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Gaining repeat customers with loyalty cards

Mar 31, 2012

Business-sized cards and a custom rubber stamp – just 2 ingredients to help you gain repeat customers! Loyalty cards are a simple and inexpensive method of producing regular guests to your restaurant.

 

We recently visited for the first time, Boiling Point, a Tawainese Hot Pot restaurant (hot pot is similar to Japanese Shabu Shabu) at their Irvine location. A delicious ancient dish with a culinary history of over 1,000 years in China, the Boiling Point hot pot concept was truly a hot pick for dinner on a chilly, overcast California night. They serve 10 hot pot soups on their menu, including beef, Thai, Korean kimchi, curry fishball, lamb, house special, stinky tofu, seafood and tofu, and tomato and veggie hot soups. Choose from mild to very spicy and pick a side dish of steamed white jasmine rice or thin rice vermicelli noodles. The soups come to you boiling hot, served in a small wok kept piping hot from a lit sterno candle placed underneath. My beef hot pot hit the spot – thin beef slices, imitation crab, enoki mushrooms, napa cabbage, tomato, corn, fishball and tofu in a boiling sweet and savory broth.

 

After receiving the check, a few of the people in our group pulled out their “point cards.” These business-sized loyalty cards reward guests a free hot soup after collecting 10 stamps: “Get one free hot soup for next purchase, when 10 stamps were collected.” They even provided a loyalty card just for their popular tea drinks and slushes.

 

The loyalty card concept is classic and traditional, but can still be very effective. If you think about it, new technologies like FourSquare have pretty much “modernized” this frequent guest loyalty/rewards method. Consider offering both loyalty options to your guests to maximize your reach. If you need assistance with your customer loyalty program, contact Synergy Restaurant Consultants.

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Should you offer free wi-fi internet at your restaurant?

Mar 29, 2012

Free Wi-Fi signIn the age of ubiquitous smart phones, notebooks and tablets, it is clearly apparent that many people are closely attached to their electronic better-halves. And why not? Within a few taps or clicks, I can get driving directions, watch a movie, order a pizza or play a game with my friend in Beijing. If you’re a technology-lover, you can definitely appreciate a public area with free wi-fi internet. These days, there are many chains and franchises that offer free wifi including 11,500 participating McDonald’s restaurants, over 300 Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf locations, Starbucks, Chick-fil-A and even Bob Evan’s.

 

Being a restaurant owner, you are now asking yourself if it is a wise decision to offer free internet for your guests. When you offer free wi-fi access, you can expect repeat customers, more menu items ordered due to some patrons staying at their tables longer (think college students studying for exams), and increased guest satisfaction. Although the benefits of offering free internet to guests at restaurants are plentiful though it’s still important to understand the pitfalls as well. If you offer free wi-fi to your customers, think about the associated per month charges you will incur for internet, and also the opportunity costs. For example, some guests may occupy a table space for hours as they work on their laptops, while would-be patrons cannot find a table to seat themselves.

 

You should consider the following things before taking the plunge.

  • What kind of food-service establishment do you run and who is your target audience? Offering internet makes more sense for fast-casual restaurants, diners and cafes versus fine-dining. It also is very appealing for attracting younger-aged markets like Millenials and Generation Y guest.
  • Space and capacity – Does your establishment have enough electrical outlets for guests using laptops? Are you tables large and sturdy enough to support laptop use.
  • Time limits and order minimums: Should you impose a free internet time limit so as to not turn down other patrons should table space run out? Should you offer free internet with a minimum purchase? These answers will vary depending on your restaurant’s unique situation.

Overall, many customers appreciate an restaurant that welcomes them to use their favorite smart devices for free. It allows them to view your establishment almost like a “third place” – somewhere outside of home and work where they can eat, work, and socialize.

If you have questions on implementing a free wi-fi strategy at your restaurant, contact Synergy Consultants.

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Avoiding Claims

Mar 26, 2012

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has published its latest annual statistical report revealing that while the overall number of discrimination complaints taken by the agency remained flat over the prior year one category, retaliation claims, has now grown to represent over 37% of all charges the federal anti-discrimination agency processes.

