Don’t Brown Bag It

If lunch in breakroom usually means balogna in a wadded up brown bag, we have great news. On Earth Day 2013, you can treat both yourself and the planet to a much better meal. Chipotle Mexican Grill is giving away free burritos with the purchase of a repurposed lunch bag, helping you save the earth one repurposed bag at time.

Earth Day Organic

Central 214 knows our planet doesn’t need chemists to make a head of lettuce. The Dallas restaurant celebrates Earth Day with a special menu of their locally sourced, organically grown vegetables, antibiotic-free meats and biodynamic wines. Why local? What’s biodynamic? Free conversation starters with every meal.

Join The Earth’s Club

In honor of Earth Day 2013, the Green Restaurant Association released a list of the most environmentally friendly restaurant chains in the country.  They included Panera Bread, Jamba Juice, Peet’s Coffee, Hyatt Hotels, InterContinental Hotels and Wyndham Hotels. Corporate cafes at Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, and the Hearst Corporation also made the list for their Earthcare practices.

Shaking Things Up

For EVOS – Greenopia’s 2011 “Greenest Burger Chain in America” and winner of Earth Charter’s Sustainable Business Award – every day is Earth Day. But to celebrate April 22, they are shaking things up a bit by offering patrons organic milkshakes for free. Order one with a side of airfries (oil-free french fries) from their menu printed with vegetable inks, and admire the marmoleum (ecologically produced linoleum) floors and recycled wood panel walls under compact fluorescent bulbs powered by 30% wind energy.

Fresh and Recycled

Green is not always great for the environment. Even a fresh salad can have a negative impact, if served in an unsustainable container. Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill offered patrons a new way to guiltlessly indulge with an eco-friendly twist. This Earth Day, the chain will team with The Bottle Box to use only 100 percent recycled packaging.

Low Impact Margaritas

Habana Works, New York’s first solar powered restaurant and marketplace, is really blowing-out Earth Day 2013. The collective will be celebrating in true Brooklyn style, by hosting a half-day fest full of sustainable living info, tools and demos. Among the various tinkering’s on display is a human-powered bike blender, an innovative way to craft your favorite frozen spring cocktail using alternative energy.

Wine, Wine, Wine

Are you fed up with arguing the merits of climate science?  Relax. And nothing is more relaxing than a glass of fine organic wine that is as subtly nuanced as Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. The Butcher’s Block in northeast Minnesota celebrates Earth Day with a complimentary, earth-friendly wine tasting. Certified organic and biodynamic wines are featured with professional vintners on hand to demonstrate how entirely unnecessary pesticides and chemicals are for making the best wine.

Plant a Treetini

Chicago’s Elate became well known for its Earth Day Treetini forestry project. For each Treetini sold, the restaurant planted a tree. Now, claiming a signature Earth Day drink has become a common and ecologically sound promotion. Drink enough Treetinis and the sky will be that much bluer as you look up at it from the sidewalk.

All Perked Up

What do we want on Earth Day 2013? A clean environment. How are we going to get it? Reusable coffee mugs. The folks at Caribou Coffee and Starbucks are encouraging patrons to skip the paper cups and bring their own mugs. Every person who does will receive free coffee refills all day long on April 22nd.  The end of disposable cups might not be enough to save the world but, like coffee in the morning, it’s a start.

Sustainable Sustenance Recipes

When it comes to Earth Day, how can a restaurant, already famous for its commitment to sustainability, encourage patrons to take more action? Pizza Fusion’s answer is to offer the chance to win a trip for two to an organic vineyard and free food for a year. All contestants have to do is come up with the most Earth-friendly pizza recipe and submit it on a (paperless, of course) YouTube video.

Show Us You’re a Good Egg

Eggology, a supplier of organic liquid egg whites, helped Earth warriors achieve fame and egg-fortune by posting photos or videos of their most eco-friendly deeds.  All documented Earth rescues were published on the company website and blog, but the deed judged best was awarded a case of Eggology egg whites.

