there’s no vivid anecdote to explain my slide into culinary curmudgeon. There’s only the passage of time. I was once under 50. I’m now over that mark. And it’s not just sex and sleep that change as you age. It’s supper.
A large part of that, yes, concerns your physical evolution. But a larger part concerns your spiritual one. Your appetite matures, in terms of both the food and the mood you crave. Virgin sensations are less important; knowing that you’ll be able to hear and really talk with your tablemates, more. If having that reassurance means patronizing the same restaurant over and over, so be it. A roasted chicken in the hand is worth two in the bush.
What you want from restaurants, it turns out, is a proxy for what you want from love and from life. None of these is constant. All reflect the arc that you’ve traveled, the peace that you have or haven’t made. When I was 34, I wanted bling, because it persuaded me that I was special. When I was 44, I wanted blinis, because they made me feel sophisticated. At 54, I just want martinis, because I’m certain of what’s in them and of what that potion can do: blunt the day and polish the night.
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I’m in good company, by which I mean that most people who are about my age or older don’t have the same relationships with restaurants that they did decades ago. I know because I’m always asking them, and what they say is familiar: They no longer sprint to the next shimmering frontier. They won’t suffer stools with no lumbar support. They keep their smartphone flashlights at the ready, in case the same dimness that’s such a kindness to wrinkles renders those letters on the menu — when did they get so tiny? — illegible.
“There definitely used to be several factors in choosing where I wanted to eat, but all of them pale now in comparison to quiet,” said Mo Rocca, the actor, TV journalist and host of the CBS News podcast “Mobituaries.” He proudly turned 50 two months ago. “I have no problem saying that I’d rather eat at a place that’s more like the library,” he told me. “In fact, if the library opened a restaurant, I’d be first in line.”
Loud is no longer exciting. Trendy is overrated. “In my 20s, I’d go someplace because it was new or ‘fancy,’” said my friend Sandra Bernhard, the comedian and host of “Sandyland” on Sirius XM radio. She’s 65 now, and said that she needs better reasons than that. She’s not worried about impressing anybody, least of all herself.
Ina Garten, the wildly popular author of the “Barefoot Contessa” cookbooks, told me that she and her husband, Jeffrey, “go to the same restaurant over and over again until we just can’t do it anymore, then we go to another restaurant over and over again until we just can’t do it anymore. And that can last two years.” She’s 71, he’s 72 and they weren’t quite this set in their ways decades ago, she said.
Because the couple lives near New York City, acquaintances are always asking her about the latest, greatest place to eat there. “Haven’t a clue!” she told me. “Once in a while we’ll try a hot new restaurant, and then we’ll go there for two years.”
I surveyed several restaurateurs: They didn’t find her habits unusual. Older diners, they said, are more likely to be regulars — and the most frequent regulars at that.
That’s not just because we tend to have more money. It’s also because we’re tired of being invisible.
If you’re under 50 and definitely if you’re under 40, you have yet to experience how you disappear over the years, especially if you’re not a looker and all the more so if you’re a woman. Sustained gazes, casual glances and solicitous words go disproportionately to the young. To age is to feel as if pieces of you are falling or fading away, so that you somehow take up less space in the world. So that you’re harder to see.
But not by restaurants that know and value you. To them you’re luminous.
Danny Meyer, the restaurateur and hospitality guru behind Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Shake Shack and so much more, brought up something that one of the past century’s most prominent tastemakers would say. “James Beard famously told people that when he was stopped in airports and asked what his favorite restaurant was, he answered: ‘It’s the same as yours,’” Meyer recalled. “‘It’s the one that loves me the most.’”
If that’s true to some extent for all epicures, Meyer said, it’s all the truer as they age.
He has noticed something else, too, a quirk that I think goes hand in hand with older diners’ disinclination to wait 90 minutes for a table at a thronged establishment, to jostle for the host’s attention, to submit to cooking that’s about a self-conscious chef’s strenuous inventiveness as much as our simple pleasure. “The newfangled cocktail lists, which we all have, are less exciting to people in their 50s, who by that time know what their favorite cocktail is,” Meyer said. “They don’t mind all the imaginative craft cocktails. But they also want to know that you’ll do a great job of making their go-to cocktail.” We’re not looking to trade up. We’re all about commitment.