Moreover since 2006 the number of retaliation claims filed with the EEOC has mushroomed, growing by 42% in just five years.

What’s behind this disturbing trend?

Read more here.

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Customer Service – don’t let it hurt your guest experience

Mar 23, 2012

I recently visited a popular local fast-casual chicken restaurant after needing a quick, hot dinner. However, I always call in my order first then pick it up to avoid any wait time since it does take a good fifteen to twenty minutes to receive my order. After all, I am a regular to this establishment and know the ropes by now.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, I let the two young men at the counter know my name and what I ordered. They gazed at me puzzled because they did not recognize my order. After a couple of minutes shuffling around order tickets, one worker pointed to the other that he did not put my order in the system. Suffice it to say, I was disappointed that I had to wait an additional 15 minutes for my food, which was the reason I called in my order in the first place. Interestingly, the restaurant had not a single guest in there, so I had to wonder how any confusion could arise from my phone order. Additionally, there were no other efforts to compensate for the time I had to wait. And to top it off, when my food was finally ready, the server asked me if I had paid yet, even though I had paid him 15 minutes earlier.

This is a real example of poor restaurant guest service and experience on a few levels. I have to admit, this recent trip left me rather annoyed and made me question if I should even ever visit them again.

If you are a restaurant owner do not let your guest leave with a bad taste in their mouth (literally and figuratively) because they may choose to never come back and better yet, tell their friends about their bad experience!

How good is the guest experience at your restaurant? These two simple points can make a world of difference:

1) Phone-ordering system: what kind of system do you have in place when it comes to phone orders? Make sure it is straightforward and does not get confused with dine-in orders (same for online orders). Also, if possible, create a check-out line just for take-out orders – this allows shorter lines for dine-in guests and more organization.

2) Customer service training: mistakes happen because we are all humans, after all! But when they do happen, how do you tell your staff how to handle them? There should always be a plan in place for good customer service, especially when you are at fault. Ensure your staff is apologetic and possibly allowing the offer the customer a discount on the meal, a free replacement, or complimentary drinks/sides etc.

Read more about The Finer Points of Good Service in our March newsletter.

Sometimes, a small mix-up coupled with poor customer service is all it takes to lose a customer forever. If you are unsure about what areas of improvement your restaurant needs, contact Synergy.

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March 2012 Newsletter

Mar 20, 2012

 

Greetings!

Danny and I recently spent a few days in New York City doing research for a client in the full-service Italian segment. We visited all kinds of different Italian restaurants, from the trendy, casual Italo-American sandwich shop Parm to Michael White’s magnificent, pasta-centric osteria Morini. We also took another field trip to Mario Batali’s amazing Italian playland known as Eataly, and we were blown away by the vibrancy of this urban multi-use marketplace. In fact, we continue to be amazed by how the Italian restaurant scene keeps reinventing itself-every time we think the Italian trend has to have gone as far as it can go, we see something new and exciting.

 

Speaking of new and exciting, we’ve got some new articles for you in this month’s newsletter, including our associate Jim Campbell’s roadmap for fostering all-important collaboration between the supply chain department-which all too often labors in a vacuum-and the finance, marketing, operations and culinary working groups. You owe it to yourself to read it.

To your success,

Dean and Danny


Supply Chain Management: The Value of Collaboration

By Jim Campbell, Restaurant Supply Chain Management

As with any business discipline, Supply Chain Management doesn’t operate in a vacuum—it must be connected to and engage with other corporate or entrepreneurial functions in order to be successful.

Communication and collaboration are necessary between key company departments.

Finance, Marketing, Operations, Culinary, and Supply Chain all have common interests and individual key components that will lead to success. The key collaborative components as they relate to Supply Chain with other disciplines are the development of interdepartmental relationships, broad understanding of menu and promotional products and issues, availability of supply, distribution and cost. Understand that Supply Chain is not in the collaboration business by itself, and that all departments must have interdependent relationships for optimum success.

