Restaurant Pricing and Profits

Strategies for pricing your menu and how to generate more profits

You can't please everybody, but in some cases it is good to try. You will do more business if you can give more people what they want. In addition to a dinner menu, print drink menus (including your wine list) and dessert menus. Consider printing an appetizer menu that includes the appetizers on the dinner menu. This may seem redundant, but is less intimidating to people who visit for a light snack.

Some people come to a dinner restaurant for just a glass of wine. Be ready to accommodate them. Let them peruse your drink menu and have an appetizer menu handy. It is also good to have prominently displayed table tents with appetizers and drinks clearly described. Often, an order that started as "just a glass of wine" becomes two glasses of wine and one or two appetizers.

An important element of menu pricing is inventory management. Dynamic pricing on your menu can help when certain food items, like the local catch of the day, fluctuate in supply. If you're looking for smarter inventory management, services like Bevspot make it easy to track your stock and replenish items when they run low.

Restaurant Value

The perception of value is subjective and often intangible. A restaurant with a lovely atmosphere, professional service and good food can charge a little more than the competition if the competition lacks at least one of the three. Therefore, it is a good business strategy to put time and effort into perfecting the atmosphere in your dining room.

Guests should be comfortable, so put time and effort into designing a comfortable and pleasant dining room. Train hosts and hostesses to accommodate customer wishes regarding where to sit. Some people prefer to sit in booths; others prefer a more formal table. Some guests want to eat dinner at the bar and watch the bartender work.

Music helps the atmosphere in a restaurant. Play calming music at a low level so people can have conversations without straining to hear each other speak.

Require professional service of your employees. Anything less should not be tolerated. You gain customer loyalty by making guests feel comfortable, giving them excellent service, and feeding them the best food.

Restaurant Staff and Employees

Customers are not the only people from whom you need loyalty. Your employees can make you money or cost you money. One key to keeping down the costs associated with staff turnover is to court staff loyalty.

Staff that are treated well tend to stay. Once trained, a good staff is invaluable. Customers get to know staff members and a polite and efficient waitress or waiter is incentive to return to a restaurant.

The better your staff understands your business the better equipped they are to sell your product. Employees who stay a long time get to know the food, the best wine pairings, and can answer customer questions knowledgeably. This means loyal employees increase your profits and make you more money.

Generate profits by offering guests the best food, the best atmosphere, and the best service in town.