As a leader in the restaurant industry, there are always new things to learn and keep up with. From the ongoing considerations related to the COVID-19 pandemic to emerging trends, technology, and staffing strategies, the information can seem endless. To help make the process of finding information a bit easier, we’ve put together a list of some of the best restaurant blogs for owners and managers just like you to give you the information you need to stay updated and maintain your business’ success.
How We Compiled Our List of Top Restaurant Blogs
The market is saturated with restaurant blogs, but not all are created equal. To identify the best of the best, we considered dozens of restaurant blogs. The ones we will highlight below stood out as the most beneficial for restaurant owners and managers who want to provide an unmatched, innovative dining experience for their customers.
For each blog below, we’ll discuss who the blog is written for, which topics are generally covered on the blog, and what makes it stand out in terms of value for restaurant business professionals.
Providing a Peerless Restaurant Experience Requires Continuous Innovation
Many successful businesses often have one thing in common: innovation. That is especially true in the restaurant industry, now more than ever. With the onslaught of tight competition as well as next-level technology, if you’re not innovative and creative in this industry, it can be difficult to stand out. In the 25 blogs on our list, you’ll find content that will inspire you and provide a solid foundation of innovative thinking that you can continue to build upon to further the success of your restaurant.
Top 25 Restaurant Blogs for Restaurateurs
Now, let’s get into the top blogs you can read to strengthen your journey as a leader in the restaurant industry.
First on our list is Restaurant Insider, a one-stop-shop for restaurant management professionals. Restaurant Insider’s mission is to be “a source for restaurant news, trends, information, tools, and conversation,” according to the blog. Beyond informative and timely articles, the blog showcases videos, case studies, ebooks, and even podcasts.
Some articles we recommend you start with include:
As a blog that services the independent restaurant owner, Restaurant Engine was created to offer website solutions for restaurants, cafes, and food truck owners. The blog has been in operation since 2011, and since its launch has grown to offer online ordering solutions as well as news and information that affects independent restaurant owners.
Restaurant Engine keeps up a steady stream of blogs with at least two new articles per month. Beyond covering website design tips and different functionality that you can implement on your restaurant’s website, the blog covers topics ranging from finance and revenue concerns, to general trends and restaurant management topics.
To get started, we recommend these articles:
As a digital magazine, Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) describes itself as a “go-to resource for on-the-go restaurant-industry professionals. Focused on all aspects of restaurant management news — the business of eating — the online magazine posts news items on a daily basis, incorporating profiles, industry trends, and expert advice to offer valuable content to this niche.”
The publication was founded in 2016 and has a following worldwide. The reporters at MRM focus on topics that they know soon-to-be restaurateurs and current independent restaurateurs will find helpful.
MRM is organized into seven categories to help make it easier to search for information relevant to your specific needs. These categories include News and Trends, Marketing, Operations, Design, Equipment and Technology, Finance and Law, and Media. Recent topics MRM has covered include commentary on the state of the industry related to “the great resignation,” vaccine and mask mandates, and restaurant sustainability. Another great value-add from MRM includes their own research roundups, which are done on a quarterly basis.
We recommend jumping into MRM with these articles:
One of the more traditional blogs on this list, The Restaurant Manifesto was actually created by industry professionals for customers — and has a cheeky, no-nonsense tone — but the information on the blog is extremely useful for restaurant managers and owners as well.
According to the website, “Our goal is to help improve your dining experiences by giving you the tools you need to engage with wait staff more productively. Becoming a more conscientious diner will result in better service and more successful meals. The effort you invest in understanding more about how restaurants work will pay itself back in spades.”
In a way, The Restaurant Manifesto is a training manual for diners who want to become better for the sake of their own experience, and that of the restaurant staff.
The blog is organized into five areas of content: Restaurant Life, Opinion, Dining Tips, TableTalk, and The Service Bar.
To get a taste of what The Restaurant Manifesto is all about, we recommend you check out these three articles:
5. FastCasual
As one of the more established industry blogs, FastCasual has been reporting on industry news, events, trends, and people in the $23.5 billion fast casual restaurant industry segment since 1997. FastCasual has over 50 blog topics ranging from business strategy and technology to food safety and restaurant design.
In addition to reporting daily news for those in the fast casual industry, FastCasual publishes regular white papers, special reports, and other premium content. They also host webinars, podcasts, and events.
An added bonus: The site has a daily newsletter specifically for fast casual restaurant operators titled Restaurant Operator Daily.