Here’s how it works:

Finance Department

• Finance creates food and supply budget annually, and without forecasts from Supply Chain the company budgets would be flawed at best.
• Foods, disposables, smallwares, services, etc. make up as much as 40-50% of some restaurants’ budgets. Supply Chain must communicate these costs and provide them to Finance on a timely basis.
• Communications must remain open throughout the year so that any critical deviations from the original budget can be disclosed as soon as possible. Early recognition of cost increases will minimize damage and provide Finance the opportunity to work out solutions with other departments.

Marketing Department

• Collaboration with Marketing is critical to the team’s success, whether working on new menu concepts or a promotional campaign.
• Timing between Marketing and Supply Chain are essential to ensure that all menu or promotional products and materials are available when needed. Prior planning, precise timing and deadlines must be determined by Marketing and met by Supply Chain.
• Planned timing will also enable Supply Chain to negotiate better prices, avoiding last minute demands on suppliers to come up with supplies and “best price.”
• Collaboration is a two-way street, and Supply Chain should provide Marketing with best overall values. Supply Chain can support the Marketing group by providing a calendar of harvest times for fruits and vegetables as well as seafood items that will coincide with best supply and pricing. There are also favorable cyclical pricing periods for specific beef, pork, and poultry items. Marketing will be able to avoid price peaks and take advantage of weaker seasonal markets, increasing the success of their promotional and menu programs.

Operations Department

• Open communications with the Operations group has great value to Supply Chain Management.
• The exchange of information from the field provides input, both positive and negative, about products and services that are valuable in analyzing and decision-making. They also contribute to the negotiation process in a powerful way.
• If Operations believes a supplier is underperforming there are two possibilities. Either Operations does not understand the specifications or the supplier is not delivering the specifications. Regardless of the situation, Supply Chain is responsible for intervening and resolving the issue either way.
• Building a strong link to Operations leads to creative and practical ideas, and ultimately to positive policy changes. Supply Chain is constantly interacting with suppliers and can often offer solutions to the comments and suggestions made by field management or personal on the ground.

Culinary Department

• Supply Chain’s collaborative relationship is most critical and essential with Culinary. This is the ultimate interdependency for Supply Chain.
• Supply Chain must understand and respect the creative nature of the Culinary team. Creativity is the primary focus of what Culinary is all about. Their expertise and knowledge can and should be used by Supply Chain in sourcing and negotiating.
• Culinary must understand and respect the business nature that drives Supply Chain.
• Culinary and Supply Chain can most often find their common ground in “high value,” where quality is obtained at a reasonable or very reasonable price.
• Once Supply Chain understands Culinary’s drive for quality they will be better able to target those products and focus on negotiating the best price.
• Culinary must also understand the focus of Supply Chain to source alternative products and brands of equal quality.
• It can be a delicate balance, but the relationship can be strengthened and developed through common goals of which “high value” is one. There will be instances where Culinary will be most comfortable specifying brands, but for the most part and in the long run focusing on pure quality and specifications as opposed to “brand specifications” is the best path to success.

We have focused on issues and the nature of Supply Chain Management collaboration with Finance, Marketing, Operations, and Culinary. In truth this is just one component of the total collaborative effort. In order to attain the maximum success, each discipline or department must interact will all other key departments. Once interdependency is recognized by all, you will be amazed at what can be accomplished. Collaboration when executed properly yields the best result for all those involved including the restaurant guest. The keys are mutual respect, open and inclusive communications, planning, learning, and execution.

The restaurant business is really just another “team sport.” Call the Synergy team for a consultation if yours needs a little help with the process.


 

The Finer Points of Good Service

Lately Zagat Survey has been covering customer and employee annoyances on its blog, collecting responses to topics ranging from the 10 Most Annoying Restaurant Trends (“oversize wine glasses”) to the 10 Foods Chefs Most Dislike Cooking With (“balsamic vinegar”). A recent post about The 8 Most Annoying Questions Asked in Restaurants” —by both staff and patrons—got us thinking about service. Which continues to be one of the biggest restaurant-experience bugaboos for Zagat survey respondents and other customers alike, by the way.

