Food Of The Feast: Mother’s Day
As long as you’re not in a “Throw Momma From The Train” situation, Mother’s Day is one that you should enjoy, a celebration of the woman that brought you into this world. As a restaurant owner, you should also know that Mother’s Day is the largest day for people to eat out at a restaurant. The math is simple on this one; culturally, mom is the one who traditionally made dinner in decades past, and to celebrate her, you’re not going to make her make her own dinner, are you? Take her out to a nice restaurant.
It’s a simple idea to capitalize on this holiday, but there’s a small problem: there’s no “traditional” Mother’s Day meal. There’s not a long-standing tradition of apple pie or catfish or Asian fusion meals. Ideally, a fancier meal works better than a hamburger or pizza, unless Mom really has a love of the local hamburger joint.
Still, there’s promotions to be had, and despite the founder of Mother’s Day spending her later years fighting the commercialization of the holiday, money can be made off the holiday. It’s all about getting people in the door.
- Offer a host of freebies once mothers and children
Steak ‘n Shake Goes 7×4 Instead Of 7×7
Steak ‘n Shake has gone a little overboard in recent months when it comes to late night burger options, given their infamous 7×7 Steakburger (featuring seven patties of meat and seven slices of cheese).
For their newest promotion, they’ve launched 7 burgers with meals under $4. Their burgers, included in this offer, are
- Prince of Royale Steakburger (American cheese, hickory-smoked bacon, fried egg)
- Guacamole Single Steakburger (pepperjack cheese, guacamole)
- Bacon Horseradish Single Steakburger (American cheese, bacon, horseradish sauce, French’s fried onion)
- Garlic Double Steakburger (American cheese, garlic spread, garlic salt)
- Jamaican Jerk Double Steakburger (pepperjack cheese, Jamaican Jerk sauce, onions)
- Three Pepper Double Steakburger (banana pepper rings, pepperjack cheese, Jalapeno ketchup)
- Nacho Cheese Double Steakburger (Jalapeno slices, nacho cheese, red tortilla strips)
All these meals come with fries according to GrubGrade, but it doesn’t seem to include a drink. You’ll want to get a hold of a shake, most likely, given the restaurant. Some of the meals seem inspired by their Midnight Menu, which we have covered before.
Anything sound like something you want to tackle?
Half-Off Frappuccinos and Shakes at Starbucks and Sonic
With the arrival of summer, it’s naturally time for restaurants and stores to start focusing on promotions that get their drinks out the door that keep you a bit chilled. Nevermind the fact that it’s not breaking 60 degrees, and there was a threat of hail this week at our offices in Georgia, it just might actually be summer elsewhere in the country.
Starbucks is encouraging customers to try out their new Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccinos, as from now until May 12th from 3-5PM, Frappuccinos will be half off, according to Brand Eating. Your selections include
- White Chocolate Mocha
- White Chocolate
- Vanilla Bean
- Tazo Green Tea
- Tazo Chai
- Strawberries and Cream
- Mocha
- Mocha Light
- Mocha Cookie Crumble
- Java Chip
- Java Chip Light
- Hazlenut
- Espresso
- Double Chocolaty Chip
- Coffee
- Coffee Light
- Cinnamon Dolce
- Cinnamon Dolce Light
- Cinnamon Dolce Creme
- Chocolate Cookie Crumble
- Caramel
- Caramel Light
- Caramel Ribbon Crunch
- Cafe Vanilla
- Cafe Vanilla Light
Sonic, on the “we’re not going to even claim these are anything but a milkshake” side, will be offering half-off hand-mixed ice cream shakes after 8PM, Brand Eating reports. Their shake selection consists of
- Vanilla
- Chocolate
- Strawberry
- Fresh Banana
- Caramel
- Hot Fudge
- Pineapple
- Chocolate-Covered Strawberry
- Chocolate-Covered
How To: Feed Your Employees
It’s a question that every new restauranteur has to figure out when opening their first restaurant. Costs are the highest priority, and it is necessary to make a profit on your food and drinks. Some things are obvious, like how soft drinks incur a large markup for maximum profitability, and the children’s menu will traditionally offer smaller portions for a smaller price to ensure that they’ll still be fed when brought into the restaurant by mom and dad.
The question comes to… how much do you charge your employees? In many cases, they may even know the markup costs. You want to make sure they know the menu, and there’s no better way than actually tasting the food they’ll sell. Likewise, while someone may be eating at your establishment, you don’t want to see them bringing in leftovers or branded bags from fast food; it does not instill any hope in your clientele if your employees are choosing to eat elsewhere.
Your Options
- This one is not an option. Anytime a new item is added to the menu, or you have a new employee, they get to try any and all recipes for free. Their knowledge and opinion about the
How To: Offer Outdoor Dining
What Are We Talking About?
The weather has gotten nice enough that people will want to spend time outdoors. Have you considered taking on outdoor dining as part of your restaurant business? It may not be for everyone, but if you can accomplish it, it might be a way to drive sales and increase your sitting space.
Who Should Do This?
Any restauranteur that has the capability to take advantage of seating outside, anyone who wants to open up more seating or space inside, and anyone who wants to take advantage of their climate at certain parts of the year.
How Do I Offer/Set-Up Outdoor Dining?
It really depends on the layout of your restaurant. If you have a patio section, this is incredibly easy to set up. If you only have a sidewalk, you may need to check with local regulations and neighbors to see if plans to expand to the front of the store won’t interfere with safety, security, and nearby businesses.
Make sure you acquire furniture that is both comfortable to sit in and can stay clean with inclement weather. Inevitably, it’ll start raining one day unexpectedly, or things will spill unexpectedly. You may be able … Read the rest
Food Of The Feast: Cinco De Mayo
Cinco de Mayo may be here, but you may have no idea how to celebrate the holiday , or even know what it means. This Sunday is May 5th (and “Cinco de Mayo” literally translates from Spanish to English as “The Fifth of May”); will you and your restaurant be prepared?
There’s a little miscommunication about Cinco de Mayo; while the name is clear to most people with an errant grasp of Spanish, the full name in Puebla is “El Día de la Batalla de Puebla”, or “The Day of the Battle of Puebla”. The holiday is also not Mexican Independence Day, or the country’s most-important holiday. The battle at Puebla wasn’t a major strategic victory, but it was a major social victory, proving that the Mexican armies could hold off the French. America, at the time, was embroiled in the Civil War, so they decided to, at best, remain neutral on that warfront while they were fighting between themselves.
In America, celebrations of the holiday have gone from “national pride” to a victory in a war about 150 years ago to a celebration of all Mexican culture and pride, especially in areas of high hispanic demographics. Much like St. … Read the rest
How To: Daily Specials
- What Are We Talking About?
Finding that customers keep coming in the store and ordering the same thing once a week? While their commitment can be admired, they may eventually grow bored and leave to other venues to try something new. You can make sure to court them by instituting a daily specials menu, which will have unexpected bonuses for you and your staff.
Who Should Do This?
Any restauranteur that wants to change up their menu, keep things fresh, and possibly lower costs. Additionally, any restaurant that would like to reduce workload by offering an easy-to-produce dish as a special.
How Do I Start Daily Specials
- Simply look at what you’d like to highlight, and advertise that item. Many restaurants do a sidewalk sign with chalk to advertise daily.
- Think logistically at what makes sense for what day of the week. It might not make sense to highlight red meat or chicken on Fridays during Lent, but you might want to drive sales by highlighting fish or vegetarian options on those days.
Never…
- … shoot down a customer who wants something they had for a daily special in the past and returned to have it again. You may be