3 Reasons to start creating your Restaurant Week menu right now

We just made it through Thanksgiving.  The Christmas season catering madness is about to start. But it is time to start thinking about your Inlander Restaurant Week menu. Here are three reasons to get started now, to make sure you have the most successful Restaurant Week possible. 

1). You have time for a trial run 

You can start uploading your Inlander Restaurant Week menu starting Dec. 2. Between now and then, you have the opportunity to try dishes on your fresh sheet. You can get diner feedback, and see which items customers love. You also have an opportunity now to assess prep time, and train your staff to prepare and serve these dishes. “It costs hundreds of marketing dollars to attract new customers. You can’t afford to lose any,” says Sysco Business Resource Consultant Ricky Webster. “Preparation will help you put your best foot forward at a time when diner volumes are high.”

2). You have time now to make profit-generating decisions

Now is the time to start narrowing your choices, assessing portion sizes, and analyzing your dishes so you can set your profit targets for Inlander Restaurant Week. While most successful restaurants recognize the impact of Restaurant Week as a powerful marketing tool, you still want to be aware of your margins and manage your profit-generating decisions now. For a menu analysis, or a one-on-one consultation, ask your Sysco Marketing Associate to connect you with Sysco menu services.

“The reason people dine out during Restaurant Week is to try a new restaurant.”

3). You can take the time now to design a menu that appeals to new customers and loyalists 

Research shows the number one reason why people dine out during Restaurant Week is to try a restaurant new to them. As you are thinking about what to put on your menu, make sure these dishes represent the story you want to tell about your restaurant all year long. While that may translate to featuring some of your signature dishes, balance your menu with some new offerings for loyalists, as well. 

More Sysco Tips and Tricks

for Inlander Restaurant Week

Why Speed Scratch Products Can Mean a Better Profit Margin

Restaurant Week is always a hectic time, when your team is stretched in the front and back of house. A nationwide labor shortage and increases in minimum wage and employee benefits this year can add to the pressure, making saving time and labor in the kitchen even more critical to have a successful and profitable Restaurant Week and first quarter.

6 Questions to Ask Yourself When Planning Your Restaurant Week Menu

You can begin uploading your Inlander Restaurant Week menu NOW. To have a super successful event that impacts your bottom line during Inlander Restaurant Week and beyond, Sysco Spokane’s Business Resource Consultant encourages you to ask these six questions.

Farm Fresh Spotlight: Sackmann Cattle Company

The Sackmann’s roots in Eastern Washington run deep, going back over a century. Owners Jeff and Jaime Sackmann both grew up on farming and ranching homesteads settled in the 1900’s. While ranching is in their blood, the Sackmann’s have continued to develop a contemporary, and successful breeding philosophy. Jaime holds a Masters Degree in Animal Science with an emphasis on ruminant nutrition and meat science.

Wine Service 101

Tips and tricks for serving wine with your Inlander Restaurant Week menu

Profit Pitfalls to Avoid During Inlander Restaurant Week

Do’s and don’ts for the 10 most delicious days of the year

Offsetting Rising Labor Costs

With Washington’s minimum raise increasing in January and employee benefits expenses on the rise, restaurants are under more pressure than ever to manage their bottom line. “As restaurants are asking themselves how are they going to manage the increases in labor costs, we’re hearing from a lot of our customers that they don’t want to jack up menu prices,” explains Sysco Business Resource Consultant Ricky Webster. “But how do you do that?” Managing your food cost is a good place to start. Here are three tips from Ricky to keep your food cost in line, and drive profits up.

Farm Fresh Spotlight: Carlton Farms

When you order Carlton Farms pork or beef, you’re ordering quality you can see and taste. What you’re also getting with each order is five decades of experience raising animals naturally and humanely– without hormones, animal proteins or growth accelerants.

A Better Bottom Line

Running a profitable restaurant has never been easy. And it’s not about to get any easier, as new wage and compensation laws kick in for Washington State. So how can your restaurant absorb higher labor costs?

“Keeping a close eye on your food cost is critical,” says Sysco Business Resource Consultant Ricky Webster. In our last Prep for Success newsletter, Ricky offered three tips to keep food costs down through inventory control, goal setting and consistency.

Farm Fresh Spotlight: The Royal Dairy

While Washington State may better known for its apples than its dairy farms, its milk producers are certainly worth celebrating. Royal Dairy, nestled in the Columbia Basin in Grant County is leading the nation with its commitment to becoming a zero-waste dairy.

Why Powerful Menu Descriptions Mean Profits

As you are putting the finishing touches on your Inlander Restaurant Week menu, make sure you pay as much attention to your written descriptions, as you do to developing the delicious dishes you’ll feature.

Research shows that a restaurant can increase sales by up to 30 percent just by utilizing enticing menu descriptions. Thirty percent! “Powerful descriptions are particularly important during a Restaurant Week promotion, because many diners are actively comparing your menu to other restaurants and selecting eateries solely based on menu offerings,”

Cashing in on Restaurant Week All Year Long

Tips for turning Restaurant Week customers into regulars

Research from Cake, a tech-solution division of Sysco, shows restaurants typically see a revenue boost of about 23 percent during an average Restaurant Week promotion. That can be a nice boost to your first quarter bottom line. Even better — how can you turn those first time customers into loyalists?

We asked Sysco Business Resource Consultant Ricky Webster for his tips for bringing those Inlander Restaurant Week customers back.

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