| | Increase Sales & Profit With "Featured" Menu Items
For many people, the daily "special" is anything but special.
Specials are often presumed to be leftovers or the result of some
screw up in the kitchen that the house must get rid of quickly.
An effective way to change the perception of your daily "off the
menu" items is to refer to them as your "featured" dishes. Train
your servers to say "tonight (or for lunch) we are featuring..."
This simple shift can enhance their ability to promote these
dishes and increase the sale of certain menu items. "Featured
items" can give you a subtle, but important, point of difference
from your competition.
Here are a few reasons why it is to your advantage to offer one
or two "featured items" at every meal:
Your guests will like them -
"Featured items" help prevent regulars from getting bored with
the menu.
You can challenge and involve your staff -
Ask your crew to help you create featured items that are unique,
interesting and that your guests will love.
You can feature low-cost dishes -
For example, when I was in college, a local restaurant featured
all-you-can-eat spaghetti every Monday night. They were always
packed and sold mass quantities of beer (at full price!)
You can take the load off the kitchen -
If you have days or meal periods you know will be extremely busy (
like Mother's Day), feature items that require minimal final
preparation in the kitchen. Fewer labor-intensive dishes will
reduce waiting times and increase table turns.
You can develop a local identity -
Locals and visitors alike appreciate "home grown" favorites. In
many cases your cost of ingredients will be lower or you may be
able to charge a premium price for something a little different,
not to mention the nostalgia value of an item that someone's
grand-mother used to make years ago.
You can capitalize on seasonal prices -
Fresh strawberries are an excellent example of a product with
dramatic price swings depending on seasonal availability.
Featuring strawberry pie and strawberry daiquiris "in season"
means lower cost and higher quality products.
A consistent focus on featured dishes can be a double win in any
restaurant. Guests have the option of trying new and interesting
dishes while you have another means of involving your staff,
improving kitchen efficiency and boosting your profit margins. |
| | Posted 7/11/2006 6:25 PM - 6 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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