- Bar food is your biggest profit item. Refresh your bar food offerings. Add items with high profit margins – pizza is a sure winner. You can be creative on your toppings so you stand out from your competitors.
- In designing your menu, consider the labor required to prepare the dish as much as you calculate the ingredient costs. Complex dishes have two disadvantages – longer ticket times and lower profit margins.
- Consider promoting your food items by holding a “chef’s table” night an opportunity to try a variety of things on the menu at a special price. Offer a reasonably priced tapas style plate featuring items you’d like to sell more of or want customer feedback to consider whether to keep it on the menu.
- Take advantage of sports events by featuring sports fan food and drink items. Name your drinks after celebrity pro athletes, create drinks with the team colors or base the price on game scores.
- Know your customer demographic (age, sex) and their price point. Be sure your food and drink offerings are in line. A mismatch could be the slow death of your customer base.
The food and beverage business is dynamic. You can’t expect to do what you did yesterday and still continue to increase revenues. You have to refresh and re-invent to keep customers interested, happy and coming back regularly.