Being Prepared For Everything

Have you ever thought about what COULD happen if the high-tech ordering system at your restaurant malfunctions while you, the only person that understands how it operates, is off duty?

This would be disastrous. Not only would your employees be in a frenzy, but you wouldn't be able to operate your business, subsequently not taking in any revenue during the downtime. 

Knowing that these things can happen with technology, how can you prepare for such a potentially harmful event? 

We employ Proxy Networks's remote access through a remote computer for troubleshooting purposes. 

The fact that we can utilize this tool at any given time makes our staff assured that any technical problem we experience can be remedied quick enough to combat any potential damage or unprofessionalism on our part. 

This is just an example of us wanting to go above and beyond in supplying remarkable customer service and satisfaction. 

Another good example of going above and beyond would be a computer technician using Proxy Networks to remotely control and troubleshoot their clients’ computers. After all, being able to fix the problem yourself at any time will make for a quick and painless remedy to a simple computer problem. While most technicians would first make the client call and set up an appointment a week later, the rep offering Remote Access is getting more done, making more people happier, and subsequently making more money along the way.

And of course it doesn’t hurt that he is also offering 256-bit encryption for a secure connection through Proxy Networks. It’s the highest protection in its class.

It's always good to be both prepared and ready to serve your customers the best way possible. 

Valentine's Day and Flowers

It's that time of year again. Valentine's Day is right around the corner. As a restaurant, it's one of our favorite holidays of the year. We get to sit back and enjoy all of the couples that come in to enjoy our food and celebrate their love for another year.

All of the gooey and lovey-dovey stuff aside, we really do love Valentine's Day a lot. We don't just love it as a restaurant, but as individual team members as well. For those of us that don't have to work, we thoroughly enjoy spending the night with our soul mate (if we have one).

For all of the men out there, a large part of the success of a Valentine's Day is how well-prepared you are. Not only are you expected to have the dinner plans, but you must be sure to get some chocolates and valentine's day flowers.

For these important things, we recommend our friends at 1-800 Flowers. They offer holiday packages, flower arrangements, and tons of gift bundle options. The fact that they deliver anywhere makes them a no-brainer choice.

Please leave a comment about what you have planned for Valentine's Day this year. Also, if you plan to dine with us, be sure you call and make a reservation at least a week prior to the holiday. We do fill up fast.

TopStiX Makes Pretty Chopsticks

By now, everyone knows that we love to do write-ups on cool things we discover, companies we work with, and local events happening in the Central Florida community.

Well, last week we stumbled on an interesting concept called TopStiX. If I recall correctly, they tweeted to us. While the tweet was a somewhat spammy way to solicit us, it did get our attention and lead to this blog post (Aggressive Salesmanship = 1, Passiveness = 0).

TopStiX is an extremely simple concept, but for whatever reason, it's a new one to us.

TopStiX specializes in creating custom chopsticks for whomever desires a pair of their one. Customizations can come in the form of beads, jewels, colors, ribbons... you name it. That's the beauty of TopStiX - they can create whatever you want.

Here are some pictures that we grabbed from their Facebook page:

The designer(s) are located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida but can ship to anywhere in the country. 

We suggest you check them out at all of the following online locations:

Facebook Page

Twitter

Official Blog

As of right now, it looks like their official website merely directs you back to their Facebook page. So, if you are interested in ordering some, please know that you will have to contact them directly on Facebook. 

Avocados From Mexico Sweepstakes

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Avocados from Mexico. All opinions are 100% mine.

We know we're sushi chefs. We realize we're a Japanese restaurant. We just wanted to get that out of the way so you know we aren't having an identity crisis.

That said, we love all types of cuisines. From Italian to Indian, American to French - great food and flavors transcends ethnicities and location. That is why we wanted to talk about one of our favorite types of food and talk about a promotion that is being run.

You might be surprised to find out that we absolutely adore Mexican food. We love burritos, enchiladas, chips and salsa... you name it. We especially love avocados and guacamole. Mmmmmm!!

When we heard that Avocados from Mexico were running an online contest, we knew we had to help out. 

Please check out the Avocados from Mexico Facebook page. 

Once there, you need to take the Guac Star Style quiz. The quiz and Sweepstakes runs from 12/28 and 1/28 and it highlights the type of guacamole and party food that you like to create (as a chef). There are over 80 prizes being offered; the first place being 2 airline tickets. 

Along the way, be sure to also follow Avocados From Mexico on Twitter (@guacgrl).

Best of Orlando From AmericasBestOnline.com

We received a notification about the following webpage recently:

Best of Orlando, FL

We were notified of this because we received an honorable mention.

If you view the listing, you will see that all of the items listed in the top 10 are attractions. As we all know, Orlando is an attraction and tourist hotspot, so this isn't anything noteworthy.

What we are most flattered about is that this list is prefaced and described by saying that our restaurant, Florida Mall, and The Coffee House of Thornton Park "barely" missed the list.

Then, at second glance, we noticed that there is a top 10 restaurant list on the AmericasBestOnline.com site. After reviewing that countdown, our name was nowhere to be found.

So, how does this make sense? How are these listings being made?

If you know someone from this website, we'd love to talk with them. We truly believe that we should be on both of these top 10 lists.

Who's with us????

FriendsEat.com - Top 100 Restaurants on Twitter

Last week, we were informed that we were mentioned as a part of the Top 100 Restaurants on Twitter. The countdown was put together by FriendsEat.com after what seems to be extensive research throughout the entire Twittersphere.

I'm not sure what they were basing their rankings on, but it's obvious that they didn't take into account Twitter adoption and being a pioneer in the local Twitter space. In that category, I'd like to think that we take the cake (or fried ice cream). We've been tweeting since early 2008 and we have been as innovative with the platform as a business has ever been.

However, we understand that there are a lot of restaurants around now that have the resources to really take advantage of the communication tactics that Twitter lends itself to. Twitter has become mainstream, and if you're not on it, you're missing out on engaging with new customers.

All that said, I don't think we can compete with a lot of these other contenders. Therefore, we are very glad to accept the #59 position on the FriendsEat.com listing.

We have always been proud of our level of engagement and use of online tools to improve customer service and the overall customer experience. We will try to continue to always be on the cusp of what's upcoming and new in order to keep up with some of the big guys that have the resources that we are missing.

Click here to review the Top 100 list.

And thanks to FriendsEat for finding us and including us in the post.