Top 8 Best Restaurant Books to Read in 2024

Reading the best restaurant books will give you some insights and expertise. It also offers you strategies to succeed in the industry, whether you are only starting or expanding your food service business.

Moreover, these books help set your expectations and give you a glimpse of the real-life challenges of running a restaurant. 

It also lets you think of ways to manage staff and customers, what QR code menu software to use, or even how to efficiently run a fast-paced kitchen to deliver customers’ orders.

If you want to know more about the adventures inside the restaurant—from back-of-house to front-of-house operations—we’ve rounded up these interesting books for you!

5 of the best restaurant books about management

These must-read books offer restaurant marketing ideas and management strategies that will help new restaurant owners can help you refine their skills. And it also lets you stay ahead in the ever-evolving restaurant and hospitality industry.

Here are a few recommended books you also need to read:

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Stephen R. Covey wrote a personal development and self-help book first published in 1989. It has become a popular and influential book that has sold millions of copies worldwide.

This is a must-read book for restaurant owners and experts because it presents a holistic approach to personal growth. 

It emphasizes the importance of developing one’s character, principles, and habits. This can lead to success in both personal and professional fronts.

In fact, the book describes seven habits that can help you grow as a professional in the industry. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People teaches you to take responsibility for your actions and choices proactively. It also helps you focus more on the things you can control. 

The book helps in defining your values and goals and coordinates your actions with a sense of direction and purpose.

Furthermore, it teaches you how to focus your time and efforts on tasks consistent with your values and goals.

Covey, as he said in the book, teaches you how to “think win-win,” which means looking for solutions that will benefit both parties and working together to achieve success.

Furthermore, the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People elaborates on its insights about cultivating empathy, learning to listen, and trying to understand what those around you are saying. Effective communication and a healthy work environment are fostered by this technique.

Stephen R. Covey's book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, discusses how to interact with others while adhering to your principles. It emphasizes individual accountability, morality, and character growth which can define the success of your business.

Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business

Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer covers teamwork, leadership, marketing, and innovation. It outlines Meyer's personal insights on how the fundamentals of hospitality can be applied to other facets of a business.

“Setting the Table” is one of the must-read books in the hospitality industry since it shows values in leadership, entrepreneurship, and customer service.

Meyer highlights the value of fostering a welcoming and positive work culture. 

Furthermore, this emphasizes the value of forming close bonds with clients and always providing the best customer service.

Meyer offers helpful advice and anecdotes from his personal experiences that business owners will find insightful and easy to follow.

The Power of Positive Leadership

One of the most essential books in sales was written by best-selling author and motivational speaker Jon Gordon. 

Leaders, company owners, and entrepreneurs can gain from The Power of Positive Leadership's practical strategies and insights in creating a positive and high-performing culture within their businesses.

Gordon strongly emphasizes the value of optimism in business leadership. Moreover, he also shows how it can impact individuals and teams, enabling them to collaborate more effectively.

Additionally, the book offers case studies, real-world examples, and practical guides for leaders who want to communicate clearly with their teams and clients.

The relevance of resilience, optimism, and gratitude in leadership is discussed in the book, along with how these traits can improve leadership effectiveness. 

The Power of Positive Leadership urges readers to cultivate meaningful interactions and build an environment where people may realize their full potential.

The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses

Eric Ries's well-known business book, The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses introduces the concept of the lean startup methodology. 

This lean startup methodology emphasizes rapid iteration, experimentation, and customer feedback in the process of starting and growing a startup.

Moreover, the primary idea of the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop pushes business owners to swiftly create a minimum viable product (MVP) to test in the market.

Entrepreneurs will be forced to evaluate the effectiveness of their products and collect client feedback as part of this feedback loop.

Additionally, after gathering client feedback, the enterprise can use that information to improve the product or business model. 

Thanks to the iterative approach, startups can make data-driven decisions and adjust to the market's constantly shifting trends. 

The Restaurant Manager’s Handbook: How to Set Up, Operate, and Manage a Financially Successful Service Operation

Douglas Robert Brown wrote one of the best restaurant management books in the market. The Restaurant Manager’s Handbook presents a comprehensive guidebook for entrepreneurs in the restaurant and hospitality industry.

