People will spend money like crazy on St. Patrick’s Day next week—but will they spend it with you? They might if you get creative like T.G.I. Friday’s and give them a reason to celebrate at your restaurant, even though it has no connection whatsoever with this Irish-themed holiday. Friday’s ploy is to offer specialty drinks tailored to the occasion. Could a similar approach work for you?

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Boy, is it depressing to look back over statistics that measure restaurant traffic changes over the past five years. Research outfit NPD collects them, and let’s just say that it’s been a rough time for the full-service restaurant industry, with 2009 being far and away the worst. So will business ever return to what we used to consider normal? NPD says that by the fourth quarter of 2010, it just might.

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Still shaking in your boots over the $3.1 million settlement Sparks Steak House paid to its waiters last fall to make a tip pool lawsuit go away? Or scared by similar tip-related actions brought against operators ranging from the highest of the high—sushi temple Masa in New York—to more midscale places like Chili’s and even to celebrity chefs like Bobby Flay? Good news: the most recent ruling, this one by a federal appeals court, could get you off the hook.

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