If your restaurant’s front doors open over a busy downtown sidewalk, you own a plot of property that is appropriate for advertising’s most populist canvas,  the A-frame sidewalk chalkboard . Come on—how can you not love these chalkboards? They’re an irresistible, unconventional, customizable pedestrian flytrap. And I assure you, there are at least three aspiring painters or poets or typographers working for you already who would kill to play with a stub of chalk every morning before lunch. Sure, chalkboard signs are analogue—old media—but so what? Neil Young put it best on Rust Never Sleeps: “…It’s old, but it’s good…”

We all know that wine has to be stored carefully, but we might not all know why.  Oxidation, or the exposure to oxygen in the air, is the sworn enemy of a good wine because wine, just like the fruit it’s made from, turns bad with extended exposure to oxygen.  The color and aroma can begin to change within a few hours of opening the bottle, and a bottle of wine which isn’t preserved is generally considered unfit to be served after three days.

In an effort to raise a healthier generation of kids the Let’s Move Campaign is pushing for schools to offer healthier food options to their students. One recommendation set forth was to upgrade the cafeteria equipment to support the provision of healthier foods, for example, by swapping out deep fryers for salad bars.

Choosing the right dishwasher for your restaurant or establishment can seem pretty overwhelming, especially when your current dishwasher just kicked the bucket and your employees are threatening to riot from being forced to manually wash all the dishes in the restaurant. But the more you know about commercial dishwashers the easier it is to decide on the right machine to get your business back on track.

From  salad/sandwich prep tables to  bottle coolers , True Manufacturing has the commercial refrigeration you’re looking for.  True has been an industry leader in commercial refrigeration for 65 years and to this day they continue to go above and beyond in the areas of quality, design, availability and performance.

The Stow-Away portable bar PB5-24IB-BK and the PB5-BK are ideally styled for serving at wedding receptions, outside bars, and other special events. These portable bars are great for storing drink items and other smaller products on the go. Some specific features of the portable bars are the heavy gauge, aluminum exterior surface and the PB5-24IB-BK comes equipped with a stainless steel ice bin with a drain and petcock valve that holds about 95lbs of ice. There are

Cinco De Mayo means pinatas, sombreros, and all those thirsty customers storming the bars for margaritas. This blend of tequila and sweet and tangy elements is truly a customer favorite in the alcoholic beverage industry all year around and any bartender should be familiar with it’s creation. Of course we all know the definition of “perfect” is subject to variation based on personal preference, but when it comes to making margaritas there are some guidelines.

Summer is fast approaching and those of you in the food service business know what that means; ice, ice, baby! It’s time for cold drinks, chilled food and snow cones. So it’s safe to say that many of you will be looking to invest in an ice machine relatively soon. But different uses of ice calls for different types of ice, and the ice manufacturing industry has come a long way from the original cube that was the standard shape so many years ago. When buying an ice machine one of the most important things is determining what kind of ice is best suited for your business or establishment’s demands. Here’s the low down on the different types of ice available today:

About a week ago Vivian walked by my desk and handed me a brochure for a new product, the Flash AdBoard.  What is the Flash AdBoard you may ask… well I’m here to give you the 411 on these very cool & very affordable illuminated rewritable signboards.  This powerful eye catching marketing tool lights up your message like neon using the latest in LED technology.  LED’s (light emitting diode) have a very low energy consumption (3 watts per hour) and will last 100,000 hours (10 years) making this board greener than conventional lighted signs, and less costly operate and maintain.

If you are wanting to buy a juicer, you may think that the process of going out and purchasing one would be very simple; however, there are several types of juicers on the market that you may not be aware existed. The type of juicer all depends on the type of products you plan on juicing and more importantly the thickness of the juice you plan on making.

We’ve discussed wine pairing in previous posts, but sometimes a more handy, visual guide can be very useful when making those quick dinner decisions. Here is a comprehensive chart of wine pairing advice, courtesy of winefolly.com.

One of the most important pieces of equipment in a restaurant is the sink. Commercial sinks come in all shapes and sizes for different purposes, be it food prep, ware washing, and of course, washing your hands. But the most common and useful sink in the industry is the 3 compartment sink. Many food service operations are required to have these sinks to rinse, wash and sanitize utensils, tableware and equipment in the event that their automatic ware washer malfunctions. We recognize the value of the compartment sink’s role in the kitchen so we’ve compiled a list of our top three 3 compartment sinks and reasons why we love them.

The weather is getting warmer and that means it’s time for purchasing a commercial walk-in cooler or commercial walk-in freezer for your restaurant. If you are just starting a restaurant and you are confused about what type of commercial walk-in cooler or commercial walk-in freezer to buy, then perhaps I can be of some assistance.

One of the more recent focuses in food safety is the potential contamination of restaurant ice. An independent study in Chicago showed that on average 1 out of every 5 restaurant’s and bar’s ice contains more bacteria than toilet water. Needless to say this resulted in a pretty big public concern from 2007 to 2008. In the food service industry ice is used for two key reasons: keeping food cold and to serve in beverages, both of which will be consumed by the customer. So here’s a few points to help you prevent contamination and to give you one less thing to worry about when that next health inspection comes around.

You must’ve heard that 75% of taste actually comes from the way a thing smells. So tell me this: why would any reasonable person keep good beer confined inside the bottle? Release it! Let it breathe! Whenever beer is poured into a glass, its bubbles get dislodged and float to the surface, tugging those delicious beery aromas along with them. But as you’re soon to find out, choosing a beer glass is more complicated than just opening the cupboard and grabbing whichever one’s in front. Scroll through this infographic and you’ll learn which glass your beer needs—nay—deserves.

Are you starting a new restaurant, convenience store, cafeteria, bar, or any other business that requires ice? Is your current commercial ice machine becoming a money pit due to excessive service calls and replacement parts? Are you looking to replace that old commercial ice machine with a newer more energy efficient model? Here are some thing to consider when buying a new commercial ice machine: what will I be using the ice for, what type of ice do I need, and how much ice do I need?

With the recent rise in interest of superfoods and fruit-based diet plans, smoothies have become more popular than ever. Once a risky business model at best, dedicated smoothie shops are now opening—and thriving—all over the country. With relatively straightforward lists of ingredients and lots of cross-over between menu offerings, running a smoothie shop requires little overhead and can bring in steady profits, if properly equipped. If you’re thinking about starting up a juice or smoothie shop of your own, here are a few of the necessary items to keep your operation running without a hitch.

This year’s NAFEM show in Orlando, Florida has officially begun, with exciting news from Hoshizaki about the newest additions to their ever-expanding lines of high-quality commercial ice machines. This year, Hoshizaki is launching a new square cube ice machine, bringing their already versatile family of ice styles up to 5 different types of crystal clear, commercial grade ice.

It’s an ugly topic, but if we want beautiful dining experiences, we have to address it.  A common cause of food borne illness is cross-contamination, which requires effort to combat.   Cross-contamination is the spreading of pathogens from one surface to another, whether from foods, containers, hands, or the very air breathed by a sick employee.  We’re at war with cross-contamination, and confront it on every side.  Unfortunately, our enemy is everything within and about your restaurant environment.

We’ve just updated our learning center with a guide on choosing glassware for your bar or restaurant. If you’ve ever wondered what assortment of glassware you might need for the sorts of drinks that you want to serve at your new bar, or if you need to reconsider your glassware stock to better match the changing preferences of your existing customer base, this detailed guide will help you make the decision without over purchasing.