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Timely Menu Items

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fastbreakrob

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I have a few menu items, that are pretty popular but take awhile to make.
They sacrifice customer service in the aspect of getting the food to them quick. It seems everybody wants it and wants it now. They dont want to wait. Is it worth it to keep these items on the menu and give slower service or do you think it would be better to axe those menu items, allowing better service, and concentrate on a smaller variety?

I’d really love to throw those menu items out the door. However, they sell good. But at a sacrifice of customer service.

So whats more important… A good selling item on the menu, or customer service… ?

Most of the items are fried goods, some subs. We use a perfect fry and it just can’t handle any capacity. If I get 5 app orders in a row, were practically screwed. Most app’s take 3-4 minutes to fry. That last app order is all of a suddenly a 20-25 minute order now. Who wants an app that takes 20-25 minutes…

Getting another fryer is out of the question. I hate the fryer we have. I mean its a good fryer (equipment wise) but I just hate fryers in general 🙂
We don’t have anymore electric, room … or anything…

What does everybody think?

Thanks
 
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I too hate fryers and refuse to use them. We have appetizers which don’t call for frying.

What kind of apps are you serving?

Could you pre make them and then warm them during a rush?

I think service is more important than the item. I love Mc.fries but I would not wait 20 minutes if they didn’t have enough fryers to accomodate.

Keep in mind as business owners we are trying to increase business but if you are struggling with keeping up now what if your business increases How will you handle it then? I would get rid of them now before they become your signature items which ultimately creates your demise.
 
We are serving the basics. Poppers, Fry Baskets, Mozzarella Sticks, Wings, Shrimp Basket…

They are actually really simple to make if they are the only order. I guess the big problem is capacity. The fryer just can’t handle it. They all sell really well… But thats the problem. They sell well and the fryer is almost always over capacity, resulting in bad service… and another fryer is out of the question.

You made a really good point about now what happens if business increases… Its just going to get really bad… So, I’m going to elininate all fried items except for wings and fries. It will probably still be backed up but thats going free up alot of fryer time. Plus its not like people come to the restaurant because we have the best poppers around, or the best mozzarella sticks…

The other items that are a big problem is subs. Especially the Philly Steak. Its a great seller but man its a pain in the *** to make. We run the meat through the oven, take it out, put it on the bun, cheese, run back through the oven, it comes out and gets dressed. About 5-6 minutes longer process then a pizza.

Even tho its a great seller… I really dont think these people are coming into our restaurant or calling for delivery, just for the fact that we have a philly cheesesteak on our menu. So if I axe the item, I’m confident they will order something else. And something more profitable, since the philly isn’t really a great money maker anyways.

Thanks for the input!!
Anonymous:
I too hate fryers and refuse to use them. We have appetizers which don’t call for frying.

What kind of apps are you serving?

Could you pre make them and then warm them during a rush?

I think service is more important than the item. I love Mc.fries but I would not wait 20 minutes if they didn’t have enough fryers to accomodate.

Keep in mind as business owners we are trying to increase business but if you are struggling with keeping up now what if your business increases How will you handle it then? I would get rid of them now before they become your signature items which ultimately creates your demise.
Click to expand...
 
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We are serving the basics. Poppers, Fry Baskets, Mozzarella Sticks, Wings, Shrimp Basket…

They are actually really simple to make if they are the only order. I guess the big problem is capacity. The fryer just can’t handle it. They all sell really well… But thats the problem. They sell well and the fryer is almost always over capacity, resulting in bad service… and another fryer is out of the question.

You made a really good point about now what happens if business increases… Its just going to get really bad… So, I’m going to elininate all fried items except for wings and fries. It will probably still be backed up but thats going free up alot of fryer time. Plus its not like people come to the restaurant because we have the best poppers around, or the best mozzarella sticks…

The other items that are a big problem is subs. Especially the Philly Steak. Its a great seller but man its a pain in the *** to make. We run the meat through the oven, take it out, put it on the bun, cheese, run back through the oven, it comes out and gets dressed. About 5-6 minutes longer process then a pizza.

Even tho its a great seller… I really dont think these people are coming into our restaurant or calling for delivery, just for the fact that we have a philly cheesesteak on our menu. So if I axe the item, I’m confident they will order something else. And something more profitable, since the philly isn’t really a great money maker anyways.

Thanks for the input!!
Anonymous:
I too hate fryers and refuse to use them. We have appetizers which don’t call for frying.

What kind of apps are you serving?

Could you pre make them and then warm them during a rush?

I think service is more important than the item. I love Mc.fries but I would not wait 20 minutes if they didn’t have enough fryers to accomodate.

Keep in mind as business owners we are trying to increase business but if you are struggling with keeping up now what if your business increases How will you handle it then? I would get rid of them now before they become your signature items which ultimately creates your demise.
Click to expand...
 
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I was in the same boat but as far as capacity until we bit the bullet and reconfigured our grill line and added another fryer and bought a Roto-flex for our pizza line. Before that we could not even concieve offering delivery. Haven’t looked back since, and both fryers are used for most of the day now. I am a big fan of fryers if you can upsell and turn that $10 pizza order to a $16.50 pizza and app order…your margin is HUGE!
Firm believer that it takes $$ to make $$ so if you have the demand you might want to provide the supply. I think most people in this biz have the problem getting the demand so congrats!
 
I am a huge beliver in fryers as well. They are so easy and cook so fast! I would say if the perfect fry is one of those kind of automated sit on the counter type of fryers, get rid of it. Get yourself a good open fryer with a lot of capacity. If that is not an option you can maybe get by with your perfect fry if you work around its shortcomings. Do you use a pre-cooked steamed wing? They will be done much faster than raw. I would be willing to bet that wings are what are slowing you down the most so you could even cook them through your oven, throw them in a holding cabinet or steam table pan, and then just crisp them up in your fryer to order. You would probably cut your cooking time in half or more. Just a couple thoughts…Good luck!
 
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If wings are the problem…then par-bake then fry to order…done in less than 5 min…boneless are even faster!
 
Perry,

That is what I’ve suggested too. But the fryer instructions say to only put frozen things into the fryer. The wings themselves are already fully cooked and only take 4 minutes to crisp up and come to temp. But it only holds 20 wings at a time.
 
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