How Can Social Media Improve Your Dining Experience?

By now, you have probably come across the viral story starring Morton’s Steakhouse and a very hungry businessman.

If not, here is the gist of it:

Peter Shankman, an angel investor, was hungry right before he boarded his flight. So he fired off a tweet jokingly asking Morton’s Steakhouse to meet him at the airport with a porterhouse steak when he landed. They did.

Surely, a free steak dinner is a pretty good payoff for sending a few tweets, but that isn’t the only reason to look to Social Media when it comes to improving your dining. Costas Inn has achieved a lot of success on social channels in a very short amount of time. It is just another reason you all are such awesome guests and customers. My own page is even coming close to catching up with the restaurant’s! The biggest benefit this brings to you is that fact that you can communicate with us, instantly, from anywhere in the world.

At Costas Inn, we obviously strive to make sure that every meal, every shipped order, and every night is perfect, for every customer. However, if anything is less than what you expect of us, you now have an outlet to share those concerns instantly, and you can give us an opportunity to make it right. Of course, if you had a wonderful time, those comments are more than welcome, too!

We like to think of all of you as part of our family, and our Facebook and Twitter pages are just big family gatherings, where everyone can share their thoughts, their opinions, and their ideas. Why not join us, and let the conversations grow!

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Costas Inn is an award-winning family restaurant, known for having the best crab cakes in the Baltimore area. You can read more on our Facebook page.

Costas Contact: Labor Day in Baltimore

The National Restaurant Organization has come out with their recent report which overviews industry’s summer numbers:

However, this weekend is Labor Day, and unlike the past, many families are likely staying home. The typical traditions of beach trips and short vacations may be too expensive for most families to consider, this year. How are American families planning on celebrating? By dining out, of course!

“This Labor Day weekend is shaping up to be a busy one for restaurants, as more than one-third of Americans plan to dine out or order takeout,” said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the National Restaurant Association.

What does that mean for you?

If you are planning on spending the holiday at Costas Inn, or at any other restaurant, take the time to make reservations. Whether you have two people or twenty, calling for a table is a good way to ensure that you will not have to wait in line for your meal.

Also, if you are rushing out to the Grand Prix, a festival, or a family engagement, make sure you leave plenty of time for eating before the event. If you find that you only have thirty minutes to eat before kick-off, it will be much harder to enjoy the experience!

After the chaos of Hurricane Irene, it will do all of us some good to get out and do some living this weekend, so enjoy the sun, the summer, and the wonders of Baltimore before winter gets here!

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Costas Inn is an award-winning family restaurant, known for having the best crab cakes in the Baltimore area. You can read more on our Facebook page.

Memos from The Owner: The Inside Story to Our Today Show Appearance

As a few of you may have heard, we spent some time in New York this week with Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb on the Today Show. Unfortunately, our fans in the Baltimore area didn’t get to see it live, but through our social media channels, we did our best to keep everyone updated on what we were doing.

One thing we haven’t really shared is exactly how we got to do this and what went into it. A segment on national television is a restaurant’s dream, and we a have been  lucky enough to be on the Today Show twice, in addition to the several local television appearances we have had to show off our crabs. We even brought some crabs to Kathie Lee during her last taping of Regis and Kathie Lee in 2000.

So here is a little bit of the back story that led up to our August 16th appearance:

On our long history with Kathie Lee…

Kathie Lee grew up in Bowie, Maryland, and is a lifelong lover of Maryland crabs. She has been ordering crabs from us for over a decade, and still enjoys them when staying in her Delaware home. The Today Show’s producers know that Costas Inn crabs are Kathie Lee’s favorite, and have consistently invited us up to deliver the star’s desired crab cakes on her birthday every year. This year, they were trying to make it a surprise, which is why we didn’t go all out with promoting it, but unfortunately, she found out about it before going on air.

On prepping for our trip…

It wasn’t all fun and games, however. A day of prep work started before we even left Baltimore. We had to prep and pack up four-dozen crabs, three-dozen crab cakes, and a dozen-1 ¼ lb. lobsters, not to mention enough Costas Seasoning, sauces, condiments, and utensils to cook everything when we got there! Once we got into the Today Show kitchen, it was a hectic rush to get everything cooked and plated right before air time so nothing would be cold.

On the On-Air Segment…

Cooking on the Today Show is A RUSH, and the joy of sharing our food with a country that enjoys it so much is an experience we wouldn’t give up for the world. This year was one of our best trips in recent memory. We had the opportunity to hang out with Jeff Bridges (it is true, “‘The Dude’ DOES abide“, though he now does it in country music) and Matt Lauer, and we spent time chatting with Frank Gifford, who was also celebrating a birthday on Tuesday.

