With COVID and lockdowns, online communities have become more important for everyone. But for no one more than restaurant owners and managers who are staring economic hardship in the face. Understanding how other businesses are handling the stresses or normal business, much less this year’s struggles, can mean the difference between running a successful business and shuttering your doors. Thankfully, it has never been easier to connect with others. With both established online communities and new groups, any restauranteur can connect with others in the same situation. Let’s look at a few online groups that are available.

Restauranteur Reddit

Established in 2012, this Reddit thread offers restaurant managers and owners real-life experience from others in their field. Set up in a typical question and answer forum, this community is designed to offer experiential wisdom to questions posed by others. The most recent questions are listed first. As you scroll through the pages, you will see older questions. If you are looking for a specific topic, the thread has a search bar that allows you to go back through years of questions to see if anyone has asked something similar. Be warned, however, older advice may not be appropriate for current issues. For example, a quick search of “Facebook” listed a thread of tips that are no longer useful with the updates to that platform.

Meetup

Meetup is another online community platform that can help you connect with other restaurant owners and operators. This platform has different groups based on a wide range of criteria. You can join groups that are specific to owners, managers, or chefs, or you can join larger groups that include everyone in the hospitality industry. You can specify a region such as a city or state, or you can be a part of nation-wide or even international group. Once you have joined a group, you can ask question, offer solutions, or just listen to others in the group. You can live meetings either in-person or over computer with a format such as Teams or Zoom.

The Barista Exchange

Designed exclusively for coffee shops, this online community has over 17,000 members from all over North America. In this community, members can post questions, offer solutions, or just muse on the business of coffee. In addition, the site offers blog articles that touch on themes exclusive to operating coffee establishments, including hiring, and firing practices, types of coffee available, environmental impact of different coffees as well as their business accoutrements. The community also has classifieds that help employees find jobs as well as classified ads where owners can buy or sell new or used equipment.

Chef Talk

If you are a chef and the owner of a restaurant, you might want to check out Chef Talk. This is a forum designed for profession chefs. It has forums designed for professional chefs, professional pastry chefs, as well as those still in culinary school. In addition to posting questions and offering answers, there is  jobs forum that allows chefs to talk about where they will move next in their culinary career. While this might sound like something you want to avoid, it shouldn’t be. By lurking on the classifieds board, you may spot trends that are encouraging chefs to leave their current positions. Benefits, hours, workloads and other issues can be nipped in the bud before you lose your best chefs. In addition, you can always use the forums to choose the best to add to your employment roster.

Bread Bakers Guild of America

If the “staff of life” is an integral part of  your menu, you may want to join this community. This is an association of professional bread bakers, millers and suppliers that offer a wide range of opportunities to up your bread game. The organization has been around since 1993 and offers classes, seminars and even competitions for the best artisan breads in the country. Just imagine how nice that gold medal will look on your menu.

Food Truck Empire

If your restaurant is on wheels, you might want to check out Food Truck Empire. Founded in 2013, this organization brings together food truck entrepreneurs from all around the country to share their expertise. The site uses blogs, and a podcast to answer questions from the food truck community. They also offer a marketplace for new and used equipment, as well as offer guidelines for a variety of different franchise opportunities. They have two levels of membership. The free membership allows you to enjoy their current classes and podcasts while a premium membership gives you access to previous articles and podcasts as well as live online courses and meetings.

Ice Cream Forum

If you scream for ice cream, you might want to check out the Ice Cream Forum. This open list forum attracts large and small ice cream businesses as well as the ice cream-loving public. Their members include owners and managers from around the world. They have several forums designed for professional ice cream parlors. But don’t neglect the amateur lists. This is a great place for you to connect with the public, understand the latest trends and open yourself to new ideas as they spark the interest of the eating public. Giving you the scoop on all things ice cream.

Beer Talk Forum

If you’re all about the hops, check out the Brew Talk Forum. This list forum allows you to talk about brewing to your heart’s content. In addition to posting and sharing professional advice, the forum is also open to discussing beer in all it’s glory. You can break down the forums by region, or by type of brew you do.

Connecting with other professionals is a great way to do more than just up your game. By talking with others in the same situation, you can create a sense of camaraderie that will serve you as well as you serve your customers.