Party With The Earthlings

Earth is more than ground, trees, water and air. Earth is people too. That’s why the Blue Sky Café chose Earth Day to host a community get-together: a special dinner with a guest speaker from the recycling center and recycled art projects for the kids. Everyone was invited to “get to know your neighbors” and, for added incentive, received $2 discounts for their recyclable bottles.

The Animal Called Earth

What we do to harvest animals harms the Earth almost as much as it harms our food supply. That’s why Bread & Brew works with Compassion Over Killing to go entirely vegan on Earth Day. And, because compassion is an environmental value, 10 percent of the day’s profits are donated to COK’s efforts to protect animals.

Earth Means Rock

Begun in 2010 as an Earth Day promotion, the Sweetlife Festival has become an annual celebration of the Earth-friendly lifestyle. The outdoor music festival, sponsored by salad, yogurt and organic food suppliers, has gained national attention and has been a mouthpiece for cause-based organizations to spread their messages.

100 Mile Dinner

No, not a 100 mile table. A 100 mile radius  of local sources for ingredients. Fortunately, The Grille at Morrison House is near the fertile farms of  Virginia’s Chesapeake River valley.  For the 2010 Earth Day promotion, Chef Dennis Marron sourced his entire four-course dinner from producers within a 100 mile-radius of the restaurant.

Cork It For the Earth

April 22nd = Earth Day = $22 off your bill. That is, if you bring 22 wine corks to Firefly restaurant in Washington, D.C. Every cork a patron brings in earns a dollar off the menu price, up to $22. So, do your part. Mother Earth is begging you to drink those 22 bottles of wine and eat that free gourmet dinner. All corks will be given to nearby Wente Vineyards to be used again.

Romancing Gaia

By candlelight, even pizza is certain to impress your date. La Madia Pizzeria is turning off the lights to celebrate Earth Day. With no energy wasted, couples can enjoy  the Late Night Prix Fixe menu with wine and a clean conscience.

Renew Your Vow

Sweet Cakes, a Ukrainian Village bakery in Chicago, is asking customers to join them in “renewing their vow” to the Earth.  Even though all their packaging and practices have long been eco-friendly, the green business wants to do more and have customers do more. So for the week leading up to Earth Day, everyone is invited to receive discounts and giveaways and help build up a bundle of cash to donate to the environmental group, Alliance for the Great Lakes.

Now That’s Down to Earth

Every day is Earth Day at Pizza Fusion! Pizza Fusion is a restaurant completely dedicated to sustainable resources, from building counter tops out of used bottle caps to recycled pizza boxes, it’s no surprise that they would dedicated an entire month to Saving the Earth. For the month of April, Pizza Fusion is having a recycling rewards program that is giving customers discounts for bringing back their pizza boxes to recycle them. For each customer that purchases one of their all-natural pizzas April 22, Pizza Fusion will plant a tree on behalf of AmericanForests.org

Start Early

Who says St. Patrick’s Day celebrations can’t start early? O’Dowd’s Little Dublin in Kansas City says they can. This local pub in the heart of KC’s Country Club Plaza District wants to make sure everyone has a good time… all day. The bar serves a “traditional Irish breakfast” starting at 7 AM on St. Patrick’s Day. (Translation: Guinness instead of coffee.)

Find Your Pot of Gold

Leprechauns, rainbows, and gold can only spell one thing: a St. Patrick’s Day scavenger hunt for skiers, of course. Northstar California Resort got it right by hosting a “search for the pot of gold” scavenger hunt. Winners received prizes and EpicMix acheivement pins for skiers. There was even an “Apres Party” to celebrate St. Patty’s Day the right way after all prizes had been claimed.

Rock Like the Irish

St. Patty’s Day is long known for being the rowdiest of the Spring holidays. Thus, a bit of high energy, Celtic style rock is in order. McGinty’s Public House in Silver Spring, Maryland has found such a tremendous band for their annual party that they draw thousands of fans every year.

Everybody's Irish

We all know St. Patrick’s Day is famous for green beer, shots, and lots of rowdy play. But what about establishments that aren’t traditionally Irish? Hosting a St. Patty’s event when you aren’t a pub is a great way to boost sales. Put up some green decorations, create a special green colored drink, and have fun. Your patrons will, too.