My own dining history, admittedly, isn’t normal: For five years, from the ages of 39 to 44, I was The Times’s restaurant critic, and thus obliged to hurtle to the freshest arrivals on the scene. I haven’t expunged that from my system entirely. As soon as I got word that I could try the TAK Room, which is the revered chef Thomas Keller’s new venture in Manhattan’s gleaming Hudson Yards development, I went there, grateful that I could afford the splurge. Having tasted its steak (and its martini), I wish I could afford it weekly.
I’m increasingly like Garten, an unapologetic creature of habit. When I visited my younger brother in the Los Angeles area early this month, he asked me where I wanted to eat. There were many untried options. But I chose Baran’s 2239, in Hermosa Beach, because it was less than 15 minutes from his house, we’d had terrific meals there and its owners always seemed elated to welcome us back. I ordered the smoked-and-fried chicken for the third straight time.
Martha Hoover, 64, who owns a dozen restaurants in the Indianapolis area, told me that what distinguishes older diners is that we know, and have accepted, ourselves. “I’m not so concerned about curating my identity when I go out to eat,” she said. “I’m very sure about what I want.” Often that’s scrambled eggs or roasted chicken.
What’s the point of striking gold — a perfect Caesar salad, a server whose banter complements your own, a bearable din and a survivable chair — if you’re just going to move on? And why search for the prettiest crowd when the only omnivores who matter are the ones at your table, chosen because they’ve been there before and your conversation with them, infused with a shared history, grows richer and more nourishing? The cast of characters with whom we older diners go out to eat doesn’t rotate all that much.
“Being with people I don’t know and feel I have to entertain — I find that exhausting,” Garten told me. “But being with people I love? I have more energy after.”
The chef Jonathan Waxman, 68, who owns the Manhattan restaurants Barbuto and Jams, said that we older diners are true in our tastes to the etymology of the word “restaurant,” which promises to “restore one’s spirit.”
A close friend my age put it this way: “I used to care about being entertained, and now being soothed feels more important. Life, it turns out, is hard.”
Restaurants shouldn’t be.
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Executive Chef and Owner Scott Varricchio has opened the doors to his celebrated seaside bistro after a kitchen fire closed the restaurant for more than a year. Colorfully printed on his menu are the words, “Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, we are pleased to present Citrus”.
Some things have changed and much remains the same. The name Citrus Grill House has slimmed down to just Citrus. The chic casual décor has been lightened and brightened and appointed beautifully with paintings and flowers. The menu, printed simply on a couple sheets of paper, changes with the seasons. Citrus cuisine, created from regionally grown and sourced produce, meats and seafood, is even better than before the fire. Even with the addition of sound minimizing features including a ceiling cloud, though, the chatter of so many diners still results in an elevated noise level inside. More windows have opened up beautiful views of the ocean while many wait in line for the coveted patio dining for the very best views.
More: Review: On the Edge Bar and Grill in Fort Pierce boasts amazing views
So how does a highly acclaimed chef spend a year without a restaurant? Chef Varricchio grabbed the opportunity to further develop his skills, engaging in culinary internships in Napa Valley and New York. He has returned to Vero Beach refreshed and inspired and the proof is in the pudding.
My husband, our guest and I started with spicy Moroccan hummus ($5) served with warm French bread. This is a spicier version than before and we relished the addition of Calabrian chili paste and feta.
Nothing says ‘fresh’ like the spring pea salad ($12). A mixture of snap peas, snow peas, English peas and pea tendrils was tossed with baby spinach, fried shaved coconut, brioche croutons, fried shallots and herbed red wine vinaigrette.
Then, on to the entrees, each one divine.
Although he was tempted by the $75 Japanese Wagyu steak with exotic mushrooms, my husband chose instead the amazingly tender and utterly delicious 12-ounce prime New York Strip steak ($42) with melting caramelized onion butter on top. This expertly seasoned steak was accompanied by a lovely mound of potato puree and a Carolina grilled sweet onion.
More: Restaurant review: Casa Giuseppe's Italian Grill in Stuart serves memorable meals
In the mood for shrimp, our guest chose Rustichella capellini in a smooth, lively lemon cream sauce with Calabrian roasted shrimp ($25).
My choice, Virginia flounder ($34) was just outstanding, finished with lemon aioli, breadcrumbs, and served atop lemon-scented capellini. Baby heirloom tomatoes with red wine vinaigrette were alongside.
