Your guests demand more than ever and their tastes change.
The good news? All the data shows they’ll still hand you their credit or debit card when you give them something they perceive as valuable.
So, as part of your guest focus, never stop working on menu improvement.
Does Your Menu Hold You Back?
After a great honeymoon period, sales at one of my clients’ new brands shockingly nosedived, by 50%.
I got off the plane and met the owners. They expressed fear and resignation about having to close. The pride they once felt about the concept they had carefully developed had turned into grief.
But I identified the problem: the trend-forward menu. It turned out to be too far ahead of the restaurant’s guests. As a result, diners tried the food once and never came back.
The bold solution: an entirely new menu based on items that sold well at the owners’ other brands—while maintaining the new brand and keeping the new look and feel of the new restaurant.
The negative sales trend reversed in a big way, with the restaurant experiencing high-single-digit growth for the next 10 years.
And the restaurant that had once been on the verge of closing is still succeeding today.
With another client at a legacy brand, I currently co-lead a team effort to change half of the menu items to attract guests who have eluded the brand in the past.
3 Things Your Picky Guests Want
1. Update. Core menu items deserve another look. If you haven’t upgraded them in 5 or 10 years, take a realistic look at how each of them relate to today’s culinary standards—and upgrade presentation and recipes.
2. Protein. We all remember trends that once looked 100% healthy and later turned out not to be (pasta, anyone?). But the customer wants what the customer wants, and today’s healthy crowd and GLP-1 users order protein today.
Feature your proteins and your bowls, and make sure servers tell guests how many grams of protein menu items contain.
One of my Restaurant Owners Success Club members put a protein bowl on the menu at their beer-and-burger brand, and they’re seeing “at least one on every ticket.”
Another client recently successfully opened an upscale sports bar featuring chef-created, elevated bar food. Surprisingly, the protein bowl is their number one seller.
3. Post-Alcohol. You must be on top of the zero-proof trend. Guests today are drinking less alcohol than ever before and, to keep them from just ordering a soda—or worse, water—instead, sell them great nonalcoholic mixed drinks for $7 or $11. The next step? To see if the low-alcohol spirits and wine trend has legs.
Your menu and execution get you in the game. Service, hospitality, branding, design, marketing, locations, culture, leadership, and management help you win the game. Make sure your menu supports your success.