The book provides practical guides, tips, advice, and strategies to manage a restaurant successfully. 

Moreover, it covers various aspects of restaurant operations, including setting up, operating, and managing a financially successful service operation.

The Restaurant Manager's Handbook also expands on Brown's broad knowledge of the restaurant business and offers helpful advice. 

This enables readers to explore what actually occurs inside a restaurant. 

Furthermore, this book for restaurant management describes the operations of your business and how to employ cutting-edge tools like QR code menu software and inventory management software to run a thriving business in the restaurant industry.

Other must-read books for restaurant owners

In addition to the books listed above, more works might offer useful information, advice, and inspiration for managing your business.

These must-read books for restaurant owners can give you advice on what to do and avoid when managing your business. 

After reading these publications, you might consider using technology like inventory management software, menu QR code software, and others in your business.

Check out these additional must-read publications to assist you in operating a profitable restaurant operation.

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

Anthony Bourdain's memoir, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, details his experiences in the restaurant business. 

Since its initial publication in the 2000s, it has grown in popularity due to its honest and staunch representation of the restaurant industry.

As he explored his culinary talent over the years—starting as a dishwasher and ending as a well-known chef and restaurateur—Bourdain revealed his own ideas and experiences in the restaurant and hospitality industry.

In Kitchen Confidential, he addressed the open tales, trade secrets, and dangers of the restaurant industry. The interactions between chefs and other staff members—both positive and negative—were also brought up by Bourdain.

Along with Anthony Bourdain's travels, the book also tells the lives of chefs and restaurant proprietors. Kitchen Confidential contains a disclaimer on the uncensored stories of the restaurant and food industry, so it’s bound to truly set real expectations for those who are only starting out in the business.

Thus, it’s a must-read as it offers a unique perspective on the restaurant industry and the culinary arts.

The New Food Lover’s Companion

A well-known cookbook by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst offers thorough explanations of a multitude of culinary concepts, a list of ingredients, food history, and other topics.

The New Food Lover's Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Rob Herbst is one of the best reference books and it should be in every cook's collection, according to Bon Appetit magazine. 

Moreover, it provides an alphabetical list of ingredients, various cooking techniques, food measures, safe food handling, kitchen tools, culinary customs, and other culinary ideas. 

Additionally, several other food-related topics are covered, including a glossary of pasta terms, a chart listing pan substitutes, consumer information contacts, ingredient equivalents and substitutions, and many others.

Restaurant Success by the Numbers: A Money Guy’s Guide to Opening the Next Hot Spot

What’s running a business without first learning about finances? Good thing that Roger Fields—a well-known chef and financial advisor—wrote a book that provides insights into the key financial metrics and strategies critical to your restaurant's success.

The Restaurant Success by the Numbers: A Money-Guy's Guide to Opening the Next Hot Spot is helpful for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to learn more about the financial aspects of running a successful restaurant.

Furthermore, Fields provides the formulas for determining the price of food and beverages, labor, overhead, and profit margins. 

This enables business owners and entrepreneurs to use the knowledge to decide how to run a profitable restaurant wisely.

The book also includes suggestions on constructing a strong business plan, a workable budget, and financial sources for a new restaurant. 

Additionally, Fields offers advice on managing financial flows, keeping costs in check, and boosting sales. Additionally, he discusses how to effectively market and advertise your business in the face of other restaurants.

In fact, Fields draws on case studies and real-world examples from successful restaurants to give readers useful information and suggestions on how to apply the same theories to their restaurant ventures. 

Why do you need to read books on running a restaurant?

Reading restaurant books allows restaurateurs and other entrepreneurs to get ahead of their game and enhance the management skills that can help maximize the potential of their business.

Here are the reasons why you need to read restaurant books.

Enhance management skills

You can learn valuable information on managing staff, finances, inventory, and customer relations by reading the right restaurant books.

This is crucial for running a business because your restaurant's internal personnel is its foundation. Additionally, the internal staff from the administration, finance, and skills departments assist your company in treating prospective clients with the utmost respect and camaraderie. 

In reality, having the proper understanding of running a restaurant will help you improve your management abilities through various learning strategies and discover more about efficient management techniques.