Love a Leprechaun

Thousands of Atlanta residents pretending to be Irish for one day can’t be wrong, especially when they are wearing their most outrageous green gear. Lepre*Con is an annual event that mimics conventions across America and asks party goers to wear their most outrageous green gear. Nudity, wigs, and body paint all accepted. Yikes!

What's Your Name?

Everyone is just a little bit Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. For many bars and restaurants, this includes the names of their drink specials. National chain Bar Louie offers St. Patrick’s Day patrons cocktails appropriately named the “Irish Car Bomb” and the “Naughty Irish Schoolgirl.”

Wear Green

“At least she’s wearing green.” Bamboo Willie’s Beachside Bar offers a different take on the traditional green attire for St. Patrick’s Day. Their annual “Green Bikini Contest” includes women clad in their favorite chartreuse swimwear strutting their stuff. Participants can win up to $500 in cash and prizes.

Training Schedule

Who says St. Patrick’s Day celebrations have to be limited to March? The Tilted Kilt Pub offers “St. Practice Day” on the 17th of each of the other months. As they see it, getting ready for St. Patrick’s Day takes commitment and training… almost like running a marathon but with more beer.

Getting Minty

Not everything about St. Patrick’s Day involves boozing it up. Even fast food chains are getting in on the Irish spirit. Dunkin’ Donuts offers several themed pastries for St. Patrick’s Day, including the Lucky Mint and Green Shamrock Donuts. Other famous mint themed March fast food promotions include McDonald’s Shamrock Shake, an annual favorite.

Dye It Green

Just about anything is up for being dyed green during St. Patrick’s Day. According to Burger King, even the ketchup can take on a emerald hue. As a past promotion, they offered patrons a free value sized order of fries and green dyed ketchup for the holiday.ű

Irish Pizza?

Chicago’s Frasca Pizza and Wine Bar gets into the St. Patrick’s Day spirit in a unique fashion. Their primarily Italian fare is set aside for a special Irish pizza, made with a Guinness stout crust, roasted onions, fingerling potatoes, bacon, three types of cheese and an egg.

Green Eggs and Kegs

We don’t think Dr. Seuss was thinking St. Patrick’s Day or Beer in his classic children’s tale. But Division Ale House is one of the places that has come up with a St. Patrick’s Day event titled “Green Eggs and Kegs.” Patrons can dine on green dyed eggs and bacon all morning long.  Another restaurant in on the excitement is Flying Dog Brewery.

Forget the Beer

Forget the beer. St. Patrick’s Day is also great for hosting whiskey tastings, as Las Vegas’ M Resort has done. Their “Rock the Shamrock” whiskey tasting event allows patrons to compare and contrast over 70 different types. What a way to celebrate the largest drinking holiday of the year.

Seven Days of Celebration

Ri Ra Irish Pub in Las Vegas is such a fan of St. Paddy’s Day, they are making it a week long celebration. The pub is featuring special menus, drink specials, and “straight from Ireland” bands performing all types of Irish music. Because (read this in your best Irish accent) any saint worthy of a day of  drink is certainly worth a week as well.

Skirt Story

Ready to “kilt” it up this St. Patrick’s Day? Las Vegas’ Brooklyn Bridge nightclub at the New York, New York Hotel allows guests free admission to the St. Patrick’s Day party if they arrive wearing kilts. The bar does not specify whether this is for male or female patrons, which might make for an interesting explanation the next day when the pictures come out.

Bring in the Cabbage

We have heard of restaurants offering corned beef and cabbage on the menu for St. Patrick’s Day. But Miami’s Tobacco Road takes this to a whole new level by offering an outrageous party, complete with ladies cabbage wrestling. (Yes, you read that right.) Oh, and they have green beer, too.

Getting Hands On

Not up for shamrock décor and green liquor? Offer a hands on cooking class for your patrons. Central Market in Dallas offers a St. Patrick’s Day cooking class showcasing how to bake shortbread cookies, Irish soda bread, and other Celtic favorites. This tasty event features all the festivity, with none of the hangover.