Here’s some recommended reading to get you started:
6. QSR
As another great online resource if you’re seeking out industry news on the quick service industry, QSR Magazine keeps a steady flow of new content on its website. In addition to online content, QSR also has a physical magazine that is free for those who work in the restaurant industry. The website is organized into four categories: Food, Operations, Growth, and Reports. Within each category, there are tons of sub-categories covering the latest news, trends, and strategies for quick service leaders.
Reports by QSR stand out in the landscape of restaurant management blogs. Some of the publication’s regular reports include the QSR Drive-Thru Study, the QSR 50 that covers top quick-service restaurants in America, and the 40/40 list that covers 40 up-and-coming fast casual restaurants.
In addition to the reports and daily articles delivered right to your email inbox, QSR hosts its own podcast, QSR Uncut, as well as live and virtual events.
There’s a ton of great content on QSR, so to help get you started we recommend checking out these three articles:
7. INFI
As an emerging resource for restaurant managers and operators who are seeking information on digitization topics, INFI’s blog can be a great resource. We may be biased, but we know our stuff when it comes to digital-related topics in the restaurant industry. Our mission at INFI is focused on helping small business owners run their restaurants more efficiently with kiosks and other custom technology solutions like mobile apps, online ordering, and website design. The INFI blog covers kiosk success stories, industry news, and everything you need to know about restaurant kiosk tech.
Hot topics we’re covering on the blog right now include the labor shortage and the costs associated with it, and how to run your restaurant more efficiently with online ordering and kiosk systems.
Here are three articles we recommend to dive right in:
Want to find out more about self-ordering kiosk and why your business need it? Check out our blog on why every QSR should have self-ordering kiosks, and learn the benefits of self-ordering kiosk.
8. OpenTable
Reservation platform OpenTable’s blog may be geared toward diners, but has a ton of great insights for business owners like yourself. Keeping a pulse on the industry around you and the who’s who of the restaurant business is vital for your restaurant’s success. That’s why tapping into consumer-facing blogs can be just as beneficial as blogs that are geared toward business owners.
OpenTable’s blog has over 20 city guides that cover new hot restaurants, and people in the food industry making waves. Additionally, they have two subcategories that you should be sure to check out: Restaurant Business and Industry Trends. Here are a few articles we recommend you start with:
9. Foodable
The Foodable Network is a media company specifically catered toward the restaurant and hospitality industry. According to its website, “Foodable is a next-generation media company that focuses on delivering premium video, podcast, and virtual event content in a B2B educational format. Led by a team of digital media pioneers with over 20 years of digital media experience, Foodable Network is the leading new media property for the restaurant and hospitality industry.”
Focusing on the network’s blog, there are near-daily posts shared with readers. Most recently, blog posts feature podcasts featuring leaders in the restaurant industry, and are followed by an article. Topics covered include kitchen automation, industry news, customer service, culinary innovation, and much more.
If this sounds enticing, we recommend you check out these three posts to get started:
With a focus on entrepreneurship, innovation, and growth in the commercial foodservice industry, Restaurant Business provides daily content to help you on your journey as a restaurant manager or operator. According to its website, “Restaurant Business understands the new state of media like no other, recognizing the importance of nuances of each, and helping you retrieve the information you need wherever, whenever.”
The website gives additional focus on high-volume independents, multi-unit operators, emerging chains, and the top 100 chains (plus their top franchises). Restaurant Business also publishes data, special reports, a bi-monthly print magazine, podcasts, as well as information about events in the industry — including those from the National Restaurant Association.
When it comes to recommended content, Restaurant Business’s podcasts stand out to us. They have four podcasts with new episodes weekly or bi-weekly. Here’s a bit more about each podcast:
A Deeper Dive: “A weekly podcast dedicated to going in-depth on the most pressing challenges and opportunities restaurant operators face today.”
Working Lunch: “A weekly podcast from Align Public Strategies devoted to explaining the ‘so what?’ and the ‘now what?’ key issues impacting restaurant and retail industries.”
Menu Feed: “A bi-weekly podcast that delves into menu development and food and drink trends through lively conversations with chefs and operators.”
Restaurant Rewind: A weekly podcast focused on looking at “the people, concepts, and trends that helped create the restaurant industry as we know it today.”