Increase profitability

Reading the right books for business helps you keep an eye on your business’ financial stability and profitability.

Books like Restaurant Success by the Numbers keep you updated with financial insights and how to balance the assets and liabilities in your business.

In fact, books are there for entrepreneurs to learn about strategies for increasing profitability, reducing costs, maximizing revenues, and, let’s not forget—paying taxes smoothly.

Moreover, the right tools, like AI tax tools, menu QR code software, inventory management software, and others, can help your restaurant maximize its resources without compromising the productivity of your business.

Get insights from successful entrepreneurs

Reading about real, successful entrepreneurs can inspire you to learn from their mistakes and stay one step ahead of your rivals.

You can gather and read various restaurant books to gain knowledge and understand the experiences of successful restaurant owners across different generations. 

Moreover, the best examples are the abovementioned: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer, The Power of Positive Leadership by Jon Gordon, and others.

These authors discussed their experiences, perceptions, suggestions, and the nitty-gritty of operating a business in the restaurant sector. Applying the theories outlined by these authors can assist aspiring restaurateurs in creating their brands.

Keeping up with the restaurant trends

Industries are constantly changing and keeping up with restaurant trends. Restaurant owners must stay current on industry trends and best practices to serve customers with their newest favorites.

Furthermore, statistics says that 38 percent of restaurant owners want to automate operational tasks, and 95% of restaurant owners said that expanding automation for back-of-house operations will free up time for more important responsibilities.

Restaurants today delve into technology to help run their businesses efficiently. It helps business owners learn about AI tools, restaurant technologies, marketing strategies, and other trends to help them stay competitive in the industry.

And the good news is that we have a different set of tools you can use to keep up with the trends today. A QR code menu software like MENU TIGER allows you to maximize your productivity while maintaining efficient and effective customer service.

MENU TIGER: A smart QR Code Menu software for restaurants

Keeping up with the current trends makes you think of different cutting-edge tools to help your business operations. The good thing about that is there are different low-cost and smart software available that you can employ for your business.

MENU TIGER is one of those cutting-edge tools for your business ventures. It is an advanced and reliable restaurant software that has the best features you can use in running your restaurant.

Moreover, this software has a menu QR code customization feature that allows you to personalize your digital menu according to your brand. You can add a logo and a CTA banner, and change the eye patterns and colors to fit your established brand. 

You can also provide detailed food descriptions and images and include the prices of your menu items to help your customers decide what to order.

Moreover, MENU TIGER focuses on menu QR code customization and allows you to upsell, cross-sell, highlight menu items, and offer promotions through the embedded restaurant website. 

It can also manage multiple stores using one account where you can assign sub-users and co-admins to help you run these different branches.

MENU TIGER also gives you access to your sales and revenues, which you can keep track of and download seamlessly to make informed decisions for your business.

Aside from that, this restaurant tool has a printer integration feature, which makes it easier for back-of-house and front-of-house operations to track orders. It also allows you to include the taxes of each menu item and generate tips online.

MENU TIGER also has these features you can enjoy:

• Canva integration
• Zapier integration
• Update food availability
• Collect customer feedback
• Daypart feature or scheduled menus
• Set modifiers and add-ons
• 24-hour customer support via email

A 14-day free trial of MENU TIGER is available before you purchase a premium package. Additionally, you can use your email to sign up for a separate Freemium plan to enjoy the software's limited features.

Upscale your restaurant business with the best restaurant books 

Running a restaurant business is no easy feat. You will encounter different challenges along the way, which is why it’s important to set your expectations and learn from successful people who have been through it all.

Luckily, the best restaurant books in the market can guide you in operating a business in the restaurant industry. You can gather a lot of insights and relate to the different experiences of some of the successful entrepreneurs in the industry.

Furthermore, these pieces of advice will allow you to know your place in the business and learn how to thrive in the business world. You’ll be better at coming up with informed decisions on what to do for your business. 

And you might want to run a modernized restaurant business using different cutting-edge tools like QR code menu software.

Join the MENU TIGER community to help your restaurant grow. Sign up today to give your customers the best possible digital menu experience.