The Top Restaurant, Bar & Brewery Business Guides

Food is an integral part of any restaurant, bar, and brewery. For a brewery or bar serving food, whether it’s through their own kitchen, a food truck, a pop-up, or another option, it keeps customers in the taproom longer, increases average check amounts, and adds to a better overall experience.

“If you do sell food as a brewery, you will also sell more beer,” says Tim McLaughlin, CEO and Founder of GoTab, a Restaurant Commerce Platform (RCP) used by large and mid-sized restaurants, breweries, bars, and hotels. “If you’re a brewery that does not sell food, you should find a truck or some other way to sell food.” According to McLaughlin, GoTab has worked with many breweries that have done studies and every single one finds they sell more beer when they sell food.

And while there are many considerations to designing a food menu kitchen, arguably the most important first step is to apply for a food service license.

A restaurant, bar, or brewery needs the necessary permits to legally serve food. We’re going to be blunt here: Getting a food service license can be a tedious process, but as a business owner it is crucial that you follow all the necessary steps.

Without the proper permits and licensing, you won’t be able to legally serve food and could potentially miss out on a crucial boost to your bottom line.

Designing your restaurant, bar, or brewery sets the tone for your entire establishment. How you outfit your space speaks to your larger brand and will attract potential customers. We have several top tips on how to design the overall look of your brewery or restaurant, but often it’s the smallest of details that matter, such as your lighting.

What may seem like a very tiny detail such as lighting can actually have a big impact on your business. The lighting sets the mood of your operation and illustrates your brand to your potential customer base.

For example, if you are a family-friendly space operating during the day, your lighting should be different than a twenty-one-plus space that sees most of its traffic come through at night. All these factors contribute to the type of lighting that you’ll use in your brewery or restaurant.

Seems like a lot?

You’re a business owner and you are about to open your own restaurant, bar, brewery, or brewpub. You’ve gone through all the legwork of building the best business plan, securing investment, finding the perfect location, developing your brand and logo, designing the interior and exterior, planning the menu, and dealing with millions of other little details.

You can see the finish line looming in front of you with that grand opening datecircled on the calendar. And while a grand opening does seem like the grand plan here, have you considered a soft opening?

If you’re not even sure what a soft opening is, that’s totally fine because we’re here to help.

Consider a soft opening another weapon in your arsenal. It’s a chance to sharpen your knives (literally and figuratively), hone your operations, generate early buzz, and receive consumer feedback before you even open your doors.

If you haven’t already, here are the reasons you should consider a soft opening for your establishment.

When it comes to storing and serving beer, whether for distribution or in your own taproom, there are plenty of options.

Half-barrel kegs, sixtels, quarter barrels, 50-litre kegs, and more all hold a different number of beers in different volumes—ounces, gallons, liters, pints, cans, and even growlers.

Putting it all down on paper can seem a little daunting. But it’s essential when running a brewery or bar to understand the capacity of each of these different vessels. And to also learn the different purposes and situations for each of these varying kegs.

So we did the legwork for you!

We’ll break down all the different types of kegs and when it’s best to use them. Plus, reference our handy infographic below for a quick look at how many beers go into all different sizes of kegs.

The above infographic is handy whether you’re a seasoned beverage business owner or just getting into the game. Know what else is a super helpful business tool? Our new Untappd for Business E-Book: The Ultimate Start Up Guide for Breweries in 2022. And you can download it for free. Right now!

For many business owners, cutting the ribbon and throwing open the doors to your brewery, bar, restaurant, or bottle shop will be a dream come true. Most likely, your grand opening will be the most exciting and simultaneously scariest day of your life.

We understand that building a business from the ground up can be stressful. You’ll be faced with many challenges and hurdles along the way. But your grand opening is your first shot to shout from the rooftops that your establishment is ready to rock n’ roll.

And while planning the perfect grand opening can certainly be fun, it’s actually a very important day for many reasons.

When done well, hosting a grand opening will generate buzz for your establishment and set the tone for months to come. For that reason it should definitely be a part of your overall business plan.

But like we said, it can certainly be a fun day if you implement one of these seventeen grand opening ideas for your brewery, bar, restaurant, or bottle shop.

Attracting consumers to your bar or taproom on busy days like Friday, Saturday, and even Sunday is one thing. But don’t overlook driving foot traffic into your establishment on slow days during the week.

Bringing folks in to drink Monday through Thursday puts pints in hands and boosts your bottom line when you need it most.

Luckily, it isn’t that hard to find ways to increase your foot traffic with events. Just follow these handy tips. Plus, sixteen of the best event ideas we found to help increase traffic and revenue to your bar.

In early 2020, the pandemic forced many breweries to refocus their business strategies. As taprooms closed across the country, breweries either increased their packaging options or focused on them for the first time. But even before the pandemic, large-format packaging had been trending. Crowlers (32oz) and growlers (64oz) have become popular drinking vessels at breweries because they encourage consumers to take home a high volume of liquid to go while simultaneously keeping that beer fresh and carbonated for a certain amount of time.

“One of brewers’ greatest fears is they spend all this time crafting a delicious beverage, but they have no control over what happens to it afterwards,” says Caroline Macdonell, Director of Marketing at DrinkTanks, a popular company making premium, insulated growlers.

Both a crowler and a growler help ensure that consumers can take beer directly from the brewery while keeping it fresh and carbonated with the flavor the brewer intended.

“Beer is such a passion industry where what you’re making is your heart and soul and you love it,” says Ian Crane, Account Manager: Beer, Wine, and Spirits at MiiR, a design-forward company making premium stainless steel vessels for beer.

But what exactly is a crowler and a growler? And most importantly, what are the advantages of each of these packaging options?

Cracking the code on crowlers and growlers could help beverage business owners make a pivotal decision on the right beer-to-go opportunity for their taproom.

One of the best advantages of joining Untappd for Business is that it gives you access to a wealth of data on the world’s largest social networking platform for craft beer drinkers.

With over 9 million registered users, Untappd can easily tap into the trends and insights of drinkers in your city, state, region, and beyond.

How does this benefit your brewery, beverage company, bottleshop, or restaurant?

Tracking the most checked-in or popular beers in your area can inform your purchasing or brewing decisions.

Analyzing your own customers’ purchasing behaviors for the last 30, 60, 90, or even 365 days can help you figure out what to brew next, what to stock on your shelves, or what to put on tap.

Untappd’s analytics help you make strategic customer engagement and inventory decisions.

Interested in learning the top styles folks are drinking nearby in New York? We can show you.

Trying to decide which beer to brew next? We’ll find the most popular beers in your area.

Want to know the most checked-in beers in Chicago over the last ninety days? Well, we already gathered that data for you.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the principle that your business has a responsibility to the greater society. Traditionally, CSR programs refer to the triple bottom line: profit, people, and planet. Historically, these initiatives centered around sustainability along with safety, ethics, and compliance.

However, in today’s environment, responsible business practices are expanding beyond these traditional themes to include diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Incorporating holistic CSR strategies throughout your business plan will help you assess and determine ways to cultivate a positive impact on the community you serve.

So where does social responsibility, specifically DEI strategies, belong as part of your business plan? The answer is quite easy – everywhere.