Potato Bar

Pizza Shop Talk The Think Tank
1

I took my wife out to dinner last night to a locally known fried chicken place. She chooses a baked potato as her side and eventual conversation leads to how much we both love a good baked potato. Then to the thought that if we added sour cream and chives to our salad bar, we could offer an amazing potato bar. Quick online check with our main vendor says a potato would cost me $.57, I think I could probably get them cheaper at the grocery store.

Is anyone doing this? Baked potato and salad seems like a huge win-win situation that offers me high profit margin with low labor cost (15 seconds to wrap in foil and drop in the conveyor and salad bar is already set up for buffet customers) and big value for a new customer customer base for lunches that doesn’t want my buffet.

Customer pays $5, my food cost is maybe $1 and we’re both happy with minimal extra work…seems flawless. Cold weather could allow the choice of a side salad or a bowl of soup, maybe an extra $2 for soup, salad AND potato. Plus, 30% of them are going to want a drink.

2

Could work fine I’d say, one would have to figure it’s a money maker if places like Wendy’s offer a potato on their menu. plus your waste if not sold would be minimal. I’d scout your potato supplier out a bit more though, we’ve never paid more than 20 cents each for nice looking 70ct. size spuds.

3

there are a lot of things you can do with left over baked potatos. For instance cut the potato in quarters and slice out the middle leaving about a quarter inch or less of potato. and you got potato skins. The inners, you can make potato soup with. Cheddar potato soup made with left over baked potatoes is so good.

4

Western Sizzler used to have one that I loved as a teen. Huge potatoes, mushroom gravy, more mushrooms, lots of cheese and cheese sauce. I’d eat the guts of the tater and then go for round two, stuffing the potato again.

Just fair warning about what someone like me could do to the profit margin :). Mushroom gravy and nacho cheese sauce were extremely popular toppings.