Guiness World Record?

At 8PM sharp, for 5 minutes, each of the 60-odd O’Neill’s pubs in the UK will be jigging, trying to smash the Guinness World Record for most people Irish dancing at the same time.  To prepare for the night, the pub has a YouTube jig tutorial patrons can watch. On its website, jiggers are encouraged to upload a video, an e-card or a Facebook post of their own Irish moves.

Irish Coffee

Many coffeehouses are getting into the St. Patrick’s Day spirit. From shamrock latte art to green whipped cream, retailers are finding ways to incorporate the holiday into their drinks. Others even add a bit of Irish Crème or green whipped cream to the menu for the day or week surrounding the 17th.

Everyone is Irish

Even Chinese and other Asian restaurants can get into the Irish mood this St. Patrick’s Day. Many are offering their normal fare, dyed green. Others are incorporating green fortune cookies. Its like they say: on St. Patrick’s Day, everyone is Irish.

A Live Pop Up

Doyle’s Café, a Boston institution, offers official corn beef and cabbage sandwiches, as well as live Irish music all day, but the showstopper is the Boston Police Gaelic Column of Pipes and Drums, who pop in for a quick musical pick-me-up. Doyle’s is so Irish-centric, they also celebrate a “Halfway to St. Paddy’s Day” in mid-September.

O’Hare of the Dog?

The hip and happening of LA rock St. Patrick’s night away at a Rock & Reilly’s, an “Irish Rock pub” that transforms the parking lot across the street into an under-the-stars concert venue.  Overindulge, and come back the next morning for a grilled bacon, egg, and and cheese sandwich and a pint of beer. In the 1960’s the Sunset Boulevard pub used to be home of the London Fog and it’s house band, a young group called the Doors.

A Trip to Green Land

At Annapolis’ Fado, an Irish Pub and Restaurant, the ”Pints and Pancakes” breakfast starts at 8AM.  Fado offers a Paddy’s Day Pub Quiz, a Bushmill’s Irish Whiskey Dinner,  and a live music line-up that includes Hal the Piper.  The cherry on top?  A trip to Ireland Give-Away.  “Fado” is an Irish term meaning “long ago.”

Two for One

Patrons like free stuff. Patrons also like to drink on St. Patrick’s Day. Two Kansas City Bars (Irish Hooley at Lew’s Grill & Bar and The Well Bar Grill & Rooftop) have joined forces to create one wild Irish day. Cover charges at these two locations are combined, allowing partygoers a fantastic time at both venues.

Their Lucky Day

Restaurateurs who aren’t dying to dye their food green can “wear the green” in other ways: St. Patrick’s Day.  San Antonio’s MAAR’s Pizzeria offers a 28” clover shaped pizza.  Each leaf can hold up to three toppings. The “cutting of the clover” takes an additional half hour to make, is 28” wide, and goes for $47.99.

They Give an O’Darn

In a proud, Irish Chicago, Italian Quartino Ristorante gave 100% of the proceeds of their St. Patrick’s Day Benefit to the Misericordia, a home for developmental disabilities.  “Guest of Honor” was the Grand Marshall of the Downtown Parade, Father Jack Clair. After the meal, guests can walk South a few blocks and see the Chicago River.  Every year on St. Patrick’s Day, the city dyes it a bright green.

The Big Bounce

One Austin, Texas restaurant and brewery, NXNW,  offers a St. Patrick’s Day “bouncy house,” and it’s not what you might think.  The place caters to kids, too, with an outdoor inflatable bouncing room, balloons animals, and visit from “Pinty the Bear.” Proceeds from the NXNW event will be donated to the Austin Community School.

The Wearing of the Green

A California Mexican institution puts an “O” in front of its name and a bit o’ the Irish inside its signature dishes.  Patrons eat tacos filled with corned beef while listening to live bagpipers, perhaps playing La Bamba? A signature dish here is Chili Relleno made with Oaxacan cheese, cream cheese, and green chilies stuffed into a poblano chili, crusted with tortilla chips, and cooked.

