There’s been much ado about the use of iPads as restaurant menus. But there’s been nary a word about the other sort that’s coming into vogue: the humble clipboard.
The Counter uses a full-sized version—the sort a doctor gives you on a first visit to hold the form collecting your medical history—because they provide a hard surface on which customers’ can write. The clip holds the form that patrons use to custom-spec their burgers.
Fatty Crab, the small chain of Malaysian hotspots in New York City, uses a mini-clipboard to hold its ever-changing menu. Loose sheets, listing drinks as well as food items, serve as the bill of fare. Patrons flip through the sheets like a factory foreman reviewing the days incoming orders.
The Parallax in Cleveland also uses a clipboard as the organizer for its sheets of selections.
Ditto for Pine 22, a build-your-own burger concept in Orlando.
If you know of any others, please drop me a line. I feel a roundup story coming on.
Showing posts with label dollar menus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dollar menus. Show all posts
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Restaurant news you might've missed
BK has sweet treats for Brits, pink slips for Yanks
First there was the Whopper Bar, a more adult riff on the conventional Home of the Whopper. It focused on Whoppers, Whoppers and more Whoppers—sometimes combined into one dish (the “pizza” consists of three Whopper patties arrayed in a single layer, like pepperoni slices, on an oversized bun).
Now Burger King has unveiled another potential addition to its fold, hold the pickles, hold the lettuce. The freestanding Dessert Bar will feature BK-brand ice cream and mini-pancakes, according to the first report in the U.S. media.
The prototype is in London, which could keep it a European phenomenon. But Whopper Bars are already sprouting overseas.
The chain’s home office should have probably crowed louder about the venture. The ballyhoo might’ve drawn attention away from the news that BK’s new owner, Brazil-based 3G, is canning more than 400 people, just in time for the holidays. Reports of The King sharing a limo with Scrooge at the Dessert Bar opening have yet to be confirmed.
Friendly’s tries new menu & look
The venerable New England chain is reportedly spending $2 million to give its 17 restaurants in Albany, NY, a facelift and new food options. Details weren’t provided in the slew of local coverage, but one report did describe the new menu as “lighter.” That could be a good thing, judging from TV news coverage like this. Virtually every customer (and many of the servers) appears to be considerably overweight.
Among the items being tested are chicken wings, a turkey platter, a grilled chipotle-flavored chicken, and several new sandwiches, including a Caprese grilled-chicken option that packs just 400 calories. Otherwise, the least fattening of the trial choices is the smaller wings order, at 740 calories for six. But the menu does note that a grilled-chicken or vegetarian patty can replace the beef in any burger.
‘WARNING: Unroll at your own risk’
A Michigan courtroom may soon be turning a spotlight on a little-noticed restaurant danger: The toilet paper dispensers in the restrooms. A state court has cleared the way for a woman to pursue a lawsuit against a Texas Roadhouse in Detroit some three years after she suffered alleged injuries from a dispenser that had been left open. The woman says the lid of the device fell on her hand, breaking it.
‘Good gig, eh?’
A recent survey found that more than one in five Canadians found their first job at a restaurant. Apparently our neighbors to the North have a warmer picture of the business than we do. Seventy percent reportedly said the nation’s eateries are an important part of the economy, and 75% of the respondents who worked in restaurants characterized the experience as helpful in developing life skills. The study was sponsored by Kraft’s Canadian operation, so we doubt there were any questions about the loyalty that Starbucks has personified.
The importance of exorcising
We all know the locations: No matter what type of restaurant you put there, it bombs, usually quickly. Clearly the setting is cursed.
Rather than tempt the fates by meekly following four failures into a site in New York’s Chelsea area, the latest outlet of New York Burger Co. sought some divine help. It brought in a priest, a rabbi and a Buddhist spiritualist to bless the operation and stave off the demons of empty tables. Linda Blair has yet to put in an appearance, but plenty of reporters have, providing the newcomer with tremendous free publicity.
First there was the Whopper Bar, a more adult riff on the conventional Home of the Whopper. It focused on Whoppers, Whoppers and more Whoppers—sometimes combined into one dish (the “pizza” consists of three Whopper patties arrayed in a single layer, like pepperoni slices, on an oversized bun).