11. GrubHub
As a leading global online food delivery marketplace, GrubHub is well known in the industry. The platform provided nearly $9 billion in gross food sales to local takeout restaurants in 2020 alone, according to their website. With a solid foothold on the industry, the GrubHub blog is mainly catered to consumers and those interested in the delivery food industry, but the content still provides insights that restaurant managers and operators can find useful.
The GrubHub blog covers softer topics than some of the other industry online publications, and at times acts as a marketing tool for GrubHub itself.
Articles are split among three categories: Restaurant Stories, Delivery 101, and What to Eat. Restaurant Stories features case studies and profiles of various restaurant partners. Delivery 101 focuses on the delivery aspect of the restaurant industry. This section includes everything from how to order, tips for customers when communicating with delivery drivers, and guides for various types of cuisine. Finally, the What to Eat section covers recommendations, additional guides, and even quizzes for customers to decide what to order next time they use GrubHub.
If you want to take a closer look at the GrubHub blog, we recommend checking out these three articles:
12. Restaurant Den
Established in 2014, Restaurant Den provides website design as well as online solutions for restaurants, caterers, food trucks, and more. Its blog is specifically for restaurant owners and covers topics that owners and operators can use to further grow their businesses.
Restaurant Den’s blog covers softer topics like patio decor for summertime, but also covers strategic topics like email marketing best practices, and how to use digital signage to build customer rapport and bring in new customers.
They don’t produce content regularly, but the blog has a solid backlog of evergreen topics you may find helpful at any time. We recommend these three articles to get started:
13. The Restaurateur
Run by international accounting firm KLR, The Restaurateur blog covers topics related to restaurant finances for owners and operators. KLR serves many industries with hospitality being one of its specialities. Though the blog doesn't appear to be adding new content regularly, what is already published is written by financial professionals and covers extremely helpful, less-common topics like opportunity zones, tax and legal considerations, and managing staff tipping practices.
We recommend reading these three articles to learn some helpful information related to the financial implications of running a restaurant:
As one of the oldest brands in the business, Restaurant Hospitality shares on its website that it’s “the premier source of business inspiration and information for independent restaurant operators across the U.S.”
The news-style website reports on a number of topics you’ll find helpful as a restaurant owner or operator, like current trends, management, operations, opinions, coronavirus updates, and case studies on successful companies in the restaurant and hospitality industry. Additionally, Restaurant Hospitality has a section titled “Regions,” which covers industry news in different regions of the country.
Some interesting topics the site has covered recently include the latest implications around cryptocurrency regulation and what that could mean for the industry, tips for sustainable operation, and emerging concepts like the rise of wild boar on restaurant menus.
Check out the articles:
15. Eater
As a staple among many millennial and Generation Z foodies, Eater is more than just a trendy, consumer-facing online publication — it also can provide amazing insights for restaurant leaders. It gives you an inside look at the latest food trends from the customer’s point of view, and helps you understand the customers’ perspective on the industry as a whole.
Eater’s homepage features articles about news, trends, and guides, while also including food news from around the world. You can also view Eater for specific cities, including many U.S. cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Austin, as well as locales outside of the U.S. like Montreal and London.
In addition to Eater’s city pages, the food blog also has a subsection for travel that includes recommendations and articles about restaurants (and food) from all seven continents. Like many modern-day media brands, Eater has a podcast titled Gastropod, which covers food topics through a historical and scientific lens.
To help you get the most out of Eater as a restaurant leader, we recommend these three articles:
If you’re the owner or operator of a coffee shop (or cafe that serves coffee), Perfect Daily Grind is a great resource to tap into. According to the website, “Since launching in January 2015, Perfect Daily Grind has been the world’s leading voice for coffee. The publication provides real-life editorial content which educates people along the coffee supply chain, from producers and roasters to baristas and consumers. It is a must-read daily resource for anyone with a professional or passing interest in the world of specialty coffee.”
The website features near-daily articles on the coffee industry, for those working in it as well as consumers. There is a specific section for consumers, which is helpful when navigating the site.
Some articles we would recommend include:
17. Michael Hartzell
Tacoma, Washington-based expert in entrepreneurship, leadership, and management (just to name a few), Michael Hartzell is a successful business person with decades of experience. On his self-named blog, he covers topics related to running a business while also keeping your humanity. Michael’s description of his blog is that it’s “where business collides with human nature.”
The blog’s posts — written by Michael and other contributors — can apply to many industries, but are best for business leaders who have a strong interest in growth. Some blog posts we would recommend include:
This blog is run by online restaurant management software company Restaurant SystemsPro, and covers operations topics relevant to restaurant owners and operators. The Restaurant Expert is another well-rounded option for information about restaurant consulting, various restaurant systems, and charging practices.
