As we ready out new operation, I’m curious…
What new menu items or ‘trends’ have some you folks implemented, that have been susccessful for you this past year?
Thanks in advance!
Two of our new products caught on really well.
Stuffed Breadsticks…5 slices of pepperoni and a mozzarella stick wrapped in dough. Brush garlic butter on it and a sprinkle of oregano. We sale 450 to 500 a week. Sold in orders of 3 and 6.
MonkeyBread Nuggets…Pieces of dough dipped in margarine and then tossed in a cinnamon sugar. Baked lightly and served with a vanilla dipping sauce. We sale 120 to 150 packs a week (Packs of 10 nuggets) We get 9 packs out of 3lbs. of dough.
Both sound quite interesting…
I’ve used a pepperoni roll idea from here before, and I could adapt the mozzarella stick to it…
Do you use the same pizza dough for the monkey bread? Do you proof it at all 1st?
For the Monkeybread you should proof the dough to get the most fluffy/soft dough you can. We make 3lbs at a time and let it cool and store it in 5"x5" containers. When it is ordered…microwave for 20 seconds.
We also make the dipping icing from a cake icing mix and put it into souffle cups.
Do you deep fry or bake the stuffed breadsticks?
Fried ravioli does really well. Standard four cheese with marinara.
Another item that sells peperoni fast are pizza rolls. It’s a great way to save unused dough and they can be used as a great upsell on menu coupons. 5’’ long. 2’’ thick pizza rolls stuffed with whatever toppings are the most popular in your shop should sell out fast.
Good luck in your new operation.
I made PotM’s MonkeyBread Nuggets with some left-over school dough. I didn’t have any cinnamon or icing, but we gobbled down 2 orders right out of the oven all the same. They reminded me of donut holes and were quite addictive. I’m thinking of offering them as our dining room’s desert option.
we added 4 cheese toast rav & sausage and cheese toasted rav ,Luisa brand.bosco cheese sticks do really well for us.
The stuffed breadsticks are baked. Deck oven at 555 for 6 to 7 minutes depending on how many at a time.
Best sellers of the new items on our last menu:
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“Pork Wings”. Mini pork ribs. They come frozen/precooked. Put in sauce and run through the oven once. We chose the smaller 2oz size. It took some promo to get the word out, but they have become the best selling new appetizer in several years. $8 for 6 “wings”.
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“Thai Peanut Veggie” pizza: Thai Peanut sauce, (handles like BBQ sauce on pizza) Red onions, Green Peppers, Fresh Roma Tomatoes, Roasted Unsalted Cashews and Mozzarella.
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Offering 2 dozen and 3 dozen size orders for wings. They do not get ordered often, but… sometimes they do!
We’ve been sampled bone-in rib tips before. Those look a bit different, what company packages them?
Hormel–Austin Blue. Shake 'em with Sweet Baby Ray’s Original. delicious.
Steve those look pretty damn tasty! What brand? How well do they hold in the juices? I like the appearance… right amount of sauce and char… look grilled! 
Great question and in todays economy we should all get together an share whats working.
A year ago we added and introduced the NEW ultra thin pizza to our menu its simple and labor free and the most important thing is its added incremental dollars to our bottom line. We make a verity of specialty pizzas on tortillas we offer whole wheat or flower 12” only and it works. We never mention the word tortilla just its our ultra thin option and it works the perception is less calories and carbs . We also introduced the cina stick which is made from our pizza dough its easy butter, cinnamon sugar and frosting we sell them every day and again its incremental dollars.
We tried the Monkey Bread on the lunch buffet and customers went wild for it. I’m afraid it’s become a permanent fixture. We even had a customer special request an order while dining in at dinner time.
Since we have a convection oven but no range, I’m going to try putting out a no-boil baked pasta dish like this Hearty Baked Macaroni: http://www.recipelink.com/mf/31/18480 I remembered making it years ago at home when someone gave me a copy of the American Heart Association cookbook.
Brad, you can get a commercial induction cooktop from Amazon for about $200.00. http://www.amazon.com/6500-ProChef-1800-Watt-Commercial-Induction/dp/B0037Z7HPQ/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1335975460&sr=8-6
Mine sits on a table on the side of our conveyor oven so it is even under the hood. Runs on 115 volts 15 anps and works great as long as you don’t have much else on the same circiut. We cook Spaghetti and Fettuccine with it and keep it at 180F all day to rethermalize pasta before selling.
Rick
We have an item that is a lot like the garlic-cheese stuffed breadsticks called “Bone’z” that are pretty much legendary in this area. I don’t have a picture of them on this computer, but imagine taking a 16" pizza shell laid out over a pan or screen, then placing a 1/4/lb Mozz spread out around the edge, then take a bottle of garlic butter and squirting it over the top. Then, “braid” the crust about 2" thick all the way around and cut out the center and cook like you would a normal pizza. When it’s done, butter the top and sprinkle with parm and herbs, then cut into 8 pieces.
Put them into a medium box with portion cup of marinara, ranch and honey for dipping. Food cost is never more than $1.50 and we sell for $7.00 all day (although a popular special is 1/2 price Bone’z on Wednesdays). A great add on with good profit margin.
Could you post a photo when you get some time, Indie? I’m not sure what you mean by “braid” if the shell is round. Do you roll it up a little first, cut out the center, make a cut in the dough in one place, then braid the two ends?
Thanks!
Hey fratelis… how do you cook those tortilla based pies? Do you use a screen, on a deck, in a pan??? Sounds very interesting and easy addition to menu. Just can’t see them cooking properly in my conveyor…
Yes, it sounds a lot more complicated than it really is when I try to describe it. It’s a great item with minimal food cost or labor. A couple pictures and you will get the idea.