http://www.staceysatwaterford.com/
This is a particularly bad time to be in the restaurant business. So we're always looking for clever ways to compete against the big chain restaurants. Recently I came up with an idea to improve how our customers enjoyed our food at lunch, on average, without changing any of these things that were already excellent, such as...
- food
- presentation
- prices
- selection
- service
- ambiance
Can you figure out what I changed? What else is left?
I borrowed a trick from the Internet. I love sites such as Digg.com and Reddit.com where users rank their favorite web stories. I rearranged our lunch menu the same way, ranking our dishes by popularity and calling out the ranking with the menu format.
There are several ways this improves the experience of diners. Most people easily narrow down their choices to two or three on the menu. The ranking will nudge them toward the higher ranked items, which are indeed the tastiest, so more people will choose our best dishes, on average. Servers already perform this function, but only when asked.
There's often a discrepancy between how good something tastes and how well you can describe it in words. The dishes that look a bit scary in print are often the most delicious if you can get someone to try them. The ranking should help get past that.
Some people hate making decisions. The ranking will help there too. Just order whatever is on the top of the list, so long as it isn't objectionable for some specific reason.
I also started Game Night every Monday. That's the slowest night for most restaurants, so we have plenty of table space. On Monday you can bring a board game, or borrow one of ours, and play at your table. Stay as long as you want. It's especially good if you have kids with you and want to keep them amused. On the big screen TV at the bar we run a loop of trivia questions so the bar patrons can compete if they like. That concept has been working. Business is up on Mondays.
We also started a Networking Lunch concept. You can sign up on our web site to have lunch with five randomly selected strangers. The web site takes your available times and matches you when there are enough people for your table. You automatically get an e-mail with the invitation and an option to decline. It sounds crazy, but you'd be surprised how many people sign up to have lunch with strangers. Some people do it to increase business contacts. Some people just like meeting new folks in a relaxed way that has no expectations.
If you are a real estate broker, or interior designer, or own a spa, the more people you know personally, the better your odds of getting referrals. By the end of lunch, you know five new people.
http://www.staceyscafe.com/staceys-waterford/networking-lunch.php
We also have an iPod DJ system. For groups that want an instant party, we can provide food, a dance floor, and a sound system. All they need to bring is an iPod with their own dance music mix (or use ours) and it's an instant party in our private banquet room or on the main floor. We can even run an embarrassing loop of old photos on our big screen TV that has a laptop connected.
Those are a few of our new ideas. I thought you might like to know what happens when a cartoonist manages a restaurant.
Votes: +14
Comments
My main suggestion would be to target either "special occasion" or a "frequent diner" crowds. Looking at the menu offerings, the food seems too pricey for the "frequent diner" crowd--A $15 (!) burger means that someone is paying $22 for a simple lunch of burger, fries, and drink. On the other hand, the food is not fancy or unique enough to be a special occasion restaurant. The only demographic that i think it fits well is the expense-account crowd.
[Ok, macallan 18 for $15? That's a deal!]
It seems to be a bad time for most businesses, not just restaurants. Airlines certainly aren't hiring, the real estate market - at least for realtors - is in the toilet, and most corporations continue to try to find ways of !$%*!$%* the people who keep them in business - their employees and their customers. So it's most refreshing when someone walks the walk in terms of creating a business where everyone wins, instead of just talking a good story.
On your photo gallery for Stacey's at Waterford, images 8, 11 and 12 have not been properly scaled, they are huge - which although interesting in some way, tends to detract from the browsing experience. Perhaps it's on purpose, but I thought I'd mention it in case someone cared.
Good luck, you certainly deserve your enterprises to succeed. If ever I'm out your way, you can be sure I'll come by for some of that tuna...
Anyway, in my country there is this cafe franchise that stocks up a wide variety of board games/card games in all its branches, with assistants to teach you how to play different games. Customers just stream in and spend hours sitting down and having fun. There was once when I even spent 10 hours with my friends there! We ended up being the Power Gamers of the month, and we got to pick a free gift. Business is remarkably good at all its branches.
The Networking Lunch and the iPod DJ concepts are brilliant - I'd certainly go for that if not for the fact that I'd have to travel 20 hours on a plane.
Had a great meal at Little MadFish instead. At least they ARE open.
