Buy your products from online food retailers

Ordering the majority of your food online will save you time and money. There are suppliers on the Internet that you can order from and have them deliver their products directly to your restaurant door.

I recommend: Bulkfoods.Com sells baking and cooking ingredients in bulk at wholesale cost. D'artagnan sells quality meats and gourmet desserts online, and offers a value club that will save you 20-30% on selected items. Venison America sells quality meats and game, and offers several specials throughout the year.

Choose delicious specialty food and desserts from gourmet food retailers

Add a special touch to your restaurant by preparing gourmet meals and desserts. When you use the right companies, gourmet food doesn't have to cost you much more than the non-gourmet foods you offer.

I recommend: Impromptu Gourmet is an online store that sells everything from appetizers to desserts, and offers various specials. Dean and Deluca offer appetizers, meats, desserts and wines, and they have different specials you can choose from. They are also an online store that will deliver everything to you.

Comprise a grocery list for the food retailers in your area for items you won't be ordering online

You won't be able to purchase all of your food from online retailers, so you need to have a grocery list for the food retailers in your area that sell the other items you need. You should include the retailers' name, location, phone number and the item prices for each store.

I recommend: ConAgra Foods provides a detailed, printable grocery list that allows you to select the products you need and the amount of each product for each grocery trip you make. Grocery Genie lets you set up a free account to build your grocery list, print your list and coupons to match the items on your list, and save, edit and remotely access your list whenever you need it.