Here are some specific do’s and don’ts for rendering good service:

•  The owner, a manager, a star-server, the chef… someone should always be scanning the dining room to make sure everything’s going well. You don’t have to be standing around to notice when a customer is frantically waving arms to get someone’s attention
•  Servers never refer to guests at a table as “you guys,” as in “Are you guys ready to order?” Well, maybe at Brick House
•  Water glasses are kept filled
•  Appropriate utensils and other eating aids have been delivered before or along with the course in question: steak knives, oyster fork, extra napkins with the barbecued ribs
•  This is a point of argument, but we believe that individual plates should not be picked up when other people at the table are still eating—unless someone has pushed their plate aside to sketch their new house on a cocktail napkin
•  Servers are trained to have at least some understanding of body language and group dynamics so they can judge the energy and mood of the table. Are they getting acquainted after not having seen each other for six months? If they haven’t even opened the menus perhaps now is not the time for a three-minute recitation of specials
•  Speaking of specials, the kindest approach is on a separate menu (as opposed to verbally), unless there are only one or two, and always with prices
•  Employees are generally happy with their jobs, function well with their colleagues, are capable of working as a team, and won’t be bringing a bad attitude or the idea that “this isn’t my job, it’s the busser’s” to the table
•  If a server simply cannot get to the table s/he should at least say “I’ll be right with you” or send someone else over to help
•  The check is not automatically placed in front of the man. In fact, unless someone has specifically asked for the bill, it should be left in a neutral place
•  Remember Steve Martin in the movie “The Lonely Guy”? Avoid asking “Just you tonight?” or “Are you alone?” of an arriving guest or when first approaching the table. (Better scenario: The host asks “Hello. Table for one?” and then informs the server… or removes the extra place setting as a cue)
•  Other rules for singletons: Don’t stick them at the worst table in the house, and don’t give him/her short shrift because his/her check might be lower than the adjacent deuce’s. Experienced diners—and many road warriors are these days—can tell
•  Keep “notes” on regular customers, ranging from favorite table to what kind of Scotch they prefer. They’ll love you for it
•  Hire for passion and personality, train, reinforce, offer constructive criticism, repeat

Need help whipping your service into shape? Contact Synergy Restaurant Consultants for a free consultation


 


Life in the Age of Yelp

Talk about game changers: Crowd-sourced social media review sites like Yelp have put the fortunes of businesses like restaurants into the hands of mainstream consumers, rather than just the paid and published reviewers. And that has really changed the way your patrons and potential customers get and share their information.

For one thing, Yelp has profoundly affected how customers find you. For instance, your Yelp review will pop up in results after your restaurant’s name is input into a search engine like Google, second only to your website—an indication of Yelp’s growing popularity and relevancy. And guess what happens if for some reason you don’t have a website, or rely solely on Facebook?

The volume of reviews is important to search engine rankings, too, since search engines favor accurate and complete business listings.

Of course, many people searching for a place to dine go straight to Yelp, finding your business review-first. The statistics are impressive: The company claimed a monthly average of 66 million unique users during the last quarter of 2011 (the last period for which such data was available), and the number of mobile users at five million and counting as of November 2011.

Yelp reviews can have a significant bearing on sales, especially for independent restaurants. A recent Harvard Business School study revealed that a restaurant that boosts its Yelp score by one full star can see revenues increase 5 to 9% (chains did not see the same kind of bump in response to an improved score). Another issue that apparently affects Yelp reviews is daily deals; according to another Harvard study, people who visit a restaurant on a deal are more likely to give it a negative review.

And while Yelp has a review filter to weed out either customers or business owners who are loading the results, the situation can be as fraught as the old days of fine dining when losing a Michelin start could be the death knell for a restaurant.

Not surprisingly, operators tend to have a love-hate relationship with Yelp, but it’s smart to learn what you can from the site and its users.

Monitor What People Are Saying About You. Not just on Yelp, but on other review sites, too, like Urban Spoon and local directories. If this sounds like a lot of work, there are services and tools that you can subscribe to that will help you stay on top of new reviews, including Google Alerts and Yelp’s own tracking tools.