If this piqued your interest, we recommend checking out these three articles:
19. CandyBar
The CandyBar Blog is run by customer engagement solution company CandyBar, and focuses mainly on digital loyalty and customer happiness in brick-and-mortar stores. The blog features articles covering how you can better understand the customer experience in retail stores (as an owner, operator, or manager), specific restaurant marketing tools and systems you can use to better your operations, and detailed reviews of successful customer engagement tools.
Some articles we recommend that may help you specifically as a restaurant leader include:
20. GastroGays
Since 2013, Patrick Hanlon and Russel Alford have been writing about food and travel around the world. Originally from Dublin, now residing in London, the couple is quick to clarify that they are not food critics — they simply provide restaurant reviews, ratings, recommendations of local restaurants around the globe, and recipes. GastroGays’ main audience is consumers, but as a restaurant leader, you will definitely gain inspiration and perhaps a few tips from the blog.
In addition to articles, GastroGays runs a podcast, Chew the Fat, where the duo interviews chefs, food business owners, and other restaurant leaders.
Though the blog has amazing recipes and recommendations for travel, from a business perspective, we think you may be most interested in these episodes of Chew the Fat:
21. RestoBiz
The official website of Canadian restaurant and foodservice news, RestoBiz provides helpful insights and tips whether you’re running a restaurant in Canada or not. Topics covered on the website include operations, data and trends, marketing strategy, and food and beverage.
There is a constant influx of new content on the website, which has a very news-oriented feel with a sprinkle of trend and strategy pieces. We recommend you start with these articles:
Black Box Intelligence describes itself as “the main course restaurant industry blog” and covers “sales, traffic, guest sentiment, workforce trends, consumer share of wallet, and the evolving impact of the coronavirus pandemic.” The blog’s target audience is people like you: restaurant operators or owners. Black Box Intelligence posts new blog content monthly. Its layout is straightforward and doesn’t contain bells and whistles, however, the blog content is extremely helpful and relevant to anyone leading a business in the restaurant industry.
Some particularly interesting articles we think you’ll enjoy are:
23. Uncorkd
Wine, beverage, and technology blog Uncorkd was created by people who enjoy drinking, but want to see the alcoholic beverage industry elevated. Though the blog hasn’t posted new content in the past few years, there is ample evergreen content, as well as drink ideas you may find inspiration in — and maybe even want to share with your restaurant’s bar manager or mixologist.
In addition to alcohol-related content, Uncorkd also features content you may find useful related to marketing, technology, and operations.
We recommend these articles as some oldies but goodies:
24. Restaurant Technology Guys
If you’re seeking out specific restaurant technology news and content, Restaurant Technology Guys is a great place to start. Run by Jeremy Julian, COO of Custom Business Solutions, Inc., a company that provides point-of-sale (POS) software to the restaurant industry, the blog covers trends and news from a technological standpoint.
In addition to the blog, Jeremy runs a successful podcast by the same name. Restaurant Technology Guys has been recognized by Wired magazine, and has won awards in recent years for the blog.
To keep restaurant leaders up-to-date on all the latest news and content on the site, Restaurant Technology Guys provides a free monthly update for subscribers via email, called “The RTG Update.”
Three articles we recommend for you include:
25. Civil Eats
Lead by a team of experienced environmental and business journalists, non-profit Civil Eats is the blog for food sustainability topics. The content of the blog is organized into five categories: Food & Policy, Farming, Health, Environment, and Civil Eats TV.
The journalists at Civil Eats report on topics like new laws that will impact the climate and agricultural industry, and trends in locales across the nation related to food justice. Even if your restaurant is not directly working with farms or investing in green strategies, topics related to climate change and our international food system will have an impact on your business, so it’s vital to stay informed.
Stay abreast of the latest news by diving into these three articles from Civil Eats:
Keep Up to Date With the Latest Restaurant Digitization Trends
Whether you’re an independent restaurant professional or running a multi-chain eatery, it’s clear how much is going on in the industry — and how many great ideas are swirling around. If you’re feeling inspired to take your business to the next level, we encourage you to start with your tech, as it is the foundation of your business. Read more on the INFI blog about how kiosks and digital ordering systems can set your restaurant apart from competitors and ultimately provide a better customer experience.
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