Idea of the Day - A new idea each day. Some Don't Suck!

Our Latest Posts About: Restaurants

Ask For Your Leftover Drinks In a To-Go Cup

Sunday, August 28, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

When you bring home leftovers from a restaurant, don't forget your drinks!

Most restaurants will happily give you your last refill in a "To-Go" cup to go along with the rest of your leftovers, but few people remember to ask for it. Perhaps they feel shy about asking for it, but there's no reason to be shy, after all, you paid for your drinks.

The idea of asking for my leftover drinks never occurred to me until a waitress at a Cracker Barrel in New Jersey casually asked me if I wanted a drink refill in a to-go cup.

I just finished my meal and she asked me if I wanted a refill of my iced tea. I told her I didn't want to waste it because I was ready to leave, so she simply said, "I can put it in a to-go cup so you can take it with you". Ever since then, I've asked for my l... [More]

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Restaurant Buzzers With Time Displays

Saturday, January 23, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Don't you hate guessing how long you have to wait?

The one thing that's worse than waiting for a table in a restaurant is not knowing how long you'll be waiting.

You know the routine. You walk into a restaurant and the host hands you a buzzer and invites you to wait in the bar or out on the patio. As time passes, you check it from time to time and wonder if it's broken. Eventually you go back to the host and make sure you didn't miss it.

Wouldn't it be great if restaurant buzzers had a digital display that gives you the approximate time left to wait? With the right software it should easily update the display every time a new table is cleared.

Then, instead of pacing the floor wondering when and if you'll be called, you can just check the display from time to time a... [More]

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TRAYS at Panera Bread

Monday, January 11, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Why doesn't Panera Bread offer you a tray to carry your food to the table?

It's a real pain in the neck bringing food to the table at Panera Bread, especially if you've got more than one person with you.

If you've been to Panera Bread, you know the routine. You order at the front counter, and they immediately hand you your cups and any pastries you may have ordered. Next, you walk to the back to fill your cups and pick up your food. If the restaurant is busy, you're tempted to fill the cup, and put it down on a table, but there's a chance somebody will throw it out, so you carry it with you, along with your pastries. Now you've got a drink in one hand and the pastries in the other, so you'll have to somehow fit the pastries on the plate and try to hold the everything as yo... [More]

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No Carpets in Restaurants

Monday, October 19, 2015 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Carpets don't belong in restaurants.

The other day I went to a fast food restaurant that had carpets in the main dining area. To be honest, I didn't even notice it at first. I just sat down and started eating, until I started to notice an odd smell. I eventually realized the smell was coming from the carpet. It was not only smelling up the whole place, but it felt a bit sticky, like an old movie theater.

That's when I started to imagine how often food and drinks fall on the floor and soak into the carpet. Night after night, customers drop a little soda here and there, a few french fries, a pickle, maybe even a few dairy products. Then I picture the staff vacuuming the surface, and having it shampooed from time to time.

By contrast, restaurants with hard floors end ea

... [More]

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Bring Back the Mac Jr.

Sunday, October 18, 2015 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Remember the Mac Jr.?

Sometimes I need to eat while I'm driving, and that makes it hard to eat certain foods, like the Big Mac. As much as I love them, it's pretty hard eating them with one hand. I love the taste, especially of the Special Sauce, but everything falls all over the place.

That's why I was excited when they introduced the Mac Junior in the early 90s. Everything you love about the Big Mac, except it was just one patty, instead of two. The only problem was that, it was for a limited time.

Like the McRib, the Mac Jr. resurfaces from time to time, and they even offered a Mac Snack Wrap that had the same ingredients, but once again, by the time you realize they're offering it, it's gone.

Bur

... [More]

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Gluten Free Bread At Panera Bread

Thursday, August 27, 2015 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

I love Panera Bread, but they need some gluten free bread options.

One of the things that makes Panera Bread different from most restaurants is the quality and variety of freshly baked breads they carry. Obviously, with a name like Panera Bread, that's exactly what you would expect, a wide variety of bread.

For a company that specializes in making a wide variety of breads, it's odd that gluten free bread isn't an option.

Adding gluten free breads to their menu would immediately increase sales. Every time a large restaurant chain adds gluten free options to their menu, they get a big boost in sales from families with people who are on a gluten restricted diet, who otherwise wouldn't eat there in the first place. As restaurants add gluten free options, word spreads quickly... [More]

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Turkey and Veggie Burgers in Fast Food Restaurants

Tuesday, August 18, 2015 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

If you're going into the burger business, shouldn't you make more than one kind of burger?

Turkey burgers and veggie burgers are popular right now, so you can order one in just about any restaurant... except for fast food burger places. Isn't that odd? They're burger places, aren't they? So why only one kind of burger patty?

I"m not suggesting that they remove beef from the menu. I'm simply suggesting that by adding turkey and veggie burgers to the menu, they are guaranteed to get customers who don't eat beef. To me, that's an untapped market.

I give kudos to Burger King, for being the first to offer a Veggie Burger, but they should consider turkey too. Ruby Tuesdays and Red Robin may not be fast food... but they offer every possible type of burger you can imagine, in... [More]

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Whatever Happened to Fixings Bars?

Tuesday, May 26, 2015 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Have it your way?

We all remember Burger King's jingle... "Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce, special orders don't upset us. All we ask that you let us serve you your way... Have it your way."

It was a huge success for Burger King back in the 70s. It meant that whenever you ordered your burger, you could ask them to subtract anything you didn't like. What could be better than that?

Being able to SUBTRACT whatever you wanted was great... Then one day I ordered a burger at Fuddruckers and it didn't have ANYTHING on it. Nothing. That's when I discovered my first Fixings Bar, where they had more than a dozen things you can ADD to your burger. Suffice it to say, adding to a burger is way better than subtrac... [More]

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Room Temperature Butter Packets in Restaurants.

Sunday, May 24, 2015 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

What good is bread and butter... if the butter is FROZEN?

This one is a no brainer. Why do some restaurants serve bread with rock solid butter? By the time it warms up enough to spread, your nice warm bread will start to get cold. It's not a "New" idea, but somehow restaurants continue to neglect the simple fact that cold butter is hard to spread.

I realize it's essential to refrigerate dairy products, but it's common sense to allow it to warm up a bit before you serve it. If nothing else, at least defrost butter that has been kept in the freezer.

Thankfully some restaurants put their butter on heated plates. That's a good start, but what really impresses me is when a restaurant has the courtesy to serve butter at room temperature. It's little things like that that s... [More]

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* Note: The ideas on "Idea of the Day" were posted without any formal research into existing inventions.

In some cases, patents may already exist for these ideas, in other cases, there may not be any existing patents and you are free to develop and explore the viability of developing and patenting the ideas.

The authors make no claim that any of the ideas are safe, practical, or suitable for any particular purpose. You are responsible for the results of trying, developing, patenting or using any of the ideas on this site.

For some people, our ideas are just an interesting read, but our goal is to encourage you to take action. If you see an idea that you like, do something with it... Take action.

- Joe

Idea Of The Day. A new Idea Each Day. Some Don't Suck.