Yelp Can Be a Warning System. Pay attention and you may learn something that you wouldn’t have otherwise noticed, like a snippy bartender, erratic quality of a popular menu item, out-of-whack price point compared to competitors, or a reservations policy you didn’t authorize. While any customer can have a bad experience on one visit, read all your reviews to see if any patterns emerge. Develop Policies for Whether and How You Will Respond to Reviews. Here’s where the pedal really meets the metal. Yelp allows you to respond either publicly or privately to reviews, both good and bad, and the stories of business owners who have converted complainers to loyal customers are legion. And the instances of an operator declaring war on reviewers —and vice versa—are the stuff of legend.

Monitoring reviews and responding, however, takes time. Naturally, this has led to a flurry of new businesses that will manage your SEO (search engine optimization) and online reputation—for a fee. Consider asking a trusted employee or associate, perhaps someone who works in the back office, to monitor and flag reviews; they can also handle favorable reviews, which basically just call for a simple thank you if you do decide to respond. Good customers can also be solicited, to write a counter review, but that can lead to other problems.

Whatever you do, never answer in the heat of anger. Yelpers yelp because they are vocal and plugged in, and an abusive response can easily backfire on you.


 

Tip of the Month

Not everyone can employ a star bartender like PDT’S Jim Meehan, but they can certainly gain inspiration from his new book “The PDT Cocktail Book,” which should be a must-read for anyone who wants to up their craft cocktail game. Other sources we like are the exhaustive site Drinks Mixer, the free Mixology Drink Recipes app for iPhone, and the oldie but still goodie drinks database from Esquire magazine.


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Agave is a great alternative to regular sugar? Think again

Mar 18, 2012

The health-conscious are always on the lookout for healthy alternatives, and so too are nutritionists and dieticians. Instead of drinking milk, you should opt for almond or soy milk. Whole grain wheat bread is more nutritious than white bread. And up until now, many were led to believe that agave nectar was a great, healthier sweetener alternative to white/refined sugar.

Flavored Agave NectarLet’s take a closer look. The major factor that differentiates agave nectar from refined sugar is that it has a low glycemic index (GI) rating. In other words, unlike white sugar, agave nectar won’t cause high sugar spikes. Further, another “healthy” benefit is that agave nectar tends to leave you feeling “fuller” which may mean you might eat less.

Then why has there been some debate on whether or not agave nectar is a healthy sweetener? In fact, some are labeling it as one of the worst sweeteners!  It appears that many brands of agave nectar contain high levels of fructose – sometimes more than even high fructose corn syrup! The high fructose content can go directly to the liver, which can increase heart disease from the resulting increased production of triglycerides and it can also lead to insulin resistance.

Check out this list of the five best sweeteners that has the stevia plant rounded out the group at number one.

As with any sweetener, be it honey, white sugar or agave nectar, the key thing to note is too much of it will always be unhealthy – everything in moderation. If you own a restaurant, it is prudent to have available various sweeteners for your guest should they have specific dietary needs or preferences.

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Not sure where your restaurant needs improvement? Read your reviews.

Mar 16, 2012

As a restaurant owner, you understand that the foodservice industry is exceptionally competitive and every guest truly counts. You realize the necessity of balancing the factors of cost, expenses and guest experience. Sometimes, it is hard to discover which area of your restaurant operation needs improvement. Can your guest wait time improve? Is your food served at the correct temperature? Are dishes consistent in flavor and texture? Are orders getting mixed up frequently? It is sometimes easy to overlook some issues such as these, but their effects can be heard loudly, especially from word of mouth and online reviews. If not acted upon swiftly, you could be looking at a steady decrease in sales.

The guest experience is one of the most critical aspects for restaurant success. You cannot only expect great food, or great décor to win over the discerning guest. If you’re feeling lost, here’s a tip to help you unearth problems that may be affecting guest experience and patronage at your restaurant.

Perform a web search for your restaurant’s name. You’ll likely find Yelp! or Google reviews pop-up near the top. Check out those listings and read each review carefully – you’ll be amazed at how much detail and insight some may provide. Sure, you may have heard that generally people usually have more bad things to say than good, but online reviewers, especially “Yelpers,” are typically genuinely sincere in their reviews and will rate accordingly. Sometimes, there may be a rare one-time issue but if you start to see a trend in complaints, well, there’s a great start to identifying a problem.

