Source: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014...

To save a few pennies, restaurants are doing things that would never appear on the menu: pouring thin heads on beer, serving lightly embalmed shrimp and selling a $2.50 bottle of wine for $15 to consumers who never wonder about the quality. 

Activist investor Starboard Value exposed a stark reality of the restaurant business this year, and none of us will ever recapture our innocence. Starboard accused Darden Restaurants, the parent company of Olive Garden, of not salting their pasta when cooking it to make their pots last longer. 

Other restaurants do similar things, although they may not find themselves in a research report. Running a successful restaurant isn’t even about nickels and dimes; it is all about the pennies, several restaurants consultants told the Guardian. Margins are slim, costs are high and you don’t have to be an expert to know that many eateries don’t survive past their first or second year. 

Successful restaurants are always looking for creative ways to protect the bottom line without giving the impression that quality is going down with it.