Green Bay Press-Gazette from Green Bay, Wisconsin • Page 67

Green Bay Press-Gazette Sunday, Jan. 25, 1981 Scn-3 Restaurant computers do everything but cook speed of operation is a critical factor in a high volume restaurant such as Hardee's. White and his partners were also attracted by the computer's ability to figure restaurant labor costs on a percentage basis. According to Tim Eaton, who is an account manager with the Green Bay office of NCR, the cost of restaurant computer systems can range from a few thousand dollars to in excess of $50,000 for highly sophisticated setups. More expensive models even have the capability to tell the restaurant manager how long each table in the house has been occupied.

With that data the restaurant hostess is better able to estimate waiting times for tables. With options like that some restaurant owners have been able to cut the number of hostesses they require in half, while making more efficient use of their available seating space. The next step would appear to be teaching the computer to cook. trends," Aschenbrenner says. This data also permits the chain to prepare regular profit and loss statements for each store.

By recording the individual totals for separate menu items the chain can also decide if a restaurant is being over-generous with the its servings. As at Captain's, each individual key on the register is assigned a particular menu item which increases accuracy and speed of service. The importance of both those attributes is emphasized by the fact that Aschenbrenner says his restaurant serves between 600 and 1,000 customers a day and almost finishes within $2 of the expected totals. The individual customer also receives a receipt which details the prices of each item in his purchase. Ponderosa has prepared a 30-minute film on the operation of the NCR 250 and Aschenbrenner says it takes only about two hours of practice to feel comfortable with the machine.

At Ponderosa, inventory is con pulled from the money tray, it triggers a silent alarm which will alert the poliqe to an emergency. The NCR 250, of is not perfect. For instance, Sinclair notes, "The machine doesn't know how to handle double dribbles." This is not a criticism of the computer's lack of basketball skill. Double dribbles" refers to Captain's happy hour policy of giving customers a second drink free for each one purchased during the designated hours. For double dribbles a fictitious waitress is punched into the machine, and the free drinks are recorded under her tally.

Randy Aschenbrenner of the Ponderosa Steak House, 1112 S. Military says his restaurant also uses the NCR 250 in its operation. At Ponderosa, however, the computer is linked to the chain's corporate headquarters in Dayton, Ohio. Through the linkup, Ponderosa gets a daily report on the sales in each of its individual stores. "That way they can analyze every single store as far as market own key on the register and so there is no need for the waitress or hostess to punch in the price for each separate item.

If the restaurant is planning to run a special on a particular item, it's a simple matter for the manager to reprograra the computer with the new price. As hostess Jane Blizzard notes, "This eliminates a lot of guest check error." The machine also keeps a running tally of the sales of each waitress so that management has a precise measure of the productivity of its employees. Perhaps the biggest advantage of the machine is that it keeps a running tabulation on the sales of each individual item. If a manager suspects his brandy has been evaporating at an unnatural rate the NCR 250 makes it easy to check. Since Captain's conducts inventory 13 times a year, the machine's 28-day memory bank of sales is an another important asset.

The computer can even be tied into the security system, if a special bill is ducted each week and because of the detailed sales data available from the computer, Aschenbrenner says, "We can pretty much reduce the amount of money tied up in inventory." Fred White is a supervisor and co-owner of 16 Hardees restaurants in Sturgeon Bay, Waupaca, Eau Claire and Green Bay. White and his partners have been installing Positran computer registers in all their new stores. White estimates that the initial cost of the Positran system is between two and three times the amount of a conventional register setup. But by saving money through better controls on money and food stock, White expects the computers will save costs each month and eventually more than justify their additional expense. "You're always trying to save on food cost and this is one of the ways to do it," White says.

Like the NCR 250, the Positran has a key for each menu item and keeps a running tally of it. The increased It takes a bit more than a checkered tablecloth and the recipe, for granny's rabbit stew to open a restaurant today. For one thing, it doesn't hurt if you've got a working familiarity with computer software. The Wisconsin Restaurant Association recently noted that, "Many larger operations have turned to computers in an effort to cope more effectively with rising costs. Such mechanical wizards tell the operator which items require too much time and labor and those items are dropped from the menu." Captain's Steak Joynt, 1930 W.

Mason is one of the area restaurants that has turned to computer technology in an effort to increase its efficiency. According to Captain's manager Dean Sinclair, his restaurant has been using the NCR 250 computer cash register for about two years. With the NCR 250 each of the over 40 separate menu items has its Sorry guys, no free lunch here person paying is usually the male. Waitress Cindy Powell, at Denny's, 2894 S. Oneida says, "unless a guy forgets his charge card," it's very seldom that a woman wiM pay for the meal.