We shared one playful dessert, warm chocolate chip cookies served with milk ($6); and one traditional dessert, butterscotch pot de crème ($6).
Everything was beautifully presented and service was spot-on.
We extend a heartfelt welcome back to Citrus.
Citrus
Cuisine: American
Address: 1050 Easter Lily Lane, Vero Beach
Hours: 5 p.m. – Closing, Daily. Will soon be open for lunch.
COLLEGE STATION, Tex. (KBTX)- A longtime Bryan-College Station eatery has decided to close its doors for good this weekend.
Cenare Italian Restaurant has been at its University Drive location for nearly 40 years, but skyrocketing rent costs and increasingly tough competition in the area have forced the owners to make the difficult decision to shut down.
"This was a very emotional decision for everyone involved," said co-owner Julie White. "We're so thankful and so grateful for everyone who supported us through so many years and shared so many good memories with us. The stories and memories we have are incredible and we're so thankful for them all."
White echoes what other restaurant owners have said about the Bryan-College Station market.
"There's a lot of new restaurants and a lot of new hot spots, and it's just very hard to compete with it all. We also take a big hit in the summer," she said.
There's been a wave of local restaurants closing as new competition arrives in the area.
Cenare Italian Restaurant's final day will be Saturday, March 30.
Mario Batali at Eataly New York's grand opening in 2010.
Credit: Hoo-Me.com / MediaPunch/IPXHoo-Me.com / MediaPunch/MediaPunch/IPx
This week, the semi-finalists were announced for the James Beard Awards, considered the Oscars of the culinary world.
Both familiar names and a flock of newcomers made the list.
But some past winners, namely John Besh and Mario Batali, were nowhere to be found. That's because Besh and Batali have all but vanished from the culinary scene, driven out of public view by sexual harassment scandals that came to light in late 2017.
Their absence raises a question: when some of the biggest names in the restaurant world vanish, what happens next?
The situation has both drawbacks and benefits across the restaurant industry, say culinary experts.
Customers who dine at celebrity chefs' restaurants often go in the hopes that they'll be there, for a table visit, a selfie or an autograph. Without the marquee name, restaurant patrons can flee, and so can investors, they say.
But, celebrity chefs' departures also can creates opportunities for lesser-known chefs to receive attention, and gain business as a result.
The move follows several foiled attempts by Batali to stage something of a comeback. Not long after the initial sexual harassment charges surfaced in December, 2017, Batali sent fans a newsletter expressing contrition, and included a recipe for cinnamon rolls made from pizza dough.
In recent months, Batali has been spotted near his summer home in northern Michigan, as well as in New York City.
By contrast, Besh has rarely been seen in New Orleans since the Times-Picayunereported on sexual harassment in his restaurant organization in October, 2017.
He's said to have relocated elsewhere with his family, although he keeps in touch with former colleagues in the Crescent City.
For Besh and Batali's restaurants, the impact was unavoidable, because when it comes to attracting customers, a chef's high profile matters, says Kevin Pang, editor in chief of The Takeout.
"Here in Chicago, there are plenty of big-named chefs who can stroll across their dining rooms and a dozen cameras will suddenly appear," Pang says.
"Look at the Rick Baylesses and Stephanie Izards of the world. They're as big of a celebrity in Chicago as ever."
Pang says the economics of the restaurant business now demand that chefs constantly court the spotlight, whether they appear on programs such as Bravo's Top Chef, post on Instagram or host their own shows.
"That's all part of the game, and I don't see it going away any time soon," Pang says.
For his part, Besh was one of four major restaurant group owners in New Orleans, with the others being Emeril Legasse, Donald Link and the Brennan family.
With these bold-faced names, "everything they do, you have to report on it," says Todd A. Price, a restaurant critic for the Times-Picayune.
Within these major restaurant groups, some chefs have had trouble vying for the spotlight with their owners. "It's the big name that overshadows everybody. It's very hard to step outside and get attention," Price says.
Price noted that Alon Shaya, a James Beard Award winning chef who ran three restaurants for the former Besh organization, faced some criticism for naming one of them after himself, a move that subsequently backfired.
He lost the rights to the Shaya name in a lawsuit that took place in the wake of the Besh sexual harassment allegations.
But, says Price, "If he hadn't called it Shaya, he never would have gotten out of the shadow of Besh."