Green Means Eco

And eco means green.  At Elate, guests are offered a locally-sourced open-faced rueben made with sustainable ingredients, as well as a “Paddy Wagon” with organic vodka.  And if guests drive an electric or hybrid vehicle, they’ll enjoy complimentary valet parking. What’s a “Paddy Wagon” cocktail? Square One Cucumber organic vodka, green pepper juice, roasted poblano agave and lime juice.

The Ghosts of Poets Past

Near Trinity college in Dublin, authors of old used to promote their books in pubs–that’s where the opinion makers were.  It’s said, Joyce, Yeats and Beckett haunt the pubs today, so actors recreate the famous authors’ prose and verse.  Guests presumably replace brain cells as they lose them, as the evening includes a quiz with prizes. In Ireland, up until recently, St. Patrick’s Day was a religious holiday akin to Easter.

Yelp’s Monocle

Yelp, the website that  almost put the Yellow Pages out of business, is ready to finish the job with its new Monocle app.  Using your smartphone’s camera, GPS, and compass, Monocle overlays markers of nearby businesses and services on your screen. Just tap on any marker to see more details, such as full reviews of your favorite restaurant or maps to restaurants that you have yet to discover.

Fast Food Reality

There is no such thing as a burger desert and your smartphone knows it. The FAST FOOD REALITY app  projects restaurant locations and information over real-time images. And there are  maps too. So if you can’t find  pizza, burgers, donuts, and coffee anywhere in the world, you just aren’t hungry.

Delivering Cuteness

Babies, puppies, kittens, and this little electric Domino’s delivery car are all too delightful to be ignored. Put your restaurant’s logo on a endearing little car like this and the whole town will take notice. Put your logo on a kitten… well, that would be wrong.

Futuristic Delivery

In 1985: Domino’s envisioned the future with the Triton No. 1, an experimental pizza-delivery vehicle. Unfortunately, a quarter century later, we still have pot holes. So this  particular future went straight to a museum in South Dakota.

A Spicy Delivery

To save on gas? Bicycle delivery. To save on laundry? Well, maybe not every day but, as a promotion to launch its new bike delivery service, the Olé Restaurant Group of Boston had delivery bikers clad only in underwear surprise some major lifestyle publications with free lunch.

The Talking Scooter

In the ‘squeaky wheel gets the grease’ category: Domino’s in the Netherlands delivers with scooters that call out in a man’s voice, “Domino’s” and “Pizza”. But the town crier advertising effect is a by-product; the primary purpose is safety as the voice alerts drivers and pedestrians to the normally quiet scooter.

A Brief Segway

Traffic may be bumper to bumper and a parking space more rare than diamonds but, set the table,  dinner’s cutting through the park on a Segway. The eco-friendly, sidewalk friendly, single person vehicle has found its niche in urban restaurant delivery.

Mountainside Delivery

Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays the Roving Mammoth Burritos’ Cat from bringing the heat to the slopes. Hungry skiers and boarders don’t need to head back to the lodge as this tank-like take on the food truck, will come to them.

You Don’t Miss a Moose

“Mommy, what’s that buffalo doing on that car?” “Advertising, dear.”

Catchy paintjobs get attention but car sculpture, and cars that are sculpture, grab attention and don’t let it go. More than worth the investment, a car with a moose on the roof or a car shaped like a wedge of cheese will be followed by eyes everywhere it goes.

Green Rides

Your restaurant sits where it is. But your delivery vehicle goes all over town, telling everyone who sees it who you are and what you stand for. Let your deliveries announce that you are a responsible company that cares about the world.  Pizza Fusion’s “Fresh, natural, Earth-friendly” slogan on the side panel of their car or energy efficient, low emission Gbikes are great examples of restaurants taking ownership of an issue and proclaiming their place in their communities.

NYPD Pizzeria

If you are driving through Orlando, Florida, and you see a cop in your rear view mirror, pull over: he might have a pizza for you. The NYPD Pizzeria delivers in cars styled to resemble New York police cars of decades past. And, of course, no one is surprised to find old New York in Florida.