Now Burger King has unveiled another potential addition to its fold, hold the pickles, hold the lettuce. The freestanding Dessert Bar will feature BK-brand ice cream and mini-pancakes, according to the first report in the U.S. media.
The prototype is in London, which could keep it a European phenomenon. But Whopper Bars are already sprouting overseas.
The chain’s home office should have probably crowed louder about the venture. The ballyhoo might’ve drawn attention away from the news that BK’s new owner, Brazil-based 3G, is canning more than 400 people, just in time for the holidays. Reports of The King sharing a limo with Scrooge at the Dessert Bar opening have yet to be confirmed.
Friendly’s tries new menu & look
The venerable New England chain is reportedly spending $2 million to give its 17 restaurants in Albany, NY, a facelift and new food options. Details weren’t provided in the slew of local coverage, but one report did describe the new menu as “lighter.” That could be a good thing, judging from TV news coverage like this. Virtually every customer (and many of the servers) appears to be considerably overweight.
Among the items being tested are chicken wings, a turkey platter, a grilled chipotle-flavored chicken, and several new sandwiches, including a Caprese grilled-chicken option that packs just 400 calories. Otherwise, the least fattening of the trial choices is the smaller wings order, at 740 calories for six. But the menu does note that a grilled-chicken or vegetarian patty can replace the beef in any burger.
‘WARNING: Unroll at your own risk’
A Michigan courtroom may soon be turning a spotlight on a little-noticed restaurant danger: The toilet paper dispensers in the restrooms. A state court has cleared the way for a woman to pursue a lawsuit against a Texas Roadhouse in Detroit some three years after she suffered alleged injuries from a dispenser that had been left open. The woman says the lid of the device fell on her hand, breaking it.
‘Good gig, eh?’
A recent survey found that more than one in five Canadians found their first job at a restaurant. Apparently our neighbors to the North have a warmer picture of the business than we do. Seventy percent reportedly said the nation’s eateries are an important part of the economy, and 75% of the respondents who worked in restaurants characterized the experience as helpful in developing life skills. The study was sponsored by Kraft’s Canadian operation, so we doubt there were any questions about the loyalty that Starbucks has personified.
The importance of exorcising
We all know the locations: No matter what type of restaurant you put there, it bombs, usually quickly. Clearly the setting is cursed.
Rather than tempt the fates by meekly following four failures into a site in New York’s Chelsea area, the latest outlet of New York Burger Co. sought some divine help. It brought in a priest, a rabbi and a Buddhist spiritualist to bless the operation and stave off the demons of empty tables. Linda Blair has yet to put in an appearance, but plenty of reporters have, providing the newcomer with tremendous free publicity.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Being part of the train wreck
A butterfly flaps its wings in China and McDonald’s ends up cutting its breakfast prices. Okay, there’s the profound factor in there of consumers waving new pink slips, but you get the idea. Despite considerable efforts to counter a stinking economy, restaurants are still being skunked by cascading forces beyond their control, unemployment being the main one.
Yesterday’s development was resounding confirmation. When the economy slipped in ‘07, breakfast afforded a rare spot of opportunity for fast-food restaurants. A majority of consumers still consumed their first bite of the day at home, posing a gigantic potential market. Not surprisingly, the big chains mobilized for an a.m. market surge, often starting with an upgrade of their coffee.
Few charged as forcefully as McDonald’s, already the sector’s breakfast king. Breakfast, beverages and snacks would be its growth areas, executives assured investors and franchisees. And it looked as if they were dead-on; those markets fueled a sales increase for the chain, at a time of significant decreases for most of the major fast-food slingers.
But rising unemployment started taking its toll. With almost one in five Americans “under-employed,” according to the experts, fewer consumers were venturing beyond their front doors in the morning. Breakfast traffic eroded, and those who still were heading to an office or shop floor were far more stingy with their pennies, a reflection of declining pay and often fewer incomes within a household.
McDonald’s responded by posting a new cut-rate breakfast menu in some of its markets. Yesterday, amid indications of further sales erosion, headquarters confirmed that the new a.m. bargain array would become an across-the-chain feature. Consumers trying to tighten their budgets will be enticed with a Dollar Menu of five items priced under $1, beginning next month, officials told the business media.