I could forgive my grandma for opening her copy of Microsoft Works and using it on a birthday card, but that's it. Well, I'd let your grandma slide on it too.
pps also liked the witty little comments on the menu too made me quietly chuckle
Rob
You said "What have I missed?" wellll I would say "appearance on Sat Nav". While passing through the area on holiday from the UK (which was the best holiday I have had so far!) I was aiming for your restaurant in Dublin, the problem is although I had an area code, I seemed to forget getting the actual address (ok dumb on my part).
Anyway the Sat Nav took us to the zip code area which was some random residential area. Anyway so we looked for "Local Attractions etc.." and found your Pleasantown address and decided to go safe and go for that one (since its our first time in the US! and we were going to Yosemite).
Anyway so in a few years I am sure it will be on all Sat Navs! So that should help!
Also I really only came to your restaurant (from the UK) to get me a signed Dilbert doll, the Menu was a bonus and I loved the deep fried octopi things and my wife liked your pasta salad! The Dilbert presence was minimal and I figured it might have been you and your wife drawn on the wall but wasn't too sure! (well fairly). The bread with garlic butter was awesome though and the service very good! As it happend you ran out of the little dilberts so I had to get the larger one!
Anyway I said that to say this! This was one restaurant in a large row of restaurants. Whats your unique selling point? whats your unique draw? Well the menu is one thing but none of the other restaurants are owned (part or otherwise) by yourself. so I think you should dilbertize it! That is your unique selling point. People will come just because of dilbert and perhaps not so much the food. But there is nothing wrong with that!!! Its a business for making money and not a hobby to lure people by the quality of the food like some kind of restaurant pseudonym so you can get famous all over again like Richard Bachmann. (Stephen King).
I am from the UK, and recently had the best holiday of my life in California!
You may not want that as a photo of where the food is being prepared. ;)
"We can even run an embarrassing loop of old photos on our big screen TV".
I'm figuring it's the photos that are embarassing rather than the way you display them, but what i'm really interested in is whether so many pedants have contacted you about this that you've binned the lot, or whether none of your readers picked up on it (or felt the need to bring it up). I'm guessing it's the former....
How about adding a few dishes for non-adventurous eaters? Remember, when a group of people is deciding where to eat, all it takes is ONE person who doesn't like foo-foo food to veto the idea of eating at your place... and you just lost the profit from 6 dinners (or however many), plus possible repeat business from those who would've liked your food if they'd eaten it.
I love Stacy's and recommend it to anyone in the neighborhood!
deb
Anyway, when we go out to eat, I like to eat with the adults...please separate the high chair sitting screamers into another room with their parents that aren't shell shocked everytime they open their mouth or bang the table top with their gooey fists. Nothing ruins an appetite more than having an adult coo when their baby starts screaming (even happily) in my ear while I'm trying to eat on my night out!
Thank you. Carry on please.
NTN Trivia is cool and you probably missed the Fantasy Football Draft Party Bus- but they are finishing up before the 3rd if you hurry.
Hope these garner you some cash.
[We do have free WiFi now. I forgot to mention that. -- Scott]
I dont know if the bussiness is going well of not, but I just checked the restaurant's website and it looks like a great place, wish I could go there sometime!
It amazes me how many things did you thought to implement there. My father own's a restaurant thats a bit over your price but anyway I think most of the same things apply. I know a bit about the bussiness from hearing him. it reminds me of the things I read in your blog when he talks about his place.
The trick for him was to get a great cheef and to have a bacth of fixed costumers from bussiness, a local radio and the townhall which luckily for him happen to be door to door, and of course the docen of drunks that come out of the navy's ministry which is also next door(here in spain drinks ofer the real margin, food is only a excuse so people drink, drinks and tobacco are the things that give money to restaurants in my country at least). But I agree with you that the most important thing is that people fell confortable in it, more than anything else, after all women decide where they want to be taken in the end, and they really dig that short of thing while we men, or at least me, give more important to food. We are more about content than form I guess.
Oh! I would like to congrat you for the bar. Coolest one I've seen. It looks really really nice.
Sorry for not being more helpful...but I think you have a really nice place. I cant imagine people going to a chain restaurant having that nearby except for the extra bucks, but I must confess I really dont understand how a place can be loaded sometimes and other times be completely empty (happens a lot in my fathers place, when its empty for no reason he blames the economy and whatnot...and when its all full, its because he has such a nice place hehehe...) but I guess it's how that particular bussiness work. I think that the misterious laws that govern it are even more elusive than those of the economy. Here they like to even the odds by giving bribes to people at hotels to send over guest to the restaurant. If youre not doing that already I really recomend it, I think it really works.
Just my two cents...hope I helped
best
