This week from June 21st – June 27th marks The Yelp Eats Event in St. Louis.  12 different restaurants are participating offering a special 3-Course Dinner menu for just $25 + tax and tip.  The menus look freaking tasty!  Please get out this week and support our local St. Louis restaurants.

Below are the different menus that are offered:

Kota Wood Fire Grill:

Appetizer: Garlic Barbeque Delta Shrimp OR Stuffed Mushrooms with goat cheese and herbs

Entree: Jerk Painted Salmon OR Hickory Fired Orzo OR Espresso Rubbed Beef Filet Medallions

Dessert: Devil’s Food Cupcake OR Apple Pie and praline sauce

Sanctuaria:

Appetizer: Choose any 1 tapas from the menu.

Entree: Choose any 1 tapas from the menu OR any 1 cocktail from the specialty cocktail menu

Dessert: Choose any dessert from the dessert menu

Frazer’s Restaurant & Lounge:

Appetizer: Chorizo Stuffed Dates OR Zucchini Rolls (vegetarian)

Entree: Moroccan Tilapia OR Daily Chicken Special OR Steak Frites OR Sweet Potato Spinach Enchiladas (vegetarian)

Dessert: Bread Pudding OR Key Lime Pie

Lola:

Appetizer: Goddess Salad OR House Salad OR Caesar Salad OR Soup du Jour

Entree: Lobster Corn Dog with Mac ‘n Cheese OR Coq Au Vin OR Carmen Crepe

Dessert: Dessert au Jour

Milagro Modern Mexican:

Appetizer: Queso Fundido OR Quesadilla Tradicionales

Entree: Carne Asada OR Salmon Yucateco OR Chiles Rellenos

Dessert: Tres Leches Cupcake OR Apple Cinnamon Empanadas

Jade Restaurant & Lounge:

Appetizer: Crab Rangoon OR Pork Pot Stickers

Entree: Mango Tofu OR Chicken Sauteed Mushrooms OR Hidden Dragon Roll

Dessert: Green Tea Cheesecake OR Fried Banana

Onesto Pizza & Trattoria:

Appetizer: House Salad OR Salami Roll

Entree: Pick any 14-inch Pizza (up to 3 toppings) OR Eggplant Parmigano Plate OR Spaghetti & Meatballs

Dessert: Tiramisu OR Cheesecake of the Day

Almond’s:

Appetizer: Asparagus Risotto OR Crab Cakes

Entree: Pan Fried Chicken OR Grilled Salmon OR Veggie Pasta

Dessert: Blueberry Bread Pudding OR Chocolate Souffles with berry sauce

***NOTE: Almond’s is closed Thursday evening for a private party***

Boogaloo:

Appetizer: New Orleans Style BBQ Shrimp OR Vegetarian Flatbread OR
Plaintain Tostones

Entree: Ropa Viesja OR Half Jerk Chicken OR Jamaican Johnny Cakes

Dessert: Bread Pudding OR Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee

Mosaic Modern Fusion:

Pre-appetizer/Chef’s Creation: Amuse Bouche

Appetizer: Fresh Mozzarella Caprese OR North African-style Hummus

Entree:  Petit Beef Tenderloin OR Cuban Artichoke Roast Chicken OR Chef’s Seafood Selection

Dessert: Chocolate Pot of Cream OR French Toast Bread Pudding

The Scottish Arms:

Appetizer: Scotch Eggs OR Haddcock Cakes OR Mixed Green Salad

Entree: Fish ‘n’ Chips OR Chicken Curry OR Pork Burger OR Terrene of veggies

Dessert: Bread Pudding of the day OR Fried Mars Bar

The Shaved Duck:

Appetizers: Crab cakes with jalapeno cream corn OR Smoked Wings with mango habenero bbq sauce

Entrees: Smoked Meatloaf with root beer glaze and choice of one side OR Duck Flatbread with smoked tomatoes spinach bleu cheese and bourbon drizzle

Desserts: Rhubarb Pie with a scoop of ice cream OR Hummingbird Cake
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Please note these restaurants will also be serving their regular menu during Yelp Eats. When you make your reservations at participating restaurants mention you would like to receive the Yelp Eats menu.
Email stlouis@yelp.com for any questions!

