According to the Wall Street Journal and Technorati, a company that tracks and analyzes blogs, “there are now some 21,000 food blogs.” In recent years, online reviews written by the masses have emerged as an alternative to newspaper and magazine restaurant reviews once written by individuals with concealed identities and sophisticated palates. While much of the public has come to love the mainstream public reviews, some restaurant owners and managers have not been so pleased. For example, Jeffrey Chodorow, the managing partner behind 28 upscale restaurants says they are “aggravating,” while another restaurant owner described them as “bastions of untruths, lies and malicious and personally driven dreck.” In reality though it really doesn’t matter whether owners like these forums or not, restaurant patrons are reading and writing them, and bottom line is the “bottom line” is at stake.

The only real defense against receiving a bad review is to offer the best customer service possible. While the quality of the food certainly plays a part, bad customer service can mute the most expertly prepared and tantalizing bacon-wrapped filet mignon. JTECH’s ServAlert® paging system will help you run a smoother operation, assist in guests’ meals arriving quickly, hot and correctly prepared, and make food runners more efficient, all of which will increase the likelihood of your customers having a positive dining experience. JTECH’s ServerPass™ pagers are durable and designed for the rigors of the restaurant environment. The restaurant industry is not immune to change, so it is no wonder that food blogs and restaurant review sites have reached such proportions. Winning the games is about knowing the rules, not necessarily changing them. For more information about server paging visit JTECH.com.