Let the world know

Okay, so not necessarily the world, but at least, your locality.

What needs to be known to the world? All the great things you are proud of in your restaurant.

This article is inspired by a recent visit to one of the restaurants I consulted for last year. I saw that they have new posters on their new offerings that were cunningly designed and phrased. I was happy but at the same time, I was disappointed. Why are they keeping these good marketing tools in the restaurant when the place could benefit from it being brought outiside?

This visit was part of my post-consultancy check which I do for all my consultancies. So I sent a report to the owner of the restaurant about my visit. I also told him about using the posters in their marketing activities.

As in all restaurants, we have great things to say about our own places. How this dish is special, this ingredient is superb and the like. We are able to tell our clients those, if we are lucky.

However, it is more important that your target market learns about these great features. Let the world know about them. Don't keep them in your restaurant. Use the marketing tools that are most effective for your market. It does not have to be an expensive effort. Take note though that marketing is an investment.

So the next time that you make a great offering in the restaurant, tell the world about it.

What an owner wants VS. what the guests want

In my few years of doing consultancy for restaurants, this is one of the hardest things to balance: what an owner wants against what guests want.

For yet to open restaurants that don't have a very specific theme or cuisine, my work is the hardest in terms of putting the menu together. I have met owners who have a hard time accepting that not all the recipes that they want can go to the menu. I have seen others go so wayward with the menu choices that you get confused yourself whether the owner really wants to make this a business or just a personal kitchen. Luckily, there are also other owners who listen. They are aware that, as owners, they do have all the right in the world to insist on what they want. However, they also know that since this is a business activity, then their decision would have to follow what is the whim of their clients and consequently, what will be the best for the business.

If the restaurant has a theme, at least stick to the theme. There can be no burgets in an Asian restaurant, as an example, even if the owner loves burgers. (Maybe he or she should just open a burger house.)

If it's a generic setup like a family restaurant or cafe, there are a couple of ways to put together the menu. One is to know what the locals like to eat. Ask around. Eat otu. Make a survey or a study. It is better to do these than to be sorry later on when there is a few people in the dining area.

Second is make a theme or menu that is yours and create a need or clamor for them. That means making the food really delicious that it becomes a by-word or a new talk of the town. You can't really go wrong too much with great-tasting food, can you?

For an existing restaurant, my earlier suggestion of asking customers is still the best way to revise a menu. Listen to your clients. Guests who feel their opinions matter tend to patronize an establishment more.