Disclaimer:  UrbanBacon has partnered with Yelp to help promote Yelp Eats this week.  In return, we will be sponsoring The Weekly Yelp the week of July 28th.  Just being transparent and honest with our readers:).

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Across from St. Louis, in the small river town of Alton, IL resides a legendary bar called Fast Eddies Bon Air.  Some gather for the drinks, most come for the food.  The scene resembles “The Double Deuce” from the movie Roadhouse, hosting everything from bikers to attorneys.  The only difference is Patrick Swayze isn’t ripping out throats, and Fast Eddies clientele is MUCH friendlier.

The dark interior of Fast Eddies is lit up with neon beer signs, old memorabilia, and glowing flat screens covering the days sporting events.  At first glance, it’s not a place to take your mother.  Only to find out, your mom loves Fast Eddies!

So why does Fast Eddies draw such a crowd?  I’ve seen Sundays where they ring 500+ food orders by 2pm.  That’s just warm up!  What is their secret?  How do they do it?  Here are the 5 reasons why Fast Eddie’s Bon Air sells:

1.  Keep the Menu Simple, Stupid…

What does Fast Eddies Menu consist of?

-Peel n’ Eat Shrimp…29 cents

-Fat Eddie ½lb Burger…99 cents

-Basket of Fries…99 cents

-Bratwurst…99 cents

-Red Hots…99 cents

-Pork Kabob…$1.99

-Hot Chick on a Stick…$2.99

-Big Elwood (steak kabob)…$2.99

What you see is what you get.  We are huge advocates of keeping things simple.  Ever open a Cheesecake Factory Menu?  Keep it simple, and make it awesome!  (perfect what you do best)

2.  Cheap Eats = Tons of Drinks

Look at The Fast Eddie’s Menu, its cheap…dirt cheap.  It’s the main reason people keep coming back.  How much profit do you think Eddie clears on food?  My guess is slim to none…

In a sense, Eddie is like the blogger of the restaurant industry.  He offers free content (food), and sells drinks.  Just like a blogger who writes about saving on insurance and sells insurance polices.  Teach a man to fish, and he will buy the fishing poles from you.

Cracker Barrel is great example of this!  They make 23% of profit from retail sales.  What about gas stations?  They sell gas just to get you in the store.  Most of their profit comes from retail sales, not fuel.

Give incentive to your customers.  Offer something at a great price, and then focus on up-selling.

3.  Cash Only = Unbelievable Service

Yes, you heard correct, Fast Eddie’s is CASH ONLY.  While most of us move forward into new payment systems with our iPhone like Square, they keep it old school.  Waitresses never wait to run tabs.  Splitting tabs is out of the question.  They enter drinks, pay the bartender cash, and on to the next customer.  It almost seems like waitresses roam without sections, although I am sure that’s not the case.

Now I am not suggesting you switch to cash only.  It works for Fast Eddies because they focus on volume.  I am pointing out how much smoother the wait staff operates.  They are fast and efficient.  Are there ways to simplify how you accept payments?  Make things faster?  Streamline?  These are all questions to help both your customers and FOH.

4.  Patios Sell Themselves

One of the greatest features is Fast Eddie’s Patio.  It’s GINORMOUS!  To give you an idea, they bought the street next door to expand it, put a retractable roof over it, added space heaters, and made it open year round.  Most call it awesome, I call it genius!

People love to be outside, especially in the summertime.  If your restaurant has the room, make a patio.  Sidewalk patios work also if you can get the license.  It is worth giving customers the option to sit outside, patios keep customers drinking all summer!

