The restaurant industry is doing better than ever. Restaurant Industry News finds that, for the first time ever, sales in 2024 are expected to exceed $1 trillion—especially with more establishments hitting that sweet spot between adopting new tech tools and providing customers with the hospitality they crave.

However, that doesn't guarantee your own restaurant will do well this year. You may still face several challenges, like standing out against competitors and catering to value-conscious customers. The Restaurant Industry News also cites the US National Restaurant Association, which adds that 38% of establishments weren't profitable in 2023 due to higher labour and food costs.

Along with the pressure to adopt modern technology, this can make restaurant management more challenging to navigate—so how can you pull it off this year? Reading a few key ebook titles can help you discover some insider tips from industry experts so your restaurant can thrive.

Woman working at a restaurant, taken by Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels.

Woman working at a restaurant, taken by Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels.

Why ebooks?

There are plenty of places you can learn about restaurant management. You can peruse online articles, watch YouTube videos, or even take dedicated courses to boost your management skills. When searching for insider tips, though, there's no better place to look than an ebook. It's always guaranteed to be written by an industry expert, and it'll go more in-depth into the topics you want to learn more about.

That's not to mention accessibility. Ebooks are often cheaper than physical copies and can be read anywhere, more so if you procure them via subscription or through a public library. Just look at Everand: it provides access to thousands of restaurant management titles for a flat monthly fee. What you can read ranges from seminal works like The Everything Guide to Starting and Running a Restaurant to the more niche Restaurant Marketing, all of which you can download offline for easy access. And if you're nearby, the City of London lets you borrow ebooks for free via Libby. Though you may end up on a reading list for more popular titles, it's still a cost-effective way to access ebooks with just a library card.

Ultimately, reading ebooks is worth it for learning how to run your restaurant more smoothly. If you haven't tapped this resource yet, try the following recommendations.

The best restaurant management ebooks for expert insider tips

The Restaurant Manager's Handbook by Douglas Robert Brown

If you want to refresh yourself on the basics or are about to open your own establishment, look no further than The Restaurant Manager's Handbook. Using his years of experience in the food service industry, Douglas Robert Brown distilled all the key points of restaurant management into this one work. He even writes in a friendly, conversational manner—meaning you can easily pick up tried-and-true methods for everything from creating efficient floor plans to managing your PR strategies.

Restaurant Success by the Numbers by Roger Fields

With operational costs on the rise, managing your finances can be more difficult. Fortunately, you can seek the advice of certified public accountant-turned-restaurant owner Roger Fields. In Restaurant Success by the Numbers, he outlines a no-BS guide on how to develop a viable restaurant concept, construct a financial plan to support it, and properly account for gains and losses to turn a profit. That makes it an excellent read for both new restaurant owners and operators looking over their workflows for inefficiencies.

Delivering the Digital Restaurant by Meredith Sandland & Carl Orsbourn

Want to bring your restaurant into the future? Food service automation experts Meredith Sandland and Carl Orsbourn—who are much sought-after for their insights in industry webinars like Trend Talk—will give you all the insider knowledge you need in Delivering the Digital Restaurant. Here, they talk about omnichannel disruption, how it's come to the restaurant industry from retail, and how you can implement it in your operations to maintain a competitive edge and meet new consumer demands. It even contains first-hand accounts from establishments that've successfully done so themselves, meaning you can glean tips specifically relevant to your restaurant's niche.

Setting the Table by Danny Meyer

As you search for more expert tips to bolster your restaurant management knowledge, don't forget to cover one of the most crucial elements of running your own establishment: hospitality. In Setting the Table, New York restaurateur Danny Meyer introduces the concept of 'enlightened hospitality'—a concept that emphasises the importance of showing hospitality to employees first. He argues that the benefits of doing so will trickle down to the final customer experience, allowing for restaurant management in a positive environment that uplifts business outcomes and overall growth.

Key takeaways

  • Ebooks are an accessible and cost-effective way to gain expert insider tips on restaurant management.
  • The Restaurant Manager's Handbook is a great starting point that covers all the basics.
  • You can pick up Restaurant Success by the Numbers to better manage your establishment's finances and improve your bottom line.
  • Read Delivering the Digital Restaurant to effectively integrate modern technology into your operations.
  • Don't forget to emphasise hospitality by reading Setting the Table.

Running a restaurant will become more challenging in the years to come—but by reading ebooks to glean insider tips from experts, it doesn't have to be. After you've gone through these recommendations, see how TastyIgniter can help ignite your brand's potential.