Hostess Kathy Behnke, at the Port Fox Supper Club, 2101 Lost Dauphin Road, De Pere, says some women become so accustomed to having a man pay for the meal that when they come in by themselves during deer hunting season, they sometimes forget to settle the check. Because it seems to be the prevailing practice, waitress Patti Adamski, at the Banc, 1355 Main says she just gives the bill to the man as a matter of course. She says the only time she has seen a woman pay was after she had lost a bet. Women seem to pick up the tab a bit more often at the Adams Street Station, 124 N. Adams where waitress Candy Kiiskila estimates that women pay perhaps 10 percent of the bills in couple situations.

Candy says she has even overheard men tell a single woman, "I've heard you're liberated, how about buying me a drink?" In those instances when women do foot the bill, most of the embarrassment, if there is any, seems to reside with the male. Sometimes they feel obligated to make excuses and Candy says she has heard whispered instructions of, "Hurry up and hand me the money before she gets here." to indicate that going Dutch is still Greek to most Green Bay diners. In fact, a woman who wants to pick up all or part of the tab may find herself in a tooth and nail struggle for the check. "It really offends a lot of people," says waitress Jean Reince, of Michael's, 2910 East Shore Drive. "I had one case where there was one woman and three men and she was going to pick up the tab and one of the guys, who was maybe 15 years older, got really wild.

He ripped the check right out of her hand. He was, genuinely upset. He said something like, 'There, I Usually the decision on who pays is settled without a physical struggle, but also by mutual agreement the Perhaps one of the less sought after freedoms in the women's- liberation movement, is the freedom to pick up the tab. Not long ago the Gallup Poll surveyed men and "women to learn their attitudes toward a female treating a male to lunch or dinner at a restaurant. The results were that 65 percent of the women said they would be willing to make such a sacrifice and 75 percent of the men said they would be perfectly happy to be the beneficiaries of such a sacrifice.

This may be another instance in which national trends and local customs do not mesh. AH" informal survey of some of the waitresses at local restaurants would seem Food skips go to court, not kitchen The manager of one Green Bay restaurant says he's found an effective method of dealing with walkouts: He fallows them with a gun and fchoots them. While that method is un--ikmbtedly effective, it prob-Ipbly raises more legal repercussions than most restaurant operators care to bother For most Green Bay restaurants, the problem of the customer who believes in a free lunch, and acts on it, is a annoyance. The incidence of walkouts 'seems to be greatest in restaurants that are open through the wee hours and have a substantial number of younger patrons. Jim Weber of Sambo's Restaurant, 1940 Main says his restaurant formerly had as many as four or five walkouts a night.

"We used to have a rowdier crowd here," he said. After Sambo's started prosecuting the deliberate dead-beats, the frequency of the walkouts bgan to nosedive. The days when deadbeats could pay their debts with a dishrag are long gone. If apprehended, a walkout could conceivably be fined $10,000 and sentenced to 90 days in jail for defrauding an innkeeper. Usually, 'however, the innkeeper is more interested in getting paid for his meal than in seeing the wayward customer sent to Wau-pun.

When customers bypass the cash register on their way out the door, Weber or one of his employees will try to get the culprit's license number. The police then will supply the restaurant with the name and address of the guilty party. "They used to be more cooperative than they are now," Weber says. "Two or three years ago they used to go out and get them casionally, however, a defiant deadbeat crops up. Hazel Smits of Nino's Steak Round-Up, True Lane, once caught three young men trying to walk out on a meal following a Packer game.

When confronted, one of the young men told her, "I don't have any money, what are you going to do about it?" What Smits did was call his father, who came in and paid the bill for all three delinquents. Another different but no less problem is the customer who consumes a large meal and then announces the food was virtually inedible and he doesn't intend to pay for any of it. Smits says she once had a party of four attempt that. After much melodrama, the leader of the group agreed to pay for the meal, but said he would never return to the restaurant. Smits hopes he's a man of his word.

"Many times you can embarrass them into paying the bill," Smits says. "If absolutely necessary you can call the police, but that's a last resort and I think they know it. It just creates a scene and gets the other customers upset." Press Gazette photo Restaurant menus come in a myriad of sizes, shapes and colors. The right menu can be tough order Dean Kellner of Pizza Hut says that once walkouts are told that the police have been notified, they're usually "running scared." Since many of the walkouts fall in the 14 to 21 age group, parental pressure is also often brought to bear. "The parents do normally come right in and slap their little boy on the hand or whatever," Kellner says.