Shaya restaurant remains open, and Alon Shaya has since opened two other restaurants, Saba in New Orleans and Safta in Denver.
The absence of Besh and Batali, who was a frequent New Orleans visitor, actually has presented an opportunity for other types of restaurants, Price says.
"By offering up space for other stories to be told, people are getting attention earlier in their careers, and other smaller restaurants are getting attention," he says.
That might seem to suggest that banished chefs might someday find an audience, if they can appropriately make amends.
Even after the cinnamon roll reaction, Batali again tried to resurface, telegraphing his interest in becoming a philanthropist.
But a second round of sexual harassment allegations that aired on 60 Minutes last May sparked an investigation by the New York Police Department, and sent him back into the shadows.
Besh, by contrast, has made no such efforts to return, and Price says he can't imagine a scenario yet in which he is able to return to the New Orleans scene.
"I can't see any steps he's made in that direction," Price says. "I can't see what his comeback would be."
Zocalo Cafe, the 12-year-old fast-casual restaurant on 1110 West Lynn Street, is closing as of today, Friday, March 29. The Clarksville space will be turned into the second location of the revived bar and restaurant Taco Flats.
Before even revamping the Zocalo space, Taco Flats will start serving its menu in the West Lynn address on Monday, April 1. On deck will be its usual array of tacos inspired by Mexico City, beers, and cocktails. The Taco Flats Clarksville hours will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays and then 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the weekends.
Taco Flats Clarksville will close on Monday, July 1 for a two-month renovation.
Zocalo Cafe owners Chris Courtney, Kelly Chappel, and Jay Bunda wanted to close Zocalo Cafe to focus on their other restaurants, Galaxy Cafe and Top Notch Hamburgers (which is expanding into Hutto, Texas). They will also become minority partners in the new Taco Flats, according to the Facebook post.
Zocalo isn’t gone forever, either. The team is still opening a location of the restaurant within the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, pegged to open in the fall.
Taco Flats owner Simon Madera used the name of the legendary dive bar, Taco Flats, for his bar and restaurant with the blessing of the former co-owner. He opened the returning Taco Flats on North Lamar in October 2014 with tacos and tequila cocktails. Madera also opened an East Austin bar, La Holly, in February 2018, with a focus on agave-based cocktails and a Taco Flats trailer. That bar took over what had been Tejano bar Kellee’s Place.
As online deliveries increase, customers are demanding faster orders at restaurants. This means that automated tech is becoming more common. Tim Young, eatsa CEO, shared more about order pickup solutions for restaurants.
Young explains that eatsa is a restaurant technology provider. The company creates data-driven, automated technology solutions to help streamline restaurant operations and improve customer experiences. "The eatsa platform is a complete end-to-end technology solution that drives mobile adoption, reduces labor, increases throughput and elevates the customer experience. Our front of house, customer-facing products include self-ordering kiosks, mobile apps, digital menu boards and self-service order pickup systems with a digital status board," Young says.
In addition to its Cubby Pickup System, eatsa recently unveiled the Spotlight Pickup System, an engaging, easy-to-use order pickup solution. The Spotlight Pickup System simplifies the pickup process for all levels of the restaurant, including customers, restaurant staff and delivery couriers.
Cubby
eatsa
After ordering in-store at a self-service kiosk or through a digital channel (a mobile app or third-party delivery app), a customer or delivery courier checks the digital Status Board to quickly understand the status of the order. When their order is ready, they are guided to their automated pickup ‘Spot’ where the customer’s name is clearly highlighted on the front display. Each Spot is connected to eatsa’s cloud network and equipped with product sensors, a toplight for status indication and a front display for customized digital messaging.
"We have a group of talented engineers who produce software for our automated solutions. We implement IoT, robotics and machine learning to enable smooth operations through the entire order cycle: From the time an order is submitted by a customer to when they pick up their meal," Young shares.
All of the technology works cohesively to ensure a streamlined and accurate order experience. Through eatsa’s tech, a restaurant’s staff can track the lifecycle of an order, analyze operational workflow efficiencies, diagnose and remediate inefficiencies, dynamically expand production capacity, predict order volumes and ingredient inventory needs. This gives consumers precise information about their order status, including down-to-the-minute accuracy on pickup time, and it assures that orders do not sit too long before they are picked up, improving food quality and consistency while reducing food safety risks.
eatsa
eatsa
Young thinks the restaurant industry is on the cusp of a digital revolution. Similar to the digitization of the retail industry, consumers are expecting more and more from restaurants. They expect the same conveniences in their dining experiences that technology has offered them in all the other aspects of their lives.
