Personally, I have never operated, worked at or even wanted to open a restaurant, but I have had businesses fail (yes more than one) and it’s tough. It’s tough on your pride, your wallet and your confidence. I recognize a business closing isn’t life or death, but I do think we as customers forget how much it takes to provide a great meal, service or product, so support the ones you truly like.

For those of you who prefer to read, click below to see the primary points in text.

Here’s the top three things I think we could all do to support our favorite restaurants.

1. Tell them they’re your favorite – I know running a business is tough and from what I hear running a restaurant takes an extreme amount of hours, so let them know their hard work is paying off.
2. Put your money where your mouth is – Its quite cachet to say this is my favorite restaurant, but the reality is sometimes we talk more about having a favorite spot than actually patronizing the business with our pocketbook.
3. Bring, not tell a friend – Sure, it’s great to spread the good word about a business, but its even better to help reinforce #2 by introducing your network to the business.