Here are the featured articles and editorial content in the July 2008 issue of Restaurant Startup & Growth magazine.

RestaurantOwner.com members have access to these articles in the RS&G Archive department on RestaurantOwner.com.

FEATURES

Eyes in the Back of Your Head
Internal Control Essentials for New Restaurant Owners
by Jim Laube
Do you know which of your employees is ripping off your business? Moreover, do you know how to stop and prevent employee theft? In this article, Jim Laube discusses internal control techniques to curb embezzlement and theft, without having to literally grow eyes in the back of your head.

International Flair
The Foundations for Successful Ethnic Concepts
by Patricia Luebke
The popularity of ethnic concepts grew to such an extent in the 1990s that the National Restaurant Association declassified some concepts as ethnic. In a 1994 report, the NRA declared that Italian, Mexican and Chinese/Cantonese cuisine have joined the mainstream. But it's not enough anymore to pruduce ahtentic cuisine; restaurateurs have to provide the same level of customer care that is given in their nonethnic counterparts.

The Best-Laid Plans
Floor Plan Redesign Caveats and considerations During Build-Out Projects
by Dave Pavesic, Ph.D.
Creating a new restaurant from scratch, whether it involves building a new unit from the ground up or entering a lease for a "vanilla shell" space in a strip mall is daunting, in part, because you're staring at a blank canvas, so to speak. But what about build-out projects in existing restaurants or other businesses, in which you have to work around someone else's completed dream or nightmare? In this article, we review the challenges of a floor plan redo, and how to overcome them.

DEPARTMENTS

Opening Remarks
by Barry K. Shuster
The Glass is Half Full - Why would anyone want to start an independent restaurant in this economic climate? Our editor gives you three reasons to be bullish about the business.

Insights
by Patricia Luebke
Industry notes, management 101, menu trends and other interesting tidbits in our monthly appetizer of useful information.

Structures
by Karen Spaulding
If These Walls Could Talk - Walls influence the noise levels and take most of the brunt of dents, scratches and stains that are inevitable in a busy public place. Moreover, they influence the ambience of your restaurant, perhaps as no other aspect of your restaurant. In spite of the visible space your walls represent in your restaurant, they do get the thought they deserve.

Equipment Notes
by Howard Riell
Kitchen Workhorse: A Griddle Primer for Startups - The griddle: not sexy, not exciting, but the backbone of many restaurant concepts. Here are the basics of this kitchen workhorse, and what to look for when shopping for one, including the latest thermostat technology.

MenuMakeover
by Mark Laux
Enticing Guests to Trade Up - Our resident menu engineer visits Moose Country Whiskey & Food in Minneapolis to demonstrate how a pretty menu can be turned into a selling menu.

RecipeMapping
by Tom Bruce and Joe Erickson
RecipeMapping is a three-step process that allows you to add new items to the menu consistently, methodically and profitably. This month, we help you offer your guests Southwestern Chicken Salad and Prosciutto Wrapped Sea Scallops without losing your way or  your shirt.

What Our Readers are Building, Buying and Remodeling
by Diane Lambdin Meyer
This month we visit Clary's in Springfield, Missouri, where word of mouth seems to be the best form of advertising for the proprietor of a longtime and respected fine-dining concept who closed his doors to venture into a casual operation.

New Products and Services
A description of useful gear and services for your restaurant, and how they can benefit your operations.

Points of Origin
by Doug Turner
A bird's-eye view of both the number and the geographic distribution of the nation's new restaurants.

Showtime
by Gene Gentrup
Your best ideas might be waiting for you at trade shows staged across the country.

Last Seating
by Chef Arthur Gordon
Sticky Fingers - How to make your employees the solution, not the problem, to employee theft.

Receive Restaurant Startup & Growth magazine FREE when you join RestaurantOwner.com.