Great news if your restaurant sells alcoholic beverages. The latest Gallup poll finds that 67 percent of U.S. adults now drink them—a 25-year high. Even better, the poll’s demographic breakdown tells you which group drinks what, enabling operators to fine-tune beverage programs to match likely customer preferences. No wonder savvy mixologists are a hot commodity these days.

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Remember those battles about cell phone use in restaurant dining rooms? It’s going the other way now—at least at Rivera in Los Angeles, where guests who want to know more about a particular dish can call chef John Sedlar for a blow-by-blow of the item’s history and preparation. It’s a clever use of interactivity that keeps Rivera in tune with the times.

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Only a fully tenured professor like Cornell’s Michael Lynn would dare publish a research paper whose top-line findings show that quality of service has a negligible effect—less than two percent—on a waitress’s tip. The actual determinants: bra size (bigger is better), hair color (blonde matters most), and waist-to-hip ratio (i.e., slender and curvaceous prevails). Be sure to consult your company’s HR specialist and attorney before bringing this subject up at your next front-of-the-house meeting.

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