The brand’s closest rival, Burger King, had adopted dollar breakfast deals some time beforehand.
And if those two bellwethers are doing it, the pack is sure to follow.
But breakfast isn’t the only meal where lines have been thinned by unemployment. Yesterday I moderated a webinar that included representatives of several quick-service chains. One pointed out that it’s far tougher to sell lunches when fewer people are away from home for the midday meal. Those who do work are brownbagging it more often, and spending as little as they can when they do have someone else prepare their meal, he said, echoing the grim assessments of other experts.
And then there’s the phenomenon of furloughing, or cutting employees’ work schedules. Many employers now require those still on the payroll to skip several Fridays a month, with their compensation trimmed accordingly. Others are being forced to take additional weeks of vacation, though without compensation.
In short, the lunch market is being cinched far tighter, and those still in it have less money to spend.
Of course, it’s not as if the dinner market is booming. One of my webinar panelists works for a high-end concept that figures about 80% of its checks are charged back to employers on expense accounts. And it’s not as if travel or entertainment budgets have escaped the machete.
Most restaurant chains have tried to counter the curtailed spending at all times of day by flashing some astounding bargains. Even if that worked as well as they might hope, it leads to all kinds of problems, not the least of them being how the public can be weaned off deals when unemployment falls back to conventional levels.
In the meantime, those of us who are unemployed are grateful to have our Sausage McMuffin for a mere buck, or what we once might’ve given as a tip to the guy at the deli who prepared out usual breakfast.
Yesterday’s development was resounding confirmation. When the economy slipped in ‘07, breakfast afforded a rare spot of opportunity for fast-food restaurants. A majority of consumers still consumed their first bite of the day at home, posing a gigantic potential market. Not surprisingly, the big chains mobilized for an a.m. market surge, often starting with an upgrade of their coffee.
Few charged as forcefully as McDonald’s, already the sector’s breakfast king. Breakfast, beverages and snacks would be its growth areas, executives assured investors and franchisees. And it looked as if they were dead-on; those markets fueled a sales increase for the chain, at a time of significant decreases for most of the major fast-food slingers.
But rising unemployment started taking its toll. With almost one in five Americans “under-employed,” according to the experts, fewer consumers were venturing beyond their front doors in the morning. Breakfast traffic eroded, and those who still were heading to an office or shop floor were far more stingy with their pennies, a reflection of declining pay and often fewer incomes within a household.
McDonald’s responded by posting a new cut-rate breakfast menu in some of its markets. Yesterday, amid indications of further sales erosion, headquarters confirmed that the new a.m. bargain array would become an across-the-chain feature. Consumers trying to tighten their budgets will be enticed with a Dollar Menu of five items priced under $1, beginning next month, officials told the business media.
The brand’s closest rival, Burger King, had adopted dollar breakfast deals some time beforehand.
And if those two bellwethers are doing it, the pack is sure to follow.
But breakfast isn’t the only meal where lines have been thinned by unemployment. Yesterday I moderated a webinar that included representatives of several quick-service chains. One pointed out that it’s far tougher to sell lunches when fewer people are away from home for the midday meal. Those who do work are brownbagging it more often, and spending as little as they can when they do have someone else prepare their meal, he said, echoing the grim assessments of other experts.
And then there’s the phenomenon of furloughing, or cutting employees’ work schedules. Many employers now require those still on the payroll to skip several Fridays a month, with their compensation trimmed accordingly. Others are being forced to take additional weeks of vacation, though without compensation.
In short, the lunch market is being cinched far tighter, and those still in it have less money to spend.
Of course, it’s not as if the dinner market is booming. One of my webinar panelists works for a high-end concept that figures about 80% of its checks are charged back to employers on expense accounts. And it’s not as if travel or entertainment budgets have escaped the machete.
Most restaurant chains have tried to counter the curtailed spending at all times of day by flashing some astounding bargains. Even if that worked as well as they might hope, it leads to all kinds of problems, not the least of them being how the public can be weaned off deals when unemployment falls back to conventional levels.
In the meantime, those of us who are unemployed are grateful to have our Sausage McMuffin for a mere buck, or what we once might’ve given as a tip to the guy at the deli who prepared out usual breakfast.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
