Predicting Customer Expectations for the Restaurant Experience in 2017

As 2016 winds down, people are already looking to see what next year brings. For restaurant owners and GMs, this means finding out which trends will be sweeping across the industry. It's true every restaurant has its own niche with its own marketing needs and its own customer base.  But there is one thing for certain--technology and the ever coveted "experience" are going to be playing a larger part in the day to day operations than ever before. In addition to these two budding trends, increasing demand for healthier choices and flavors from around the world are also on the customers' expectation list for 2017.

Technology is the vital edge that small, independent restaurants need to compete against some of the larger chains. The numbers don't lie. While the future of the restaurant business as a whole looks promising, the number of independent restaurants dropped by three percent as the big chains grew by 1%. While it's true that most diners prefer eating at a nice local place, they…