Surviving the Kind of Crisis that Makes a Bad Yelp Review Seem Like a Love Note

If you really know the restaurant business, turning a four top in an hour is as easy a task as whipping together a grilled cheese sandwich for a VIP’s kid. But, for most restaurateurs, effectively responding to a local TV news undercover investigation about unsanitary kitchen practices presents a far more difficult challenge. That’s when you need a crisis communications pro with a strategic plan as complex as a Baked Alaska recipe and tactics as sharp as a VG10 steel core chef’s knife. A crisis can hit any industry at any time. Yet restaurants face unique circumstances that make crisis response harder. First, few restaurants employ communicators experienced in dealing with the news media. While home offices of restaurant chains employ communications professionals, single-location restaurants and local chain operations typically do not. That’s a stark difference from the millions of businesses that employ PR experts and countless government agencies that have public…