On the feedback since we got back…

All in all, it was a great trip. Tremendous feedback from people local and national, including lots of online orders from new customers and our regulars being very happy and supportive for us being on television. For those that want to see some behind-the-scene shots, we have pictures on our Facebook page and we also plan on communicating Kathie Lee and Hoda more through our Twitter Page.

And for those who didn’t see our segment, here it is…

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Costas Inn is an award-winning family restaurant, known for having the best crab cakes in the Baltimore area. You can read more on our Facebook page.

Thoughts from the Kitchen: Our Bartenders’ Favorite Things

This week, we interviewed our bartenders, Karen and Sam, to find out a little more about the inner-workings of the Costas Inn bar. We asked them about their favorite cocktails, their perfect martini secrets, and some of the rowdiest customers they see!

Bartender Karen

Bartender Karen

What is your favorite cocktail to make?

“Karen’s Bloody Mary.”

Any secret ingredients to put a martini over the top?

“Chocolate!”

Who is the rowdiest bar fan?

“Ravens fans, especially against the Steelers.”

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Bartender Sam

Bartender Sam

What is your favorite cocktail?

“Orange Crush”

What makes the perfect martini?

“Just a little vermouth, and a lot of alcohol.”

What team brings the best bar crowd?

“Of course, Ravens!”

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So, there you have it! Our bartenders’ innermost thoughts (while they’re on the clock anyway)! Stop by again to see more exclusive insider information from your favorite Maryland Crab House!

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Costas Inn is an award-winning family restaurant, known for having the best crab cakes in the Baltimore area. You can read more on our Facebook page.

Costas Contact: Shaken or Stirred?

The martini has long held status as one of the classic cocktails that any gentleman should know. It is a fairly simple recipe, in most cases; gin, vermouth, and perhaps an olive, lemon twist, or cocktail onion. However, things are not as simple as they seem.

For example, did you know that James Bond’s iconic drink of preference is disliked by liquor elitists? Shaking a martini “bruises” the liquor, causing a cloudy, frothy appearance. While some insist that a shaken martini reduces the oily mouth-feel of gin, and may even make the drink healthier, true aficionados look for a perfectly clear cocktail.

Of course there are variations, such as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s famous “FDR Special.” This cocktail was a twist on the classic martini using 2 parts gin, 1 part dry vermouth, and lemon peel.

So what’s our favorite version? You’ll have to wait for our next blog to find out!

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Costas Inn is an award-winning family restaurant, known for having the best crab cakes in the Baltimore area. You can read more on our Facebook page.

A Memo from Our Owner: Using YouTube for Fun and Business

At Costas Inn, we have found our YouTube Channel to be one of our more popular social media endeavors, and we hope that it continues to grow as we populate it with more videos that we produce and that our great customers upload.

However, we have found a number of additional benefits to the popular video site. For example, information on the restaurant industry.

This week, the National Restaurant Association put out its month-end report on national trends in the industry. Typically, this is not a fun document to read through (especially over July 4th weekend). However, through the magic of social media, we are able to watch a two-minute executive summary from the Association’s Senior Vice President for Research and Knowledge, Hudson Riehle. As you will see, he does an excellent job of breaking down the numbers clearly and concisely. So, we are in-tune with restaurant industry news and have plenty of time to get ready for a great Independence Day crowd!!!

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Costas Inn is an award-winning family restaurant, known for having the best crab cakes in the Baltimore area. You can read more on our Facebook page.

A Memo from Our Owner: Good Prices vs. Good Service

At Costas Inn, we spend a majority of our time preparing and planning menu specials and events, but we also like to keep tabs on what is going on in the restaurant industry. One item we read this week was a recent poll published in American Express Market Briefing discussing which is more important to restaurant-goers: Good prices or Good service? Here are some of the statistics they reported on:

• 85% of diners feel that service and atmosphere are more important then quantity of food. Of this percentage, 93% agree that timely seating and honoring of reservations is the most important aspect of service.
• 91% agree that it is essential for the staff to have good product knowledge.
• 90% find that a prompt, warm greeting is a significant aspect of service.
• 81% feel that the server should be respectful of conversations at the table.
• 80% find that good service must include verification of the customer’s satisfaction with their meal.
• 53% would not return to a restaurant if they felt the service wasn’t pleasant and friendly.
• 35% would not return if they were not made to feel welcome and comfortable.

In our previous post, we discussed our commitment to keeping prices stable in this difficult economic environment. However, our commitment to good service is unwavering no matter what. We have some great customers, and we will never take them for granted (and based on the number of fans we have on Facebook, we think they know that).

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Costas Inn is an award-winning family restaurant, known for having the best crab cakes in the Baltimore area. You can read more on our Facebook page.