Creative Ways Some Restaurants are Attracting Diners

In these challenging economic times, restaurateurs are being more and more creative about attracting customers. Read about three ways many restaurants are attracting customers in the current economic environment.

Downscaling the Menu
We have all heard that diners are trading down. Those that dined at P.F. Chang’s are now eating at Pei Wei. Upscale diners become Casual diners, Casual diners become Fast Casual diners and so forth.

But in some cases, high-end restaurateurs are “downscaling” their menus. The once-tony Restaurant Levain in Minneapolis has morphed into the more casual Cafe Levain, and haute-cuisine chef Stewart Woodman, also in Minneapolis, opened Heidi’s, with all entrees less than $20.

In other cases, owners of upscale eateries are opening distinctly down market second locations. That’s true in Los Angeles where Le Dome co-owners Eddy Kerkhofs and Michel Yhuelo have opened Café Colorado, a new concept aimed at a more casual crowd of budget-minded diners with a more downscale menu. Also in California, Beverly Hills restaurateur Jean Leon opened La Scala Presto in Brentwood as a kind of fast-food-for-yuppies version of his swank La Scala.

Menu Ingenuity
Many restaurants, while not necessarily downscaling their menus, are definitely reengineering them. Two ways are half portions and tasting menus.

In New Jersey, Jim Weaver, Owner and Executive Chef of Tre Piani Restaurant and Tre Bar Wine Lounge retooled his menus to offer half sized entrees at Tre Piani, saving customers 25-35%, while adding a tasting menu at Tre Bar, where a diner can get 3 courses for $29-$35 and 4 or 5 courses for $35-$40.

On Long Island, the (Price) Fixe is in. A large choice of 3 course, fixed price meals are now available. The prices vary from the high teens to $30 and many are offered only during what most would consider “off peak” hours, such as dinners from 4:00 – 6:15 or “must be seated by 6:30″ offerings. By all accounts, however, if the timing suits your palate, each of these price fixe offerings constitutes a good value for the consumer.

Hey Buddy, Name Your Price
Really thinking outside the menu, some restaurants are allowing diners to name their own price. The Blue Sage Cafes in both West Linn and Lake Oswego, Oregon offer a pricing system that is very customer friendly.

Customers pay regular price for all drinks, but for the food, people get to name their own price. Workers show diners what they usually charge for the meal, but it’s up to the customer to make the final call on what to pay.

“We want you to have a little say in what you pay, and it’s just like having a coupon only you get to pick what your coupon is,” Blue Sage Cafe Manager Gary Sheperd said. Managers said so far they’ve been happy with the results.

Similarly, Potager, a French restaurant in Arlington, Texas is allowing customers to pay what they feel the food is worth. According to the restaurant:

At Potager, we would like you to ask for only as much food as you know you can eat–you are more than welcome to come back for more–but please, don’t waste it. As a result, we have no set price for our meals.

The restaurant has no waitresses, and customers leave their payment in a newspaper envelope. So far it’s been a hit.

Sometimes change, innovation, and growth take money. Restaurant loans haven’t been easy to come by lately. Some lenders are still making business loans to restaurants, including Advance Restaurant Finance, LLC (ARF). ARF has been providing short term, restaurant business loans for almost a decade, and we still provide millions of dollars in lines of credit and unsecured business loans to restaurant operators every month.

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