"We hope to help restaurants embrace this new digital era, and not only meet their customers’ expectations but continuously exceed them. How great does it feel when you walk into your local coffee shop, and the barista greets you by name and already knows your order? We believe that technology can enable brands to deliver a personalized experience across all touchpoints, so every customer is treated like a regular at every store and on every channel," Young says.
The eatsa system captures order-level and customer-level data. Not only does this data allow restaurants to measure and improve operations, but also to measure and improve menus and recipes, understand their markets and consumers better, and build targeted digital marketing and loyalty programs. By building programs based on customer profiles, rather than a one size fits all approach, brands will be able to dramatically increase customer retention, sales volumes and ticket size.
DUBAI: Ajmal Makan Sharjah Waterfront City project – one of the most iconic freehold properties built on the emirate’s coast – is participating in the International Property Show (IPS), which is being hosted in Dubai from March 26th to 28th
The three-day event, being held at the Dubai World Trade Centre, is the Middle East’s biggest property sales platform for local and international real estate markets.
“It is the best place to meet and do business with top-tier investors and property professionals from across the globe. The show is an event of its kind that allows retail sale and purchases for both local and international properties. We expect to see a good number of buyers during the 15th edition of the exhibition,” said Ajmal Makan CEO, H.E Sultan Al Shakrah, referring to one of the largest waterfront projects in the UAE.
“Sharjah Waterfront City, a collection of eight beautifully designed islands visible from the outer space, is one of the most vibrant mixed-use developments in Emirates of Sharjah that will reshape the landscape of the area and create a new city on the coast of the Arabian Gulf,” Al Shakrah added.
Once developed, Sharjah Waterfront City is expected to be a vibrant community of 60,000 people contains smarts and power efficient buildings including villas, residential, commercial and office buildings with different sizes in addition to malls, hotels, etc…
Build and the most modern international style.
“The largest mixed-use master-planned waterfront community in the Northern Emirates creates a massive economic opportunity for developers, investors, buyers and companies. Through IPS 2019, Ajmal Makan- Sharjah waterfront city project will contribute to bringing in foreign investments to the UAE,” said Al Shakrah.
The participants at IPS 2019 include not just property developers but also brokers, lenders, mortgage providers, investors, and home buyers. The event expects to woo more than 20,000 visitors.
According to the developer, Ajmal Makan-Sharjah Waterfront City will be an environment-friendly community with world-class facilities for high-standard living. With its beautiful beaches, moderate year-long weather, leisure and shopping opportunities, the project presents itself as a complete and attractive holiday destination, the company said.
“Sharjah Waterfront City includes a series of eight islands interconnected by natural canals spread across 36 kilometres of coastal land on the north-eastern coast of Sharjah where crystal clear blue fresh waters of the Gulf flow every 12 hours along the high and low tides,” said Al Shakrah.
A 60% area of the waterfront city will be landscaped with gardens, parks, and surrounded by natural green parks. Spread across 60 million square feet of natural lands (not reclaimed soil) it is an ideal destination for residents and tourists.
“Like a precious pearl; Ajmal makan-Sharjah Waterfront City is a community-within-a-city with integrated facilities where people could live, work, shop, dine and enjoy the best life in a contemporary designed luxurious living surrounding. The project is bound to generate a lot from buyers and investors alike,” Al Shakrah pointed out.
The project master plan has been approved with all drawings and engineering designs, and all required approvals for the project have been obtained from the competent authorities, the company said.
The project is located between the Northern Emirates and Dubai and allows easy access to the major highways, Al Ittihad Road, Emirates Road and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, which makes it easy to reach from anywhere in the UAE. Also, a water taxi will connect Sharjah Waterfront City with Dubai and other emirates through the sea.
“The project has a well-developed transportation infrastructure that includes an excellent road network as well as various transport facilities, a pedestrian bridge, and fun and entertainment trails, adding great economic value to the project,” said Al Shakrah
Apartments in the Sharjah Waterfront City start from AED 299,000, while villas start from AED 2.5 million. Most of the apartments and villas in the project have a direct waterfront view.