The Ultimate Delivery Vehicle Project

In restaurant promotion, anything can be a contest including unique designs for delivery vehicles. Recently, in a cross-promotion between Dominos and Local Motors, the world was invited to create the next generation pizza car. With $50,000 in prizes, the 5 stage contest produced cutting edge, sci-fi inspired concepts from consumers and drew participants and collaborative efforts from around the globe.

 

How about you?  Have you seen any amazing branded restaurant delivery vehicles you think should have made this list?  Please tell us via Facebook – we would love to get a bigger collection of cool ideas together with your help.  If each person reading this sent in just one idea/example, imagine how much more inspiration others could draw from this.  Can’t wait to hear from you!

Oh, and of course, if you’d rather just CREATE one that makes the list (and draws national publicity for your restaurant chain), let us know that too.  Our specialty is dreaming big and swinging for the fences with clients who share the same commitment to restaurant marketing that’s “different” and not “just better”.

Single Out the Single

Your playlist includes “Love Stinks” and “These Boots Were Made for Walkin.’” Your floor is covered in wilted rose pedals.  Your specials include triple garlic pasta and spinach dip. Your “Cupid is Stupid” event could even have an old relationship memorabilia give-away.  Make it fun.  After all, at last count, the US had 86 million single adults.

Play Their Song

Music can be powerful and personal, so take a cue from KFC.  They’re not hiring a DJ, but this fast-food player is taking song requests, nonetheless.  KFC is encouraging its audience to go online and choose a special tune, name the day, time, and KFC location, and KFC will make sure to honor the request.

Send Them Home

For guests who would prefer a quiet time at home, offer the take-out to surpass all take-outs.  London’s Mount Street Deli offers a four-course dinner to bring home that includes Beef Wellington and decadent chocolate cake, or a breakfast-in-bed hamper with snuggle-worthy fare including champagne, ginger biscuits and organic fruit purees.

Turn Off the Lights

Founded in Paris, and now with locations in London and New York, the Dans le Noir Restaurant offers guests a pitch-dark dining room with a visually impaired wait staff.  The three-course gourmet meal is “intimate and sensory.”  And for Valentine’s Day? A community table for singles makes it possible to truly set looks aside for the night.

Host a Date Auction

Gather the bachelors and bachelorettes, choose a great cause, and make Valentine’s Day a charity event.  Use social media to spread the word, including a Facebook event page on which you post pictures of the contenders.  Let media outlets in on the action, too.  When the bidding ends, donate a meal to the winning couple.

Give Them a Label

Give them a blank “canvas,” and invite your guests to design their own love-themed package, whether it’s a wine bottle or a hamburger wrapper.  That’s what Innocent Smoothies did.  The company invited fans to create their own “love label” and then print and wrap it.  Personalized labels can also be posted on Facebook or Twitter.

Offer a Proposal

Some restaurants make a special effort to set the perfect mood for a proposal.  If you’re Pizza Hut, your Tie the Knot package includes a ruby ring, a bouquet of flowers, a limo ride, a fireworks display, and a photograph and video session.  The $10,010 package also includes, of course, a medium one-topping pizza.

Encourage Bathroom Shenanigans

Forget the candy and the roses, the violins and candlelight, Mildred’s Temple Kitchen in Toronto is encouraging straight-out fornication in its unisex bathrooms.  And before you dismiss this suggestion out of hand, now the press as far away as Romania, Portugal and Hong Kong were reporting the story within 24 hours.

Break out the White Tablecloths

On Valentines Day, think aspirational, as White Castle does.  “Love in the Castle” treats customers to flowers and white tablecloths, tableside service, keepsake menus, and complimentary digital photographs, in addition to those onion-grilled sliders.  There’s even a new Slidergram app so customers can send dinner invitations phone-to-phone.

Serve Aphrodisiacs

Another idea? Fire up foods that fire up desire.  On Valentine’s Day, Houston’s Triniti restaurant offers oysters with foie gras pearls, brioche with caviar, and cardamom chocolate braised ribs.  The special libido-enhancing dishes have names like  “Love Portion No. 9,” “Garden of Eden” and “Breakfast in Bed.”  And guests can easily used the OpenTable app to book the aphrodisiac experience.

