Mother's Day at the Diner

Mother's Day at the Diner was a busy one! We enjoyed a new one-day sales high. That success can be attributed to our approach to advertising that day.

We advertised our special as a dinner for 4 complete package, with soft drinks and dessert included. We did not discount our prices, but simply showcased our feature meal and stated the price.

The key to the ad's appeal was the "easy" call and complete package. With one phone call, Dad or the kids, could arrange to pick up our Mother's Day meal approximately 30 minutes later. It was easy peasy and did not require reservations or any advance booking.

The hardest choice was which pie to choose.

Seasonal Chopped Salad

With warmer weather in sight, guest's appetites turn to salads and lighter menu items.

In the winter, we all think hearty and comforting food. In the summer, it's the polar opposite.

One delightful choice I made recently was this chopped salad. It was a seasonal vegetable medley with a light dressing and fresh grated cheese. It was a meal in itself. The only think I thought was missing is the very trendy beet. Seems everyone is grilling and loving beets lately. Albeit, not currently in season, they are still readily available in many forms, including pickled.

Even if you own a retro burger joint (as I do) you can still offer a salad. You already have lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and cheese for the burgers. All we do is add a few creative vegetables, like snow peas, peppers and broccoli for a nutritious and colourful alternative to fries.

Mother's Day in the Kitchen

Mother's Day is the busiest restaurant day of the year. Whether you work at KFC or Spago, it's bound to be a ridiculously busy event.

I think of it as "Game Day." It's the real event. It's not a drill. Every other day has been practice so that we can execute our plan and work to our maximum efficiency on Mother's Day.

As a mom it's tough though. You want to be with your own family. However, if you work in a floral shop or restaurant, you know that it's work first... and your own Mother's Day activities after.

The absolute majority of moms are treated to brunch or dinner that day. And as a restaurant owner, it is my pleasure to cook for others and I'm glad to do it on Mother's Day.

Restaurants who do NOT advertise for this event are making a big mistake. Let's face it, dads and kids need the obvious hints. Your Mother's Day advertisements don't need to be for a sale. Don't discount your prices. In fact, this is your time to charge full price, and provide your best service and experience possible. You will need your best staff working.

Your advertisements could showcase a special menu, or even a simple reminder to make reservations. Your goal is to make sure you are at the top of the list when families are planning their gifts/events for mom.

Good Days and Bad Days

Every restaurant will have good days and will have bad days too.

How do you recover from a bad one? Do you turn to social media? Do you talk to your loyal followers through Facebook?

We've all seen bad decisions go viral. Like the Applebee's situation where a server published a guest's note regarding a tip.

Is your company prepared with a social media response? What would you do if it happened to you?

Mondays

I think Mondays are a fresh start. They are another chance to have a great week. Whatever happened yesterday is... yesterday. It's in the past. You can only move forward.

In the restaurant biz, Monday is typically a pretty slow, if not the slowest day of the week. I see it as a good chance to clean and re-set and whip the place back into shape. Sometimes weekends can be pretty rough on a restaurant. (Like my "yesterday" blog.)

One of the restaurants in town has a steak and lobster special every Monday night. They pack the joint most Mondays. It's the 4th day in their "weekend." I applaud them. I think that's great! Frankly... I'd like to have Monday nights off just so I could go eat at their place. It would be a nice change of pace from my own Retro Diner. But alas... not everyone sees Mondays like me.

Sometimes my staff need an extra day off or feel it's better to get sick on a Monday than a Friday. I see their point and I generally appreciate it. However, sometimes that leaves me holding the bag and trying to re-right the restaurant myself on a Monday... thus leaving me working "Friday hard", on a Monday.

I guess you might only get what I mean if you're in the restaurant biz. And if you are... God Bless you and give you slow Mondays!

Crazy walking through the door

You can analyze the moon cycles by what walks through the door of the Diner. This weekend you could surely see a full moon on the horizon.

The first customers pounding on the door Sunday morning were a couple raging alcoholics still completely drunk and reeking of  Saturday night's swill. This was 11AM.

Shortly thereafter, the hungover twenty-somethings stroll in wearing their baggy sweatpants and telling obnoxious tales of their previous night's escapades. Lapping up the gatorade and picking at their poutine.

A little later in the afternoon an unruly, ill mannered family of tazmanian devils proceed to encourage their 3 kids to literally destroy our table... kicking the metal legs of the table until the screws pop out and it nearly collapses. They found this utterly, obnoxiously hilarious. And in my polite discussions with them (though I wanted to scream) I recognized their voices and words. They had done this before!! A couple years earlier we had the same scenario.  The only 2 times something like this has happened in my 7 years of restaurant ownership.... and it's the same people. OMG.

The night before, a couple of unsupervised pre-teens start discussing blow job techniques as I am clearing plates from the table next to them. WTF??? Not in my family Diner you don't!  They took their fries to go and got a few words from me regarding appropriate language and behaviour in public.

I tell ya.... ANY GIVEN SUNDAY! This was not what I was expecting to deal with. But it certainly signals the full moon. People lose their minds and their manners. And for whatever reason, converge en mass in my public space.

Now of course this is rare. Very rare. Typically Sundays are for ice cream and families, and celebrations, birthdays and friends getting together in happy times.  Sundays are the days I'm supposed to be able to coast....  It's my chance to recover, and restock after a busy Friday and Saturday. It's also typically a day of rest from telemarketers, salespeople and walk-in solicitations. But not this Sunday. I had to have my game-face on. And what a wild 'game' it was.

Get a real job

Restaurant life is a unique thing. You either get it, or you don't.

You can either hustle, multi-task and thrive, or you can stumble, be disorganized and fail. I live, and breath multi-tasking. I was pretty much born ready.

In my restaurant, as the owner and chef, I juggle customer orders, suppliers, sales people, staff, the phone and whatever else comes up. This is a daily juggle.  It's quite the balancing act at times. But I'm good at it.

This is not something my family, or some friends understand. Should I, even for a moment explain or share my strife, their answer instantly becomes "sell the place and get a real job."

Get a "real job?" What.... are you kidding? This IS a real job x5. I manage HR, Customer Service, the Kitchen, Marketing and so much more. I really don't think I could sit at a desk. I don't think I could possibly type all day, or fake work while spending hours on facebook. Isn't that what people do at their "real jobs?" No thanks.

I may leave the kitchen smelling like bacon, feeling greasy and tired. But I know, without a doubt, I fed and served hundreds of happy people. I contributed to their day. I also contributed to the 10 families whose loved ones I employ. I give them real pay cheques and offer real support.

I have a real job. And I love it.