5.  “This Place Rocks My Face Off”

Atmosphere is everything.  Fast Eddies is a unique experience.  When you first walk into Fast Eddies, you feel the vibe.  This place is different.  This place rocks my face off!  Focus on making your restaurant/bar unique for every experience.  Man vs Food is an example of how to make your restaurant unique.  Entertain people with live music, let the food smells permeate, and be friendly.  That’s how you keep people coming back.

Disclaimer:  In no way is UrbanBacon affiliated with Fast Eddies, I just happen to love that place!

Won’t you be, my neighbor?  This was the theme song to a long airing PBS show called Mister Rodgers Neighborhood.  The lovable character, Mister Rodgers, asked this of American children for close to 33 years.  He believed in community and crossing the fence to meet your neighbors.  You know what?  Fred Rodgers would have made an excellent restaurateur!

Running a restaurant involves an engine of working parts.  If the engine starts locking up, marketing gets quickly pushed aside.  In reality, marketing is the oil that keeps the engine running.  Starting locally within your community is a powerful marketing tactic…Mister Rodgers understood this principle.

I was recently reading the three part series at Jaw Dropping Marketing titled Restaurant Marketing:  Be a Good Neighbor…and the wheels started cranking.  The article talks about being involved in your community as a form of marketing.  Car washes, charity events, and church picnics are all ways to get involved.  These people are the customer base of your restaurant.  Don’t sit back waiting…offer to help with community events, and they will thank you by becoming a patron.

Who are your neighbors in a three mile radius?  ESPECIALLY the office buildings, they can help double your lunch crowd.  You need to get out within this community and make friends.  Go door to door and introduce yourself.  Offer a coupon or just shake hands.  Tell them about your restaurant.  These are the people who are most likely to become repeat business, just because they live next door.  You need to meet your neighbors, it worked for Mister Rodgers, and it will work for you!

An easier way to scale these relationships are online.  Scour Facebook and Twitter looking for people who live in your community.   Friend or follow them up and introduce yourself.  Tell them about your restaurant and invite them in.  Don’t push specials on them, that would be spamming.  Take the time and get to know them.  If they are part of church group on Facebook, ask if you can cater a picnic.  Get creative, the business is in your backyard.

We both know that Mister Rodgers wasn’t a restaurateur, but he would have been awesome.  Getting involved within your community is a way to give back, and run a successful business.  The people within your community are the people who pay your bills.  Take the time to meet, show you care, and they will support you.  It is the ultimate “THANK YOU.”  Now step over the fence and start meeting your neighbors!

WE NEED YOUR HELP PEEPS!

Everyday we are working to provide more value to our users.  Currently the UB Team is working on adding a new follower feature.  The feature will allow  people to “follow” their favorite restaurant.  Once following a restaurant, you will receive an email notification when they post a new deal.  Nothing long and outlandish, just a quick reminder that your favorite restaurant is offering a new deal!  You will also be given the option to “unfollow” restaurants in your user profile.

Our Dilemma:

We are SICK of the word “followers.”  Therefore, we need your help dreaming up a new name for UB Users!  Some current suggestions (seriously in all seriousness dudes):

Bacon-nators

Dominators

Patrons

Supporters

Fans (sorry FB, you gave it up lol)

Ok, none of these are 100% set in stone or even half way serious.  That is why we are calling on you guys.  Can you help us dream up a new name for our awesome UB users? PLEASE LEAVE YOUR SUGGESTIONS BELOW!

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Remember the movie “Field of Dreams?”  It’s about a middle-aged guy named Ray Kinsella living with his family among the vast cornfields of Iowa.  While farming the yellow fields one day…Ray hears a voice.  The voice softly whispers “If you build it, he will come.”  Taken by surprise, he continues laboring and tending his precious crops to feed his family.  As time passes, the voice starts booming louder and louder – “If you build it, he will come” – “If you build it, he will come.”  This sparks relentless ambition into Ray as he realizes what the voice is telling him:  Build a baseball diamond.  Thus starting the worst movie ever made…

Ok, it’s not a bad movie…I will admit that.  It’s touching to watch his drive and dedication in building something he knows nothing about. When was the last time you listened this deep?