Tweet up a Party

Known as one of Santa Monica’s hottest restaurants for 20-somethings, Brick + Mortar is putting a unique spin on Valentine’s Day. They are hosting a “Stoplight Party” in which guests are encouraged to wear the color of their relationship status. (Example: green = single, yellow = potentially interested, and red = in a relationship.)

Prom Looks for All

For singles who think the club scene is a bit of a ‘drag’, Lips San Diego has a perfect alternative to the traditional club scene. Their 5th Annual Valentine’s Day Prom is ‘hosted’ by Cher, features a themed drag show, and prizes for the best and worst prom looks.

Voodoo Doll Therapy

Birds Café-Bar takes their Valentine’s Day celebration for singles in a different direction. Patrons can drink heartbreak themed beverages while indulging in a bit of voodoo doll therapy to get back at their exes. Yikes! While this may seem a little creepy and extreme, the establishment has found a way to set themselves apart.

Love Stinks, Let’s Drink

Vander Bar in New York City is hosting their “Anti-Valentine’s Protest.” One of the most unique things about this singles celebration is the themed menu they have planned. Guests can dine on “Love Bites” appetizer specials and “Love Stinks, Let’s Drink” themed shots.

Choose your own Music

For a really unique take on a Valentine’s Day celebration, aLoft Hotel Downtown invite 100 single Texans to party the night away. The twist? They allow the attendees to choose the music via an iPhone app, make a game out of meeting other singles with prizes, and the proceeds go to charity. What a winning combination!

Fit for a Queen

All the single ladies, rejoice! The Kerryman Irish Bar & Restaurant is offering a ladies night fit for a queen. Themed appetizers and drinks abound, including one aptly named “It’s Not Me, It’s You.” This fun night ends with a giveaway for a pair of authentic Christian Louboutin heels to one lucky single.

Bring in the Bachelors

Seattle’s Sea Monster Lounge is hosting Rain N Men, a women only event for Valentine’s Day. In a unique twist, the venue will be auctioning off 13 of the city’s hottest and most eligible bachelors, all for charity. Date packages are included, making it a night the winning ladies won’t soon forget!

Your Key, My Lock?

Amber in Seattle utilizes Valentine’s Day as a way to bring singles together. Women receive random locks, while men receive random keys. Both sexes must work together to determine what keys fit what locks to win fantastic prizes. And who knows? Maybe a little more!

Multiple Incisions

If one anti-Valentine’s Day Party is good, what happens when multiple locations team up? (Bonus points for a costumed theme.) The Reno Vampire Crawl encourages singles to dress up in vampire regalia, purchase a cup, and wander there way between a few of the cities hottest night spots.

Find your Match

Fado Irish Pub in Atlanta continues with the theme of pairing singles with potential matches they might have previously overlooked. This Valentine’s Day party includes a “nuts and bolts” theme, where each participant receives a random piece of hardware. They must mingle to find the “match” to their hardware and win great prizes.

Profitability

Ever try to build your business with discounting? It’s quicksand. An innovative product, however, reaps premium prices and higher margins.

You're buzz-worthy.

Journalists are eager to report on new technologies, trends and innovations. Stories of early adopters catch on. They snowball. And sometimes, like in the case of the Kogi Korean Barbeque Truck, stories of early adoption propel a restaurant into a billion dollar category.

Success is a Magnet.

By innovating, you not only build on the results, you build on your perception. The brightest want to work with you; the media wants to write about you. Investors, franchisees, partners, your success attracts the best.

You Get a Bigger Piece of the Pie.

Trend-savvy restaurants are market share leaders. Complacent restaurants are often left behind. We know you know it, but here’s a humble reminder: It’s imperative to commit to an innovative mindset.

Shiver Me Timbers

The UK city of Plymouth is home to the Royal Navy.  It’s also home to Pizza Express, which has doffed its hat in the form of a maritime theme. Here, you’ll find wavy walls, shiver-me-timbers timber, and a large rose “tattooed” right on the woodwork.