If a restaurant employee can apprehend a fugitive before he or she flees the premises, most will settle accounts promptly out of sheer embarrassment or the wish to avoid further trouble. Oc rural restaurants are menus with a map so the contented wayfarer can find his way bark again. On occasion, a menu can be designed too effectively. For the Pizza Parlor, in Green Bay, Mastercraft designed a circular menu with a color photograph of a cheese, sausage, and onions. Unfortunately, the Pizza Parlor people discovered that some of their customers seemed to prefer their pizza thin and laminated Rotter says the restaurant had a problem with patrons who would stop in after an evening of libation and attempt to eat the menu.

Rotter savs he saw it handmade, leather bound works of commercial art that cost as much as $65 a piece. The steak house operator who wanted a bullet-riddled bill of fare is not as eccentric as one might think. Rotter say Mastercraft once designed a menu covered with realistic, grasslike, outdoor carpeting for a restaurant that catered to a golfing crowd. Rotter concedes the golf menu had certain limitations. Although the patrons could presumably practice their putting on the surface of the menus while waiting for their drink orders, they were so heavy you almost needed a wedge to pry them open.

Menus can be educa tional. The menu for the River Room in Green Bay has a 19th century photograph of Fort Howard on the cover and a brief history of the installation which notes that the fort's commanders included President Zachary Taylor and Jefferson Davis. For family restaurants which serve a lot of children, Mastercraft designs menus and placemats with cartoons, puzzles and "doodles for nimble noodles" for little Merton to work on while the cheeseburgers are being grilled. If so desired, the menu printer will help concoct new names for the more exotic items on a restaurant's menu. Especially popular among Lighter diets From Scene-1 Unhappy with food, service? Let them know Kostroski, executive vice president of the -Wisconsin Restaurant Association, says there are proper steps to follow if bad service or poorly prepared food spoils your dining experience.

"If the food is not to your liking, don't complain after your plate is clean, she says. "It is hard for a restaurant owner to take you seriously. Complain as soon as possible. If the food is bad or if it tastes awful, complain. If it is just 'I don't like chalk it up to experience." Talk first to your waiter or waitress, but remember they have other customers to serve and may flot.be equipped to handle all of your complaints, says.

Next, ask to see a host or manager. Give the manager the benefit of the doubt. Don't ose your temper and talk quietly. The restaurant manager then may respond to your complaint in a constructive manner. He or she will take it seriously, Kostroski says.

"Many make the mistake of not complaining, and that's wrong," she adds. "Restaurant owners want to hear if you have complaints. If you don't tell them, they can't know that anytliing's wrong." A small tip will indicate bad service. "The most correct tip in Wisconsin is 15 percent, although in some restaurants it is up to 20 percent," Kostroski says. A tip of less than 10 percent will indicate bad service.

1 Follow, up the small tip with a few words to your waitress or "waiter. Mention that you would have liked more coffee or an offer of dessert. Also inform the hostess or manager of your disappointment. Never walk out a restaurant unhappy. Most of the time, your complaint can be handled to the satisfaction of both parties right at the restaurant.

Never suffer in silence and stew needlessly at home. Common complaints include misunderstandings about food orders, menu problems, and cold food. Try to understand answers if you inquire about food. Ask what is in a dish, how it is prepared, and how long it will take, Kostroski says. People are often reluctant to complain for fear of getting someone in trouble.

But managers may have to correct employees now and then, and everyone will benefit from the constructive criticism. Most restaurant owners will do what is proper to poor service or food, but it depends on the of the complaint. They may offer free des-sert or a cocktail, a complimentary bill, or a letter apology. "Most restaurant owners are very customer-conscious," Kostroski says. The Wisconsin Restaurant Association mediates i complaints at times, but Kobtroski says the should he a secondary source.

"Talk to the res- taurant manager first," she says. Doggie bag is omnipresent Phil Rotter likes to tell the story of the restaurateur who ordered all his new menus taken out and shot. It seems the menus were designed for a steak place in Iowa with a Western motif. To impart the proper Western flavor all the menus were cut in the shape of chuckwa-gons. The restaurant manager, however, wanted the final word in western authenticity: real bullet holes.

The menu printers were momentarily stymied, but rather than subcontract the job out to a firm in Detroit that specialized in such work, they decided to perform the "hit" themselves. After some debate, one of the firm's young employees finally took the brand new, untouched menus out into a deserted spot and shot them all with his father's deer rifle. Phil Rotter is Green Bay's final authority on menus. Phil has operated the R. Family Restaurant, at 201 N.