Just Because You Build It, Doesn’t Mean Customers Will Come

So he built it, and they came.  This is why I feel it’s the worst movie ever.  “If you build it, he (they) will come” is the biggest line of crap ever rattled off, at least from an entrepreneurial standpoint.  Yet tons of entrepreneurs think with this mentality.  Setup shop, sit back, and watch the cash roll in.  Even worse, spend thousands of dollars in advertising and wait for customers to show up.  What happens when nobody shows up?

Building a business takes hustle, patience, and perseverance.  Just setting up shop doesn’t guarantee customers.  This is true in any business, not just the food and service industry.  Your customers are there, you have to actively seek them out.  Hit the streets, make phone calls, network, and scrap for every last customer you can find.  Get relentless and don’t settle…because the second you stop hustling, is the second your restaurant loses.

Social Media Makes Life Easy

Back in the day, people had to hustle much harder than us.  Even Ray in The Field of Dreams had to drop all his chores and work to build a baseball diamond.  That takes physical work.  Can you imagine being an entrepreneur before computers?  We have life easy.  Our work is scalable.  We have instant access to thousands of potential customers’ right through this screen.  All it takes is hustle.  If you own a restaurant, your time is now.  Learn what it takes to succeed with social media and hustle everyday.  Because just building physical walls doesn’t guarantee success.

What do you think?  Are we too conditioned for instant gratification?  Can meeting people through social media gain restaurant patrons?  Comment below friends:)

We have been following the Yelp lawsuits closely at UrbanBacon.  As promised, we will occasionally  keep you up to date with recent happenings…Check out their blog here for the full story.

This week Yelp decided to change their advertising structure.    Businesses advertising with Yelp were previously allowed to highlight their favorite review at the top of their profile.  A monkey could figure out why a business would want their best review displayed at top of the page.  They are now removing this feature from their business model.  Is it too late?

Yelp also filters their reviews.  The filters sift reviews that are possibly posted by people affiliated with the business.  This is for obvious reasons.  Otherwise every business would have their entire family giving them 5 stars.  In an attempt to add transparency, Yelp has added a section so users can view what their filters are catching.  Now everyone can read reviews that were never posted.

When the lawsuits were brought about, we questioned the future of Yelp.  One thing we can say is they are making efforts.  Is it too little too late?  While they have reached a settlement with these changes, the lawyers are proceeding with the class action suit.  They are looking to collect damages which could come at a pretty penny.  A scheduled conference has been set for April 26, 2010.

What do you guys think?  Is Yelp doing enough to clear their name?  Have they lost credibility?  Please leave your comments below!

Disclosure:  I am a member of Yelp, but am skeptical with their current business practices.  As of now, my reviews will stay posted…as of now

GET EXCITED! We are currently working on revamping our current design.  Basically cleaning things out and making the site tidier.  We want to provide a simple design for our users while making the best use of white space.  So far, it looks flippin’ awesome!

As we work to make things better, please tell your friends.  Have them join us at UrbanBacon.  Start commenting on deals and give us feedback.  Every bit of feedback helps make UrbanBacon a better service for both restaurants and people.  We are humbled and thankful for your help!

It’s no secret, the Internet has given individuals a voice.  Bloggers are splashed across the canvas of social media ranting about their encounters with restaurants and basically every industry on the planet.  Everyone is subject to reviews, and guess what?

People Listen.

This is the basis behind word of mouth marketing.  We all value each others opinions to some degree, almost more than we value critics.  Critics seem untouchable as humans, and it becomes hard to relate in our mundane lives.

