White Flag

[TeeDub]

Is Paddy's still there?

He now runs a bookstore in BA.   He has a little space in the back where he still cooks and offers a light lunch menu.

[carltonplace]

Where do you go for the best fish and chips?

My house 

[Breadburner]

Brady Taverns Fish & Chips are good....

[BKDotCom]

FWIW

White Flag threw in the flag (again?)
Was going to meet my wife there for lunch today. 
There was a sign on the door that it's being converted to a bar/venue.

[sgrizzle]

FWIW

White Flag threw in the flag (again?)
Was going to meet my wife there for lunch today. 
There was a sign on the door that it's being converted to a bar/venue.

Not sure what is worse
1. That it happened.
2. That it happened over a month ago and this is the first comment about it.

[BKDotCom]

Not sure what is worse
1. That it happened.
2. That it happened over a month ago and this is the first comment about it.

I don't get out much (lately)

[Gaspar]

People are still confused.  Had some friends that met us down at the GG for the symphony on Friday who tried to take their kids there for dinner.

An announcement would have been nice.  I guess it was a quiet retreat.

[DTowner]

That is disappointing, but not surprising.  I went several times and thought it was good, but it suffered the same problems that did in Back Alley.  The menu was too long and too complicated for the kitchen to ever run smoothly and efficiently without a lot more staffing.  The whole concept needed editing and simplifying. 

[Conan71]

Tried it once, it was good, just not something crave-able that I'd make a point to go back for.

[Gaspar]

That is disappointing, but not surprising.  I went several times and thought it was good, but it suffered the same problems that did in Back Alley.  The menu was too long and too complicated for the kitchen to ever run smoothly and efficiently without a lot more staffing.  The whole concept needed editing and simplifying. 

I would have to agree.

Ya gotta have a simple documented kitchen process (because staff turnover in the business is constant).  A manager should be able to plug a qualified person into a station with minimal training.  I'm a big fan of using graphic wall/counter cards as a reference for kitchen process.  With a good pictorial workflow, language, and even blood THC levels are not an issue.

Menus should be easy to navigate and offer reasonable choices.  In most cases, the fringe market expansion a restaurant may gain by adding an off-theme menu item, does not make up for the expansion in labor, food-cost, or reduction in overall quality.  Such items also dilute the brand, and make the confused customer consider lesser choices (leading to poor experiences).

Of course rules are made to be broken, and there are some amazing exceptions.  Cheesecake Factory provides a dictionary of menu items.  However their documented kitchen process rivals the Affordable Care Act in it's complexity, and requires an army of staff to pull off.  They employ 35,000 people to run 175 locations.

I don't like to think too much when I dine.  I wanna eat what your brand tells me you are the master of. 

[RecycleMichael]

I don't like to think too much when I dine. 

I like to order by picture. Denny's and McDonald's do that very well.

Last week we went to Russo's at 91st and Yale and their pictures looked exactly like the dishes we were served. I tipped extra just for that reason.

I would like to do everything by picture. If my voting precinct had pictures of the candidates I would vote by looks as well.

[Conan71]

I like to order by picture. Denny's and McDonald's do that very well.

Last week we went to Russo's at 91st and Yale and their pictures looked exactly like the dishes we were served. I tipped extra just for that reason.

I would like to do everything by picture. If my voting precinct had pictures of the candidates I would vote by looks as well.

How is Russo's doing now?  They were getting slaughtered in early reviews.

[Gaspar]

I like to order by picture. Denny's and McDonald's do that very well.

Last week we went to Russo's at 91st and Yale and their pictures looked exactly like the dishes we were served. I tipped extra just for that reason.

I would like to do everything by picture. If my voting precinct had pictures of the candidates I would vote by looks as well.

There is actually quite a bit of research on that.  You are in the majority.

There is actually a saying in the the food marketing industry "Gazing Leads to Grazing."  Here's how it works. . . When you look at a menu, your eye will follow a predetermined pattern.  Your first item of focus will be whatever is pictured on the center-right-side of the menu.  This is where the restaurant puts their signature (and most expensive item).  It's called "The Hero Spot."  If you pass up center-right, your next choice will be the item pictured directly below it (this is what they want you to order).

This has proven so strong that most restaurant marketing firms will advise their clients to place their most expensive item center-right and their highest profit margin offering just below it with an image that is about 30% smaller.  The first photo will get you excited and the second provides the "reasonable" alternative.  The restaurant wants you to choose one of these two.

The second item is smaller but will typically ofter more variety and have more descriptive text (additional sides, combinations, and additional descriptive terminology) and takes advantage of what is called the Affect Transfer Effect.  When you are hungry this is very powerful and basically means that the photo and description triggers a very basic impulse in the (animal) mind to justify ordering a large quantity of food, and because it's less expensive than the GIANT photo above it, the customer feels like they are further justified by getting quantity and variety at a good price (even though the restaurant's margin is more).

Menus with pictures are an excellent study in marketing psychology and the practice is quite refined and interesting.  It was my favorite topic of study in a class called Images & Ikons I took in college.