I don’t get it….somewhat of a rant

I don’t understand why certain restaurants feel the need to offer their equivalent of a dollar menu? I went to the Oakbrook Wildfire restaurant for lunch today. I think Wildfire is a decent restaurant that I enjoy now and then. I don’t go there because I believe I can get a cheap lunch.

The last few times I have been there I have seen that they have lunch specials. I think they put these in 3 or 4 months ago. One of the specials is for $9 you get to pick 2 of 3 items from salad, soup, ½ a sandwich, although I don’t know how they do a ½ angus burger. I had an unusually large breakfast today, so I thought I would have the soup and salad.

Wow, the soup’s serving container was something between a cup and a bowl. I am not sure how large the serving was, but it didn’t seem like very much to me. The salad was a field green salad, which was the smallest serving I have seen. It was a small pile of field greens with 6 grape tomatoes, cut in half. While both were tasty, I didn’t think it was worth $9.

I was still hungry when I left. I guess I will have to grab a candy bar this afternoon.

Very disappointing.

D.

dodger wrote:I don’t understand why certain restaurants feel the need to offer their equivalent of a dollar menu?

It doesn't sound to me like you were treated to a "dollar menu," at least not in the spirit of what fast food chain McDonalds has been offering - menu items which I'll suggest most people availing themselves of the $1 price think is a good value for money spent.

Do you really not get it?

Restaurants are slow at lunch on weekdays, so they try and offer more affordable options so that people who work in the area will think of them as an option when they might otherwise go for fast food or something in the $5-$7 range.

They hope to get customers in for the cheap lunch and then hope they'll order a drink or dessert or something, or that they'll familiarize themselves with the place by coming for the cheap lunch menu and then be more likely to return for the Friday splurge lunch or a dinner at a later point in time....or just count their blessings for that $9 when otherwise that seat would've been empty. It's nothing more complicated than that.

elakin wrote:Do you really not get it?

Restaurants are slow at lunch on weekdays, so they try and offer more affordable options so that people who work in the area will think of them as an option when they might otherwise go for fast food or something in the $5-$7 range.

They hope to get customers in for the cheap lunch and then hope they'll order a drink or dessert or something, or that they'll familiarize themselves with the place by coming for the cheap lunch menu and then be more likely to return for the Friday splurge lunch or a dinner at a later point in time....or just count their blessings for that $9 when otherwise that seat would've been empty. It's nothing more complicated than that.

In a way, that's similar to what restaurants who are participating in the "Groupon" and "Half Off" website deep discounts are expecting - increased traffic with the upside potential of diners becoming more familiar with the establishment, liking what they see/eat and adding-on and/or coming back and paying full-price. While the discounted meals might not produce much if any profit, the traffic keeps staff working, payroll made and the lights on until better/busier times materialize.

The discounted food lure has a double-edge, though - for both the establishment and the customer. I bought two $10 coupons on Groupon which entitled me to $25 in food/drink at a River North restaurant. I didn't like the food or the restaurant. The restaurant got me through the door - which is what any good salesman salivates over (not getting me through the door (particularly), but any potential sale), but didn't make the 'repeat customer' conversion. No pain, no gain.

I understand what you are saying, but I haven’t seen any promotion of this “lunch special” outside of the restaurant. So it just seemed to me that their target audience was a customer who was already in the restaurant.

I view myself as a semi-regular and in this case they seemed to have promised more than they delivered. I have had their soup and salads in the past, not part of the special, and they met my expectations. in this case I just felt cheated.

D.

THERE IS A RECESSION GOING ON OUT THERE!

Customer counts are WAY down at MOST restaurants including fairly successful ones.

Many restaurants -even those known for lunch specials like Rosemary's in Las Vegas - are eliminating lunch service. Richard Walkers eliminated dinner service in several locations in July.

I has been over two months since I have paid "regular price" for a meal as I am looking for the best food at the best price. Every week, I am getting at least twenty e-mails and ten text messages offering me a discount on a dinner. It is a nice change from last year when every restaurant was raising prices.

People are looking for good values. Therefore, most restaurants are offering "deals". Some of the deals are really good values. Some operators are cutting way back on the portions and are giving you a lot less for less. People catch on when you shrink your product.

The one thing that you have to watch in these deals are the beverage. I have seen at least one place that increased their soda prices from $1.50 to $2.50 so they recover something on the beverage.

jlawrence01 wrote:Many restaurants -even those known for lunch specials like Rosemary's in Las Vegas - are eliminating lunch service. Richard Walkers eliminated dinner service in several locations in July.

As an additional datapoint, the Chicago Chop House (on Ontario) eliminated lunch service shortly after the meltdown last fall, and has yet to reinstitute it.

Many people complain about restaurant portions being too big. Even if you like to eat a large meal at dinner, or take leftovers home, you may not want to or be able to do so at lunch. Now, maybe these smaller lunch offerings, with prices to match, are not going over well with the public but I can imagine how they might.

jlawrence01 wrote:Customer counts are WAY down at MOST restaurants including fairly successful ones.

And counts are down at wildly successful ones also. This could be the main reason why Bob Chinn's is now serving BREAKFAST, of all things. I am not an MBA, but I fear that this "adventure" of his could dilute the success of his "brand"
In my opinion, you take great risk when you attempt to be "everything to everybody."

http://www.bobchinns.com/promo_breakfastmenu.html

cito wrote:but I fear that this "adventure" of his could dilute the success of his "brand

Possibly, but Portuguese sausage with over easy eggs and rice for $6.95 sounds fairly priced and tasty as does king crab omelet made with green onion and cream cheese.

Enjoy,
Gary