The main online review of a restaurant will critique particular dishes – whether they tasted too salty, sweet, dry, authentic, or delicious. Take ample notes to see if your dishes need adjusting. As much as there are food assessments, there are many accounts of either horrible or great customer service from wait staff. This is key because even if you serve the best Philly cheese steak sandwich on the entire East Coast, who will want to frequent your restaurant if your wait staff is slow or rude? You may even stumble upon reviews of the cleanliness of your tables and restrooms. A major concern of guests is whether or not the establishment they are about to eat at is sanitary or not!

Check out some common complaints posted in online reviews:

1)      Food was not as good as they hoped

2)      Rude staff or bad service

3)      Long lines

4)      Long wait time for food

5)      Bad parking

6)      Dirty bathrooms

7)      Limited menu

8)      Expensive

9)      Small portions

On the bright side, you can also see where you are shining and give yourself or your staff a pat on the back.

So do your homework and start looking for areas in which you can greatly improve your restaurant. If you need assistance, contact our restaurant consultants at Synergy.

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QubicaAMF and Synergy Restaurant Consultants Form Alliance to Extend Bar and Restaurant Services to the Bowling and Entertainment Industry

Mar 15, 2012

 

QubicaAMF Worldwide, the market leader in the bowling and entertainment industry, and Synergy Restaurant Consultants, a nationally recognized restaurant consulting company, are proud to announce a newly formed alliance. The alliance between the two companies will enable new bowling and entertainment investors to benefit from food and beverage start-up services to create facilities where restaurants and bars are well integrated with the entertainment offering, enhancing the guest experience and gross revenues.

As part of the agreement, Synergy Restaurant Consultants will offer, exclusively to QubicaAMF clients, a package of start-up services intended for two specific types of bar and restaurant operations: fast casual and casual dining, which are the most relevant for entertainment centers today.

“In recent years we’ve seen a trend of the convergence between dining and entertainment, which is reflected by the increased number of Boutique Bowling and Hybrid Entertainment Centers that have been leading the new center development in US,” says Riccardo Cuppi, New Center Product and Segment Manager for QubicaAMF Worldwide.

Wendy Smith, New Business Development Manager at QubicaAMF Worldwide adds, “While it’s true that most new centers are incorporating a significant portion of their investment in food and beverage offerings, many times these operations don’t perform as well as planned. These tailored packages, along with Synergy’s expertise in this area, will provide investors a turnkey solution when it comes to effectively including bar or restaurant offerings into the mix.”

“Restaurants are our core business, we have helped so many independent operators and restaurant chains over the last 25 years to reach a position of competitive advantage that we are now really excited to support bowling and entertainment investors with their food and beverage strategies,” says Danny Bendas, Managing Partner at Synergy Restaurant Consultants. “We understand the importance of combining food with bowling and entertainment to provide guests with a unique experience, and are excited about this alliance and long term partnership with QubicaAMF.”

The two companies, serving two different complementary industries, have one common purpose, to make investors and operators successful in their business by offering products and services that drive results in terms of efficiency, innovation, guest experience, repeat visits and ultimately revenues and return on investment.

“We understand the importance of food and beverage in new bowling and entertainment centers, which can account for more than 50% of total facility revenue. Partnering with market experts for services that are outside of our core business, such as food and beverage, is a win-win. The knowledge and experience this alliance will bring to our clients will be unparalleled,” states Jay Buhl, Senior Vice President of Sales for The Americas for QubicaAMF Worldwide.

About QubicaAMF Worldwide

QubicaAMF Worldwide is the leading manufacturer and marketer of bowling and amusement products. With worldwide headquarters near Richmond, Virginia and European headquarters in Bologna, Italy, the company offers a complete line of high-quality, innovative solutions for new and existing bowling and entertainment centers.

QubicaAMF has over 50 years of experience and an install base of more than 10,000 centers, which includes AMF Bowling, the world’s largest owner and operator network of bowling centers. The company has sales offices in 15 countries, a distributor network with worldwide reach and maintains the largest R&D team for software, electronics and entertainment systems in the industry. Additional information about QubicaAMF Worldwide is available athttp://www.qubicaamf.com.