This is nothing new.  We’ve been recommending and trashing restaurants for years.  Think about the office, how many times a day do you hear people talking about different restaurants?  Are they all good?  Of course not, people have bad experiences.  Not only that, we have been programmed by society to think complaining is rude.  So we hold complaints until we leave.  Maybe restaurants are to blame, maybe people are to blame.  The bottom line:  It happens.

I’ve always been a big advocate of acceptance.  By accepting and realizing these norms, we can all move forward.  People are going to blog about your restaurant, they are going to speak out over social media, and they are going to complain.  Not every customer will have a positive experience.  Maybe their dog died, or the food was off that day, or the sun wasn’t in-line with Pluto…whatever the case, customers will complain.  The way these complaints are handled is the deal breaker.

Let’s look at a scenario:

A young couple visits your restaurant and has a bad experience.  Trying not to cause a scene, they don’t address the situation (trust me, this is common).  They pay for the meal, tip their server, and head home.  It so happens, the couple runs a foodie blog that reviews local restaurants.  The next day, a negative review of your restaurant is published on the Internet.  Not good for business, right?  Your restaurant has two options:

You can ignore the review, and possibly spout your anger through social media…

OR

You can leave this comment on their blog:

“Hello, my name is ___________, and I manage/own (restaurant name).  I am deeply sorry you had a negative experience.  Next time please feel free to tell our wait staff, they want to help make things right.  To show we appreciate your business, stop in next time and have a meal on us.  We want you guys to come back and visit us.”

As a business, which do you think is the better response?  You have the opportunity to immediately turn a negative into a positive.  Other readers will see your reaction and appreciate your honesty and willingness to fix the situation.  That is ROCKSTAR customer service.  Your customers are talking, whether it’s online or offline, are you listening?

Yesterday, the well-known start-up Yelp was slapped with a class action lawsuit.    You can read about the story here.  Yelp has been accused of “extortion” by a veterinarian hospital in California.  The hospital contacted Yelp asking them to remove negative reviews of the business.  Yelp refused to take down the reviews.  Then a funny thing happened, the veterinary hospital was promptly contacted by a Yelp “sales representative.”  The rep told the company they could delete or lower the negative reviews on their pages for the low cost of around $300/mo.

Much to my surprise, this isn’t new news.  I tweeted a few articles yesterday and the reactions were shocking.  Apparently, I live under a rock.  My tweeps informed me that Yelp has been extorting business for quite some time.

I had NO idea…honestly.

This almost triggered me to remove my 40 some Yelp reviews yesterday, but I decided against (for now).  Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and there are intriguing questions to be answered:

Are they really extorting small businesses?

Do Yelp reviews still hold water anyways?

How many businesses do you think will join the class action lawsuit countrywide?

One thing I do have to say about the situation:  It has destroyed Yelp’s credibility.  The site is built on reviews, whether negative or positive.  The fact they are collecting revenue to “hide” negative reviews destroys the entire mantra of the site.  Who can you trust?  In my eyes, the money blinded Yelp from what they originally set out to create.  I am anxious to see their response to the lawsuit.

What do you guys think?  Can a start-up like Yelp withstand a nationwide class-action lawsuit?  How do restaurant owners feel about it?  Is Yelp dead?

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In the famous words of Tyrone Biggums from The Dave Chappelle Show:

“Something you might not know about me Joe Rogan…I love happy hour!”

Well, that’s not 100% how it went, but works for the sake of this post.  It’s true, I love happy hour in every shape and form.  There is nothing like relaxing for a few hours after a long day in the office. This brings us to our discussion for the day:

What are your favorite happy hour specials?

Personally, I enjoy $5 domestic buckets.  ½ off apps are also delicious.  It really doesn’t get much better than that!

But what I enjoy may not be what you enjoy.  So let’s hear it.  What are your favorite happy hours?  What food specials do you like?  Where do you consistently hit up on a weekly basis?  Feel free to name your favorite local spots, comment below!