Although the economy is heading toward an alleged rebound, wallets are still tight— something the restaurant industry is all too familiar with. With less discretionary income than before, customers and operators are both downsizing and looking to extract the most value out of every experience.

This past October, Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN) featured San Francisco-based hotel and restaurant consultancy, Andrew Freeman & Co.’s, 2011 menu predictions. Agile Chef has taken those top trends and broken them down into seven key categories:

The Fall of the Cupcake
The days of haute, celebrity-endorsed cupcakes may soon be dethroned. This year, don’t be surprised if you see people lining up for a slice of sweet or savory pie, a cup of exotic infused soft-serve ice cream, or a grownup version of the popsicle, which has been reinvented in a variety of seasonal and sophisticated flavors, ranging from peach-ginger, watermelon-cucumber and sugar-snap pea.

The Rise of Mom & Pop Restaurants
Last quarter we discussed whether it…

Whether you consider healthier menu options a fleeting trend or something that’s here to stay, the fact of the matter is that the most successful restaurants change with the times. If you believe the latest foodservice industry statistics, diners are becoming increasingly interested in menu choices that are altogether healthy, flavorful and affordable. According to a recent study by The NPD Group, a Chicago-based foodservice market research firm, consumers over the past decade have been cutting down on foods that are high in sugar or fat, and shifting more toward items that could be seen as being more nutritious.

Add to that the requirement in the 2010 U.S. Healthcare Bill that says chain restaurants must include calorie counts on menus, and you may find that if you’re not offering options for health-conscious customers, you might need to makeover your menu.

Make It Healthy, But Make It Good
While the general consensus is that diners want healthier options, the statistics are somewhat…

Everybody has a favorite soup. Maybe it’s a rich tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich from a local diner. Or your favorite aunt’s chicken soup, which may still be the only cure for the flu. Maybe a chowder, a bisque or a stew hit the spot when you were growing up. After 9,000 years in existence, soup may qualify as the ultimate comfort food.

A Growing Market
Soups, stews and chilies are making a resurgence on restaurant menus, driven largely by soup lovers who constantly crave new flavors and by diners seeking healthier menu choices. The movement has helped free soup from its lunch-only, left-side-of-the-menu status.

The trends in homemade soup mirror what’s happening across the food industry, according to Campbell Kitchen’s Vice President Lucinda Ayers. A study her company conducted identified emerging soup flavors that include watermelon, rhubarb, celery, pork belly, grapefruit and coconut, and trends that include figs, pomegranate, beets, cauliflower, acai and whole grains.

Seafood soup…

In this economic crunch, everyone’s looking for a little extra value. As a restaurant operator, you’ve likely seen this firsthand, as cost-conscious diners continue to seek out satisfying dishes at lower prices. As a result, many customers are bypassing once-popular appetizers like soups or salads and heading straight to the main course. Darren Tristano, Executive Vice President at foodservice research firm, Technomic, Inc., explains this trend:

To justify spending on items from the left side of the menu, they want more value—dishes with unique flavors they can’t make at home, or are large enough to share or eat as an entrée …

With this in mind, it’s more important than ever to make sure your restaurant’s soups and salads work just as well on their own as they do before the main course. Luckily, it couldn’t be easier to move beyond boring chicken noodle soups and dull Caesar salads. The same pastas you serve as individual entrees are just what you need…

It’s clear that the resurgence of comfort foods is one of the major menu trends to emerge out of the economic recession. And what’s a better comfort food than pasta? From penne pomodoro to fettuccine alfredo, few dishes marry satisfying taste an budget-friendly value like pastas. Wholesome, flavorful and easily customizable, pasta is the perfect comfort food for cost-conscious diners and restaurant operators alike.

If anyone knows the value of pasta, it’s the owners and operators of Italian restaurants. From nation-wide chains and franchises to local mom-and-pop shops, more and more pizzerias are adding pasta-based entrees and appetizers to their lineups – and reaping the financial rewards.

Roughly 60% of the independent pizzeria operators surveyed in PMQ Pizza Magazine’s 2009 census already served some kind of pasta dish in their restaurants, and an additional five percent planned to introduce one within the next six months. What’s more, those already serving pasta in their pizzeras reported that…

For years fusion dishes were heralded as one of the trendiest fads in the foodservice industry. These days, they’ve become mainstays on many restaurant menus, and industry forecasts indicate they’re not going anywhere. Diners love the innovative blends of bold flavors and unexpected ingredients that fusion dishes offer, and restaurateurs love the profits that they bring in.

But now that it seems like every corner bistro has added a token Eurasian entree to its menu, how can restaurants like yours stand out — and spend less — with new spins on fusion-inspired cuisine?

It’s a matter of thinking smaller. Street food, for instance, is typically finger food you can buy from a streetside vendor, or from a food stand or portable truck. These traditionally ethnic fast foods are now as popular as ever, and many restaurants have started adapting the recipes for use on their own menus. You don’t need a roadside stand to incorporate street foods into your restaurant’s existing fusion…

Ask anyone who runs a family-friendly restaurant and (s)he’ll tell you: Keeping the littlest customers happy can be one of the biggest challenges – and bring the biggest rewards . Your best bet is providing enough kid-friendly entertainment to keep children happy and occupied the entire dining experience. Try a few of the time-tested tips below at your own restaurant to keep guests of all ages coming back for more:

Create a kids-only play area. Kids aren’t the only ones who get fussy while waiting for tables, but they can certainly be the noisiest. Create a dedicated play area for your younger customers to enjoy before they are seated. Don’t worry about building a McDonalds-style playpen; even a few slides or jungle gyms and a sand pit give kids a great outlet for all that energy and keep them entertained until it’s time to eat.

Table games and coloring books still work. Nothing kills the atmosphere in…

Our society is always on the go. Between work, school, family and friends—not to mention a little sleep here and there—it can be hard to find time to grab a bite at all, let alone sit down for a full restaurant meal. As a foodservice operator, you’ve probably seen the effects of our collective time crunch firsthand. Whether your restaurant features a curbside take-away lane or a take-out delivery service, you know that today’s customers appreciate the speed and convenience of grab-and-go dining.

One proponent of grab-and-go dishes, Sodexho Corporate Services’ Bill Mitchell, attributes the genre’s growing popularity to its speed and convenience, something every restaurant operator appreciates. So take advantage of the on-the-go trend and expand your restaurant’s grab-and-go menu selections using the helpful tips here:

It’s all about portability. Lunchtime favorites like salads (Sodexho’s 5-ounce “Salad Shots”) and sandwiches (the “pocket” sandwiches sold in Wolfgang Puck’s To Go kiosks) are easily converted to portable menu…

In an age when diners have more choices than ever but fewer dollars to spend, restaurants aren’t just competing for new business; they’re doing all they can to retain customers and ensure return business, too. Odds are your restaurant is no different.

We’ve already suggested some creative ways for you to market your restaurant and get new diners in the door. Now it’s time to turn those first-timers into regulars by creating your own signature dishes.

Whether you run a corner café or an upscale bistro, few things help define your restaurant and encourage customer loyalty like a signature menu item. Unlike the temporary specials you introduce from time to time, a signature dish should be a permanent staple on your menu, so it needs to have real staying power. Your signature item might be a barbeque pork sandwich, a special salad or a distinctive chili, but above all else, it should be the one dish that really represents your restaurant, your chefs…