I remember my first shop I had. I sold everything, and I mean everything. My though process was to capture every ones eating habits. The more shops I opened, I started shrinking the menu and specializing more on the pizza end. The last 2 shops have been without a fryer and the shop I am opening in a week is without a fryer and other “foods” I personally hate.
I like to eat fried foods but I hate to make them,clean and everything about that food group.
Pizza is an art and I feel the pizza business is a different food business than any other fast food joint.
I used to be just a Pizza place but added wings about 5 years ago so I would have an option for people. We did them in the oven untill 2 years ago when I added fried chicken. We didnt have anyone in town selling fried chicken so I jumped at the chance. Now we also do Dry ribs and fries (have to have fries with chicken) but that is all I do I know there are about 100 other things I could do in my fryer but i dont want to get to complicated.
I don’t really care for baked wings so I have some fryers. I figured why waste the fryers so I am going to sell all kinds of fried food as well. I will do all the popular apps like wings, fries, orings, zucc, mushrooms, cheese sticks, jalapeno poppers, and fire sticks. I will do all the popular baskets as well like fish, chicken tenders, shrimp, steak fingers, and then of course fried chicken as well. If you have the freezer space why not sell them? They are so easy to cook, and so many people love them so why not give them the choice. Now if my place was a delco I probably would not carry all the items, but I would still carry some.
If you want to add fried foods but don’t want all teh claen up, vents, hoods and fire supression hassle, check into some of the self-contained fryers from Perfect Fry and AutoFry. Really good for wings, chicken strips, poppers, fries, rings, etc.
We went from a basic pizza, pasta, subs, salads, menu to a full grill menu when we built our new store. Unless it is cost or space prohibitive, you should definitely have a fryer. If you upsell you can turn that $10 pizza order to a $16.50 pizza & wing/mozz stix order. Should definitely cover any added insurance costs, etc. Any whoever says baked wings are just as good probably thinks conveyors are just as good as decks too!