The point if the food system where raw ingredients are finally reaching a table in a restaurant is the highest point if the value-added chain – and therefore one to be pursued in any community. There are many types of restaurants and just like every other aspect of the food system, some are “globally oriented” (Macdonalds) and some are very local (on-farm restaurant).
Eating together is a foundation of human civilization and great restaurants, cafes and patios are part of every great city or neighbourhood.
An Agricultural Urbanism project will endeavour to:
- Offer the widest variety of places to buy and eat food possible – permanent and temporary;
- Provide great patios and other outdoor eating locations (eg: Englisher Gardens Park in Munich) that make enjoying food and drink a public and highly social experience;
- Make kitchens as visible as possible to more fully connect the dining experience to the source of the food – physically and socially; and
- Facilitate many opportunities for micro-scale food vendors to get started with little overhead (food carts, food trucks, tailgate food areas, others).
Below are some resources on the restaurant sector:
- National Restaurant Association – On this web site, you can learn everything you ever wanted to know about the restaurant business, from industry research to how to open a restaurant. www.restaurant.org
- Canadian Restaurant and Food Services Association – This Canadian industry site offers facts, reports, tools and a network in this sector. http://www.crfa.ca/research/
- Restaurant Central – This site offers information for restaurants sector on trends, issues and tools including interesting infographics for each Canadian province. http://www.restaurantcentral.ca/
- Restaurant Research LLC – This is a corporate consulting site with a lot of strategic and economic information about the mainstream restaurant sector – http://www.restaurantresearch.info/
- Feasibility study outline for a new restaurant – This blog outlines how to undertake a basic feasibility study for a new restaurant. http://www.ehow.com/how_7705373_conduct-feasibility-study-new-restaurant.html
- Restaurant owner.com – This website is devoted to providing resources and information to restaurant owners- and has a host of templates and useful tools. http://www.restaurantowner.com/public/main.cfm
- Restaurant Hospitality.com – This is another site with extensive information for the restaurant industry. http://restaurant-hospitality.com/
- Food Refernce.com – This (somewhat eccentric) site has a wide range of statistics and other information on restaurants. http://www.foodreference.com/html/frestaurants.html
- Restaurant Report.com – Another site with extensive information on many issues in the restaurant industry. http://www.restaurantreport.com/index.html
- Food and beverage underground – Another site with a lot of useful information for those in this sector. http://www.foodandbeverageunderground.com/Restaurant-Owner.html
- Restaurant Industry Trends – This site from the NPD Group offers a range of information on restaurant trends. http://restaurantindustrytrends.com/snapshots.html
- Chef’s Collaborative – This is the site of a national organization focused on sustainable food systems and restaurants / food services. http://www.chefscollaborative.org/
- Allfood business.com – This site offers info on many aspects of restaurants including a good overview of top issues in designing a restaurant. http://www.allfoodbusiness.com/restaurant_layout.php
- Restaurant Industry Grab Stats – This Grab Stats site includes extensive information in the restaurant sector. http://www.grabstats.com/statcategorymain.aspx?StatCatID=23
- Hoovers Industry Reports – This site offers extensive food and beverage industry reports for a fee. http://www.hoovers.com/industry-facts.restaurants.1442.html
- Statistics Brain on Food – This site contains a large list of statistics on food including restaurants and eating trends. http://www.statisticbrain.com/food/
- Fast Casual.com – This is an interesting site on a very wide range of restaurant-related issues. http://www.fastcasual.com/research/312/Trends-Statistics
- Buying a Restaurant Resource Center – An interesting site dedicated to the issues around buying or selling a restaurant. http://www.diomorestaurant.com/restaurant-industry-statistics.html
- Restaurant News Resource – Another site with a significant amount of information on the restaurant industry. http://www.restaurantnewsresource.com/
- Restaurant Pitfalls and Profits – An interesting site that looks a host of issues related to owning and running a restaurant, by Patricia Farnham, author of Restaurant Gravy. http://www.restaurantpitfallsandprofits.com/restaurantarticleindex.htm
- Restaurant and Bar Design Awards – This interesting catchy site is devoted to awards for great restaurant design. http://restaurantandbardesignawards.com/
- Wine Institute – This site offers a wide array of information on the wine industry. http://www.wineinstitute.org/resources/statistics
Patios
- Great urban restaurant patios – These sites identify top patios in various cities:
- Toronto – http://www.blogto.com/toronto/the_best_restaurant_patios_in_toronto/
- Ottawa – http://www.ottawakiosk.com/restaurants_patios.html
- Vancouver – http://www.ottawakiosk.com/restaurants_patios.html
- Calgary – http://www.chomp.ca/calgary/top-picks/best-patio
- Seattle – http://www.citysearch.com/best/seattle/restaurants/outdoor-dining
- Portland – http://www.oregonlive.com/mix/index.ssf/restaurant-reviews/12-portland-bars-with-great-patios.html
- San Francisco – http://www.gayot.com/restaurants/best-sanfrancisco-ca-outdoordining_3sf.html
- Los Angeles – http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/top-lists/best-restaurant-patios-in-and-around-los-angeles/
Food trucks
- Food truck talk.com – This is a major site for the food truck industry with extensive resources – http://www.foodtrucktalk.com/
- How to start a food truck – A good overview article on the site Entrepreneur, on considerations in starting a food truck. http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220060
- Food Truck Laws – This site provides links to many US states and cities and their regulations for food trucks – http://www.foodtrucklaws.com/laws.html
- Good practices in food truck regulation – This article provides an overview of good practices in regulating food trucks. http://restaurant-hospitality.com/food-trucks/cities-show-food-trucks-more-love
- Food truck manufacture
- Silver Star Metal food truck manufacturer – This is an interesting site from a food truck manufacturer with information on all the considerations and costs of a food truck – http://www.silverstarmetal.com/products/food_trucks.asp
- Vending Trucks – A site with information on truck types and those for sale or rent. http://www.vendingtrucks.com