Dark and Eclectic Comfort

Right smack in the heart of Shanghai you’ll find Matto Bar and Pizzeria, a mash-up of the organic and the industrial, the dark and the playful.  The idea?  Create an environment as surprising and comfortable as the food.

Sophisticated Whimsy

Subtle colors and lacey chandeliers create quiet sophistication at the Dutch pizzeria Fabbrica.  But this place doesn’t take itself too seriously.  Ladders up to personal tree-house-like pods bring unmistakable whimsy.

Don’t Mind if We Watch

If they see it, they will come.  That’s the logic behind the Domino’s Pizza restaurant revamp.  New store design plans include a viewing area in which pizza lovers can see the art of the dough, first hand.

A Fresh Perspective

Another way to freshen up a look:  freshen up the menu.  San Francisco’s Patxi’s Pizzeria recently added unexpected new small plates including a pickled pepperoncini chop salad.

The Big Splash

If you’re known for your adventurous signature pizzas, a 50 foot whimsical mural by a local Florida artist becomes part your new pizzeria prototype.  The Loop Pizza Grill also boasts huge windows, big beams, and 4000 square feet of warehouse space.

Eau de…Dough?

Want your guests to remember the unmistakable aroma of your freshly baking dough long after they’ve gone home?  Take a cue from this Canadian pizzeria: offer Eau de Pizza Hut.

Work as Art

Enter Australia’s Pizza Farro, and you’ll see a ceiling of vintage wooden rolling pins.  Hundreds of them.  The effect is homey and unstudied, rustic, warm and sentimental.  Which is exactly what the stylists intended.

Outside the Pizza Box

A no-nonsense, ready-to-feed-you vibe starts with the tomato sauce can walls at Shumis Pizzeria in Israel.  It’s a funky visual aesthetic that gives new life to the term “pizza joint.”

Enhance your menu

Menus are best when they’re concise and uncluttered. But guests also like to have more information about a dish. Instead of the waiter reciting the ingredients and cooking method. Link to detailed descriptions with individual codes. Radisson Edwardian Hotels in Great Britain and Mike’s City Diner in Boston put QR codes on their menus so diners can see a video of signature dishes  being prepared.

Nutritional information

Some people want to know the nutritional information of the food; some people don’t. Link to details about calories and carbs with a QR code and let the guest decide.  The Nutrition Center of Netherlands is doing it on a big scale, with QR codes on 1,500 billboards throughout the country that link to nutritional info.

Give outsiders a look in

Put a QR code on the front door or window for people passing by to scan. Link to a video that gives them a virtual tour of your restaurant to entice them to come inside.  It works for the real estate industry, it can work for restaurants, too.

Increase guest survey responses

Print a QR code on the receipt that links to a guest survey that customers can fill out when they get home. That’s what Guerro’s Taco Bar in Austin does.

Take guests into the kitchen

Put a code on the menu that links to a video of your chef in action along with a voiceover that explains your restaurant’s philosophy of food. Mesob, an Ethiopian restaurant in New Jersey, shows guests how injera is made.

Turn a small ad into a big one

With a QR code, the smallest black and white print ad can turn into one that sings and dances in living color, like the one for Avalon restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona, does.

Show the food

Photos of food printed on a menu can look tawdry. Use QR codes to link to professionally produced photos of your signature dishes, like Ayara Thai restaurant in Westchester, Calif.

Offer specials

Put a QR code on the wall near the front of the restaurant that links to a special promotion. Guests will make a point to stop in and scan it just to see what the deal of the day offers. Chino Latino, a fusion restaurant in Minneapolis, has QR codes throughout the building – even in the restrooms.

Keep things moving

Quick serve restaurants, such as Convivio in Porto, Portugal, can speed the ordering process by allowing guests to scan their orders while waiting in line.  Once the  reach the cashier, they can show the order number and pay for the purchase.

Save the trees

Instead of paper takeout menus that are expensive to print, put your menu on a QR code that guests can scan on their way out the door.