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Taco Bell Doritos Tacos Debuts this Thursday

Mar 14, 2012

If you’ve been watching TV lately you may have caught the latest Taco Bell commercial displaying college-aged youth taking a road trip to get their hands on the new Taco Bell Dorito Tacos. You heard correct – these Dorito Tacos, or “Locos Tacos,” are your traditional Taco Bell Taco with a twist – that yellow shell you’re used to seeing is replaced with a Dorito Nacho Cheese shell.

These special tacos have been on menus at various Taco Bell Doritos test market locations and are finally debuting nationwide this Thursday.

Check out this video from a “Sneak Eat Tasting” of the Locos Tacos in Orange, California

The Doritos Locos Tacos item is just one of many new changes that Taco Bell has been making to their menu. While these Dorito-flavored tacos may seem more appealing to some segments, Taco Bell has recently also introduced their Cantina Bell menu in test locations, whose flavor profile is more gourmet and comparable to ingredients used at Chipotle – appealing to those consumers seeking fresh and healthier choices.

The evolving menu at Taco Bell illustrates the importance for restaurants to expand their selections to keep up with consumers’ changing tastes as well as competitor trends. When was the last time you reviewed your menu? What about your competitors’ menus? Keep notice of the well-performing dishes versus the poorly performing dishes. Could you add any new items to boost sales? These are all important things to note if you own a restaurant. Menu development is key for attracting guest and creating repeat customers. If you need assistance with menu development or menu engineering, contact Synergy for a free consultation.

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How to write a great menu

Mar 13, 2012

“Heirloom,” “artisanal,” “black-label,” “locally-sourced,” “biodynamic,” “grass-fed”…you’ve probably heard these terms used on a menu and maybe even scratched your head on the meaning of a couple of them.

Menu descriptions are an extremely important aspect of a restaurant’s success. If you offer the dish, “Pad Thai,” you surely need to add more of a detailed description other than just “stir-fried noodles with chicken or shrimp.” An effective description would be something like, “Traditional, savory stir-fried rice noodles with crisp shrimp, scrambled-eggs, bean sprouts, and tofu, tossed with tangy tamarind sauce and crushed peanuts.” Not only does it include what is in the dish, but there are also adjectives like “tangy,” that can evoke intrigue, and hopefully some stomach growling!

As a restaurant owner, the last thing you want is for a guest to gloss over a great dish because they didn’t understand it. A successfully written menu item description, using a technique called “descriptive labeling,” has shown to greatly increase sales and guest ratings.

According to this NY Post article, a study where a control group was served “chocolate cake” while the other group was served the same dish with the name, “Black Forest Double Chocolate Cake”:

“Sales went up, taste ratings went up, ratings of the restaurant went up. It didn’t matter that the Black Forest isn’t even in Belgium.”

 

But what about some newly popular terms seen around restaurant menus across the nation such as “locally-grown,” “artisanal,” and “hand-crafted?” These terms have shown a surge in use due to the green and local movement as well as a technique for restaurants to convey a more home-made and rustic feel to their food. However, while many guests can enjoy a well-described and vivid explanation of a dish, some may be confused about what it means! So, how do you balance how to write a great menu that is descriptive, enticing, but at the same time, not confusing?

Here are some tips to help you write efficient restaurant menu item descriptions:

1)      Highlight the major ingredients used in the dish and any possible common allergens such as peanuts.

2)      Use interesting sensory adjectives. For example, “crisp,” “juicy,” “tender,” “smoked,” “zesty,” “savory,” tangy,” “creamy” and “crunchy.”

3)      Know your audience. If they health-conscious, use terms like “low-calorie,” “fresh, low-fat,” “low-sodium,” “low-carb,” “organic” and “heart healthy.” For green-movement guests, mention “organic,” “sustainable” and “locally-grown.”

4)      For some newer terms that many may still not understand, such as “biodynamic wines,” or “farm to table,” provide a small glossary on your menu that explains these terms.

If you’d like to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of your menu, contact our menu consultants at Synergy.