Deadly Explosion Outside Crowded Restaurant in Mogadishu
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Medics carrying the body of a victim of a car bomb in Somalia, Mogadishu, on Thursday.CreditCreditFarah Abdi Warsameh/Associated Press
By The New York Times
MOGADISHU, Somalia — A car bomb exploded on Thursday near a hotel and restaurant in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, killing at least 15 people, rescue services said, in a strike on a busy area that has been targeted by Islamist militants in the past.
The explosion sent a huge cloud of smoke into the sky and destroyed two restaurants and cars parked in the area, officials said.
“So far, 15 people died, including five women. Seventeen others were injured in the blast,” Abdikadir Abdirahman, the director of Amin Ambulance service, told Reuters. Another witness at the scene said she had seen 18 bodies.
The Islamist group the Shabab claimed responsibility for the bombing through its Radio al-Andalus website. The group, which is linked to Al Qaeda, previously targeted the same location, the Wehliye Hotel, which is along Maka al-Mukaram Road.
A police spokesman, Maj. Mohamed Hussein, told The Associated Press that the explosives-laden vehicle had detonated outside the restaurant.
“The blast destroyed a restaurant and killed many who were inside and outside the restaurant,” the same police captain told Reuters. “The death toll may rise.”
He said dozens of others had been injured in the blast, and that most of the casualties had been among diners at the crowded restaurant.
A Mogadishu resident, Aamina Ali, said she went the scene of the attack to help the victims and that she had seen many bodies and blood everywhere.
“This is unacceptable,” she said. “We are mothers; we lost beautiful souls.”
The Shabab are fighting to topple the Western-backed government protected by African Union forces. The group was ejected from Mogadishu in 2011 and has since been driven from most of its other strongholds.
On Saturday, Shabab gunmen stormed a government building in Mogadishu after a suicide car bombing, and the ensuing gunfight and blast killed at least 15 people, including the country’s deputy labor minister, the police said, Reuters reported.
On Tuesday, a bomb planted in a private luxury car exploded in Mogadishu’s Hodan District, killing the driver and injuring a nearby pedestrian, Col. Ahmed Abdi, a police official, told The A.P.
The United States military has increased the number of deadly airstrikes against the militants since Donald J. Trump took office as president. A number of multinational troops, including African Union force, Somali forces and Kenyan soldiers, are also fighting the Shabab.
Deadly Explosion Outside Crowded Restaurant in Mogadishu
Image
Medics carrying the body of a victim of a car bomb in Somalia, Mogadishu, on Thursday.CreditCreditFarah Abdi Warsameh/Associated Press
By The New York Times
A car bomb exploded on Thursday near a hotel and restaurant in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, killing at least 11 people in a busy area targeted in the past by Islamist militants, rescue services said.
The explosion on a busy road in Mogadishu sent a huge cloud of smoke into the sky and destroyed two restaurants and cars parked in the area. A witness at the scene counted six dead bodies, according to Reuters.
“So far, we carried 11 dead people and 16 others wounded,” Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Amin Ambulance service, told Reuters.
A police spokesman, Maj. Mohamed Hussein, told The Associated Press that the explosives-laden vehicle has detonated outside the restaurant.
“The blast destroyed a restaurant and killed many who were inside and outside the restaurant,” he told Reuters. “The death toll may rise.”
He said dozens of others had been injured in the blast, and that most of the casualties had been among diners at the crowded restaurant.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. But the Islamist group the Shabab, whose militants are linked to Al Qaeda, have targeted the same location, the Wehliye Hotel, which is along Maka al Mukaram road.
On Saturday, Shabab gunmen stormed a government building in Mogadishu after a suicide car bombing, and the ensuing gunfight and blast killed at least 15 people, including the country’s deputy labor minister, the police said, Reuters reported.
On Tuesday, a bomb planted in a private luxury car exploded in Mogadishu’s Hodan District, killing the driver and injuring a nearby pedestrian, Col. Ahmed Abdi, a police official, told The A.P.
The Shabab are fighting to topple the Western-backed government protected by African Union forces. The group was ejected from Mogadishu in 2011 and has since been driven from most of its other strongholds.
The United States military has increased the number of deadly airstrikes against the militants since Donald J. Trump took office as president. A number of multinational troops, including African Union force, Somali forces and Kenyan soldiers, are also fighting the Shabab.
