Let’s talk Valentine’s Day. We know that you’re probably sitting in your restaurant (or if you’re lucky, still lounging in bed!) exhausted from the gong show that just exploded in your dining room and kitchen. There may have been proposals, or break ups, or just heaps of mushy love, but we KNOW that it was an intense day for you and your staff.

Once upon a time in a land called Winnipeg, a bunch of young adults met while working in a downtown restaurant. Bartenders. servers, cocktailers, and supervisors, these dedicated employees loved everything about their job and were the best of friends. Life was wonderful.

If you asked your managers, ‘What’s the one task you do every week that you dread, and that takes you off the floor for far too long?’ there’s a good chance they won’t even have to think before answering:

'The Schedule.'

For many restaurants, scheduling manually takes hours every week, and in the end, it may not be serving anyone very well, leaving a trail of inefficiencies as well as disgruntled team members and customers behind it.

While worker advocates were celebrating Sept. 19 as Seattle became the second US city to pass a law that regulates how large restaurants and food chains schedule staff, restaurant owners in this Washington city—and beyond—were crunching numbers and asking a single question: Now how are we going to pull this off?

When it comes to sports fans, we know this much:

1. They like to watch the game live.
2. They like to drink while they watch the game.
3. They like to eat while they watch the game.

In short - sports fans are good for business.

What do you need to know about getting more sports fans in your door?

To give you a sense of who your sports fans are, the impact they can have on your restaurant, and how you can best prepare for them, we’ve profiled four unique sports species: NFL fans, fans of that other kind of football, MLB fans, and NHL fans.

There has to be a better way.

You’ve said it before.

Your managers say it all the time as they emerge like zombies bearing this week’s schedule after four hours in the stuffy back office littered with time-off requests written on napkins.

This is how it starts: Your eyes dart back and forth from the blank schedule on your screen to the notebook filled with handwritten time-off requests from everyone, it seems.

Cheryl has an exam. Jeff’s grandma died. Erica’s sister is getting married in Mexico.

Those who have worked in the restaurant industry agree – it’s not for the faint of heart.

Whether you’re a line cook or an owner you probably know what it feels like to be overworked and under the gun. And if you’ve ever been fortunate enough to serve in a management role, you’ve probably been unfortunate enough to know the frustration of creating a schedule.

It’s hot out, you’re hungry, and you’ve just stumbled upon a patio where people are tipping back cold margaritas and soaking up the sun.

We’ve all been there: Despite knowing full well that the service on patios is often sub-par, we ask for a table outside.

If we asked a handful of restaurant managers and owners what’s important to them when choosing scheduling software, they’d probably mention cost, they may ask about integration with their point-of-sale system, and they might even inquire about features—labor forecasting or time tracking.

And somewhere down the list would be, It has to be easy to use.

And yet, in the long run, ease of use might be the most important factor of all.

How do you feel about brain teasers?

Or how about a logic puzzle where you’re given a fictional situation (like a row of five different colored houses) and a bunch of strange restrictions (the white house is to the left of the green house, the owner of the white house has a dog, the cat owner drinks tea, etc.)  And then you have to answer an equally ridiculous question like, “Who owns the zebra?”

The cooks you’re already struggling to keep.

The grass-fed beef on your signature burger.