How-to guides, insider tips, and data-driven insights for breweries and beer-focused bars and restaurants.

David Hayden is a decades-long bar & restaurant industry vet. He started off as a server way back when (a job he got by wearing a suit and tie to his interview for a line cook position), and since then has done just about everything you could do in the industry, including writing a book called Tips2: Tips for Improving your Tips.

But starting 15 years ago or so he settled into a niche: helping bars and restaurants with their digital presences, specifically their websites (he's designed hundreds), branding, SEO, and social media. In this conversation we mined his vast knowledge of social media for tips on how bars and restaurants can successfully run their social media accounts.

His Kansas City-based company, Hospitality Formula, helps clients across the country, but the client he works most closely with is an arcade bar called Up - Down, which has locations throughout the midwest: Des Moines, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Nashville, St. Louis, and Oklahoma City. He runs the social media presences for each and every location, and does so to great success.

Below you'll find his insights about social media and branding, tactical advice on how, when, and what bars and restaurants should post, as well as some philosophical musings about branding: who is your brand? What kind of music would your brand like? (Hint—if you don't know the answer to that question, it's time to do some branding work.)

Life is super busy for everyone at bar and restaurant groups. Operations and marketing play all-day-everyday whack-a-mole at the office. GMs and on-the-ground staff do the same at each location.

This is true for all hospitality groups, but those with rotating selections are doing it at a whole different level: their selections change all the time, which means their menus need to be updated all the time. And keeping up with that is a significant challenge.

Menu automation from BeerMenus solves this headache, providing a solution that:

• Saves everyone time because on-the-ground folks manage menu updates on their professionally designed templates.
• Makes it possible to keep menus truly up-to-date. Updating only takes a second, so menus actually get updated as soon as kegs kick, not a week later.
• Ensures menu information is always accurate and error-free. Our databases ensure there are no more spelling errors or issues with product info like descriptions, etc.
• Ensures menus will be professional and consistent. Your custom menu template is designed by professional graphic designers and item changes get automatically plugged into the template.
• Is affordable.

And you can even expect to increase your beer and beverage sales, too.

Read on to learn more about BeerMenus Print Menus for bar and restaurant groups.

Published February 2022

Untappd has increased its prices to $899/year for all businesses on Untappd, including businesses that have been their customers for years.

This is a significant (50%) price increase—previously, Untappd’s pricing was $599 per year (though in some cases they were known to cut deals, offer monthly pricing, etc.)

👉 Update February 2022: The industry is still reeling from the pandemic, but Untappd has increased its prices to $899/year for all businesses, even existing customers. This is a 50% increase on their previous pricing.

These are significant price increases—previously, Untappd’s pricing was $599 per year (though in some cases they were known to cut deals, offer monthly pricing, etc.)

Learn more about Untappd for Business's price increases.

Maybe you’ve received a bunch of phone calls from the Untappd for Business sales team. Maybe a buddy in the industry mentioned it to you. Or maybe you're currently using Untappd for Business at your bar or restaurant.

Regardless, you’re wondering whether it’s right for your bar or restaurant, so you want to learn more.

When you're considering this, you'll certainly evaluate Untappd for Business (something you can do in our Untappd for Business: the Definitive Guide article).

But thoughtful small business owners don’t stop there. Before committing to one service, they do their due diligence and investigate other similar solutions. BeerMenus is a popular Untappd for Business alternative and competitor that's very popular among brewers, beer enthusiasts, and the beer community as a whole.

However, there are significant differences between Untappd for Business and BeerMenus, and there are many cases where BeerMenus is a better fit.

Read on to learn more about Untappd for Business, BeerMenus, and which would be a better fit for your business.

This article is the most exhaustive description of Untappd for Business available. Use it to learn about Untappd for Business and to consider whether it's right for your business.

👉 Update February 2022: Untappd has increased its price to $899/year for all businesses including businesses that have been with them for years. a 50% increase on their previous pricing.

These is a significant (50%!) price increase—previously, Untappd’s pricing was $599 per year (though in some cases they were known to cut deals, offer monthly pricing, etc.).

Learn more about Untappd for Business's price increases.

You know the scene well. A keg kicks and your heart drops: you have to update your beer menu.

What comes next goes something like this: you go to the office computer and head to Google to find the new beer's description. You search and search, finally find a description you like, then copy and paste it into your menu document. You're done...except now the formatting is screwed up. You fiddle with it until it's finally ready. You push print and take a deep breath.

You're done.

Until you have to do the exact same thing the next day.

It doesn't have to be that way! Read on to learn how to create a professional beer menu template that automatically includes beer descriptions.

This year we've helped bars, restaurants, and breweries from Alaska to New York showcase their craft beer tap list in just about every way possible, from modern to sleek to chalkboard-inspired.

In this article we highlight the 10 best digital menu board designs we made this year. Enjoy!

(Note: if you're looking for touchless QR code menus that customers can scan and peruse on their phones, click here to learn more.)

Digital beer menus are attention-grabbing and easy for customers to read. This makes life easier for your bartenders and makes the entire ordering process more efficient, which drives a significant increase in beverage sales.

But questions abound: how do I even create a digital beer menu? How can I actually get it onto a TV? And how can I avoid going through a whole updating rigmarole every time I kick a keg?

TV Menus from BeerMenus make it extremely easy.

We recently sat down with Brittany Saxton, owner and GM at Bellefontaine, Ohio's Six Hundred Downtown. We talked about the local beer scene, how a world-class pizza place embraced craft beer, and how BeerMenus Print Menus increased 600 Downtown's average bill size by $12.

Most of the hard work is done. You've got zoning approval and you’ve got your liquor license. Your taps are installed, and your keg cooler works.

It's finally all happening, and you can exhale.

Until you realize you still need to get your beer menu ready.

You search on Google to try and find an online template that you can start with. You find one you like and, since it feels like things are going well, you start adding your beers.

Right then—at that precise moment—your heart sinks.

You realize you have to track down descriptions for all your beers yourself. That takes a lot of time. And you don't just have to do it once—you have to do it every single time a keg kicks.

Making your beer menu doesn't have to be a major pain in the butt! Read on to learn how to use BeerMenus to create and update your beer menu in just a few clicks, beer descriptions automatically included.