Charleston Restaurant Report July 2016
ON THE MENU1. Green Scene – PAY ATTENTION TO FOOD WASTE2. Local Restaurant News – WILL CHARLESTON RESTAURANTS JOIN THE NO TIPPING MOVEMENT?3. Restaurant Openings, Closings and Coming Soon!4. National Restaurant Trends – POS SYSTEM: GATEWAY TO SECURITY BREACHGREEN SCENEPAY ATTENTION TO FOOD WASTEOur country has a massive food waste problem. The EPA estimates that we throw out or waste roughly 31% -- 133 BILLION POUNDS -- of our food supply each year. While great effort and resources are spent recycling other materials, we haven't paid too much attention to our food waste, and the problem is getting bigger. However, there are businesses now popping up to help grocery stores, restaurants, farmers and consumers tackle the problem, one bite at a time. Is your restaurant adding to the problem? Read here about a few SC companies with food waste solutions in The State newspaper.LOCAL RESTAURANT NEWSWILL CHARLESTON RESTAURANTS JOIN THE NO TIPPING MOVEMENT?The No Tipping movement is afoot in a few U.S. cities, but it has not yet arrived in Charleston. It will probably take a collective effort of local restaurant owners to jump into the no tipping pool together in order for the policy to take hold and gain momentum. Having worked in front-of-house, back-of house, and corporate restaurant positions, I would like to see restaurants adopt a no-tipping-necessary policy. Post & Courier reporter Hanna Raskin provides an interesting look at the No-Tipping issue in a recent article.RESTAURANT OPENINGS, CLOSINGS + COMING SOON!The following list reflects 2nd Quarter 2016 market activity (April - June 2016):OPENINGS --Burger Fi (Mt. Pleasant)Butcher & Bee (Downwtown – relocated)Clean Eatz (W. Ashley)Crooked Crown (Downtown)Eclectic Café & Vinyl (Downtown)Eggs Up Grill (Summerville)Feathertop Café (Downtown)Gogogreens (Mt. Pleasant)Harold’s Cabin (Downtown)Henrietta’s (Downtown)Hibachi (Downtown – former Thrive Organic Eatery)Lewis Barbecue (Downtown)Little Jack’s Tavern (Downtown – former Saint Albans)Luke’s Craft Pizza (Downtown – former Charleston Pizza Co.)Mellow Mushroom (N. Charleston)Nacha Mama’s Taqueria (Seabrook – former Arriba Cucina Cantina)Que d’Keys (Downtown)Persimmon Café (Summerville)San Luca’s Mexican Grill (Seabrook – former Heritage)Saveurs du Monde (Mt. Pleasant – former Bougnat)The Commodore (Downtown – former Touch of Class)The Living Room (Downtown)Urban Cookhouse (Mt. Pleasant)Welkin Coffee (Downtown – former Café Paradiso)Wise-Buck Smoked Meats (Downtown)CLOSINGS --Café Paradiso (Downtown)Chick’s Fry House (Downtown)Roly Poly (West Ashley)The Southerly (Mount Pleasant)COMING SOON --Fratello’s (Mt Pleasant – former Carter’s Kitchen)Meeting at Market (Downtown)Mex 1 (Sullivans Island – former SALT)MOD Pizza (W. Ashley)Pawpaw (Downtown – former Wet Willie’s)Sermet’s Cuisine-Bar (James Island – former Heart Woodfire Kitchen)Scarecrow (Downtown)Swig & Swine (Summerville)The Brick (Downtown – former Charleston Tea Company)Tidal Grounds Coffee (Mt. Pleasant)NATIONAL RESTAURANT TRENDSPOS SYSTEM: GATEWAY TO SECURITY BREACHNations Restaurant News recently highlighted problems with POS system security and credit card fraud that affected over 300 Wendy's locations. Hackers can break into restaurant POS systems by hacking third-party restaurant vendor computer systems that have access to restaurant POS systems. Restaurant customer credit + debit card info is ultimately stolen for re-sale on the black market. Security analysts suggest that your POS system is only as secure as your vendor network's systems. How secure is your POS system? Read more here….