Washington for over 17 years and for the last seven years he has represented the Mastercraft firm which prints and designs menus for restaurants all over the Midwest. Master-craft, Rotter says, "makes just about everybody's menu in town." "The trend," Rotter says, "is for people to spend money on a good menu. You want to merchandise the house specialities; you can't sell T-bone steak off a beer menu." The ultimate goal seems to be to provide the restaurateur with something distinctive tailored to the needs of his or hev purticular eatery. Depending on the need of the patron, menus may range from modest sheets which cost a fraction of a penny, up to dollar guzzling, much food." In response to that criticism, Hoffman House has added a series of petite steaks to its menu. Pat Moore, of Eve's Supper Club, 2020 Riverside Drive, says the restaurant's smaller portions of prime rib and ten'derloin have been especially popular among older customers.

Eve's also has a chefs salad which has proved popular with dieters. Perkins Cake and Steak, 100 N. Military features several diet items including a baked fish plate (5 ounces of cod with lemon juice), steak and salad, a mini omelet, and the weight watcher's special ('4 pound of ground beef and cottage cheese). Often calories are a function of how food is prepared. Marvin Malcore, of the Zuider Zee, 1860 University says his restaurant has always offered a selection of broiled fish and broiled steak for people who wish to avoid fried foods.

Perhaps the most deliberate effort to attract a calorie counting clientele is the Salad Garden Restaurant in Port Plaza Mall. Partner Pat Bodart explains the rationale belund the Salad Garden by noting that, "90 percent of Green Bay is weight conscious." To appeal to that 90 percent, The Salad Garden offers a selection of salads and homemade soups. the kingdom of fast food where the burger and fries have ruled supreme for decades, the salad bar has begun to make headway. Manager Steve Tice, of Wendy's, says his restaurant falls into the category that is appealing to dieters. Wendy's includes a large salad bar and has recently added a chicken sandwich for the calorie conscious.

Nor is Wendy's the only fast food chain that has been providing for the light eater. McDonald's is experimenting with a salad bar also. Dean Sinclair, who manages the Captain's Steak Joynt, 1930 W. Mason says "We've been getting a lot of lunch business from people who don't want that thick burger anymore." Hein's Restaurant, 2020 W. Webster features a menu section called Waist and Health choices.

Included here are such choices as tuna salad, chicken salad, and sliced turkey. The "petite supper" has become an institution as well at the Stratosphere Club, 2850 Humboldt Road. Vel Allred, of the Hoffman House Restaurant, Hansen Road, says, "One of our biggest complaints is that we were serving too riage Inn, 311 N. Adams says his restaurant offers largely a mini ala carte menu and hence customers don't have a lot leftovers. He estimates that about 10 percent of his customers who request doggie bags forget them when they leave the table.

Schoonover says he has noticed that older customers seem somewhat more, likely to requast a doggie bag. Perhaps smaller appetites. or tighter budgets make them more conscious of the importance of conservation. While doggie bags arelm-doubtedly a popular institution in Green Bay, they have yet to achieve the artisticj attention lavished on thenj in some other cities. The Big Cheese, a fashionable restaurant in Georgetown, has a waiter who renders the foil the leftovers are wrapped in into silvery swans and other artistic creations.

and simply can't finish it," Moore says. "At today's prices you can't blame them for wanting to take it home." Dave Schoonover, of Hein's Family Restaurant, says people have paid for the meal and if they don't take it home the food has to be thrown out. Because doggie bags are a conservation tool, Hein's calls its waste-not-bags. Customers don't seem to suffer any undue embarrassment at asking for a doggie bag. Occasionally the impulse for conservation extends to the smallest morsel.

"We get some people that are just incredible," says Terry Bero, of Bilotti's, "like they want five or six french frief, wrapped up." As one might expect, the demand for doggie bags seems related to the size of the servings a restaurant provides. Ray Paul, of Paul's Car "Since my meal has been replete, I'll consen-e what I couldn't eat, To serve myself another time, or feed that dog or cat of mine." Verse from a doggie bag. As a staple of the restaurant business the doggie bag ranks only slightly behind the omnipresent french fry. Restaurants as divergent in style and clientele as Eve's and the 41 Truck Plaza recognize the importance of letting the customer bag the leftovers. People in the local restaurant business seem to view doggie bags as bot a logical and reasonable service for i he consumer.

Pat Moore, of Eve estimates that 30 to 35 percent of his customers request a doggie bag. "You get some people that will order a prime rib.