We love Mediterranean Cuisine, above Cheeseburger Charlies, but we never hear others say “Let’s go to Mediterranean Cuisine” to eat. Our challenge- how do we get the restaurant to reach its sales potential? With an owner who’s strapped for time, cash, and reliable employees, what do we do?
Concept 1: Rebranding
This concept takes three parts:
· Rename it “Sami’s” (the owner’s name) because “Mediterranean Cuisine” is too hard to say.
· Explain and promote its healthy and vegetarian eating options
· Promote BYOB
Concept 2: Web Presence
Get a website with a homepage, online menus (lunch, dinner, catering), online takeout and delivery ordering options, and coupons or promotions.
Concept 3: Quick Lunch Route:
Time is of the essence for lunch eaters. Because they already have a front counter, make the counter the ordering and payment station. Have customers take numbers to their tables, and then staff deliver drinks and food to the tables. Alternatively, allow customers to order a ‘quick lunch’ meal that has a commitment for a 30 minute turnaround time.
So, seriously-what will it take to get you into Mediterranean Cuisine instead of Panera? Do you even know where it is?
I too adore Mediterranean Cuisine. I do not eat it as often as I'd like because of the very, very poor service. It is difficult to get in and out of this restaurant within the lunch hour. I wholeheartedly agree that offering a "Quick Lunch Route" would encourage more students to eat there. Or perhaps we could partner (our client is the 8:10 Cafe) to offer delivery or provide space for MC to sell lunch items. Interested?
ReplyDeleteI vote for #3. Since Sami has financial constraints, it looks like #1 and #2 would be harder to implement.
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of Mediterranean food as well, but time is usually my biggest constraint with this place. In addition to the thirty minute turn around, maybe they could have some pre-made sandwich and salad take-out options ready for the lunch rush? They could distribute fliers to the surrounding schools and offices advertising this new option, which would hopefully increase take-out volume, and/or motivate trial consumers to eat in.
I also like the food at this restaurant and agree with Jeremy and Macee about concept 3. The times that I've gone in here, it has taken several minutes to even get seated, even though the restaurant is far from busy.
ReplyDeleteI like Jeremy's idea of distributing fliers and/or takeout menus with a coupon or two. Another idea to work into the quick lunch concept is to offer some promotions for the lunches. Which Wich has a "Buy 9 get the 10th free" card. Subway used to have this kind of deal too.
Agree with everything above! To add to Rebranding, I would focus on healthy side. They could incorporate that concept in new name, and that with improved operations would drive more traffic to place over Panera or Charlies.
ReplyDeleterenaming it Sami's is perfect. I'm a fat southern dude and I love eating places like Corner Pub, Boscoes, Jacksons.... Sam's.... I may even think I was going to Sam's to get blitzed and watch football if someone told me we were going to Sami's.... what a great idea.
ReplyDeleteWhy not focus on the call-ahead route? Post menus at the Biz/Law/Divinity Schools, offer call-in ordering with credit card pre-pay and guarantee that it'll be ready to be served in 15 minutes. Then the customers pop in, grab their plate, sit, eat and run. OPA!
ReplyDeleteconcept 1: Is bound to work and is quite practical to implement to target the Vanderbilt students if not further.I don't know how much value may a change in name add, but promotion around the food choices and motivation with BYOB could help spread the word for them.
ReplyDeleteConcept2:they are present with most music city searches if not through their own website. A website with menus could actually be a part of the promotion in concept 1.
Concept3: this particularly rings a bell with the Owen & law school crowd who constantly look for a quick bite in constrained time. this could put them in direct competition with Subway or Panera and with the menu option may even make them a better option.
Great ideas! I like the online ordering options--especially for take out and delivery. Expense? Would they charge extra? Also love the quick lunch ideas as this seems to be the main reason that people don't want to eat there--i'm assuming that they would have a "quick lunch" menu of the most popular options--emphasis on "quick and healthy alternative" might go a long way.
ReplyDeletePart of the rebranding strategy could be to parner with 810 (go, Macee!)--shall we talk?
One more thing--rather than BYOB, how about selling beer? The Mediterranean Cuisine in Brentwood does.
Quick shout out on BYOB/BEER/ALCOHOL:
ReplyDeleteSami does not want to sell any alcohol in his establishment as a personal choice, BUT he is definitely not opposed to BYOB- hence the reason we would market that.
I like concept 3. There is a place out in Cool Springs which I love called Greek Cafe and they have a quick order line for quick lunch items. And who doesn't like to see a giant slab of mutton rotation on the fire? Service is the number 1 reason I don't ever eat over there!!! Seriously, it is like 10x worse than Subway. Long story short, I'll try them again if they have a quick order line.
ReplyDeleteReally fun ideas - I have no idea where it is, but would definitely love to go (and if I do, I'll repost). I think that all three ideas are great, but if you made me pick one of them it would be the first. The reason is that if people knew about it and what it offered, I think that they would go. Since lack of information might be a serious problem, this seems like a really cost efficient way to at least begin that process. The web idea was great, but it takes some time to keep it up and looking healthy (or it has a bad effect on the business overall. The last idea is also really good - especially with the location.
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
I like idea 3. Perhaps the restaurant could also offer take away lunches or allow their customers to order their lunch by sms text messages. It would be even faster!
ReplyDeleteIf a large chunk of the customer base is from Vandy,why not set up a hotline dedicated to taking lunch orders from vandy students. Or taking lunch orders via email one day before the delivery.
ReplyDeleteFor effective managment of the in-store queue, one possible solution is to install kind of ordering machine in the store, which gives customers an option to order from the machine and then take the reciept to the staff directly.
If a large chunk of the customer base is from Vandy,why not set up a hotline dedicated to taking lunch orders from vandy students. Or taking lunch orders via email one day before the delivery.
ReplyDeleteFor effective managment of the in-store queue, one possible solution is to install kind of ordering machine in the store, which gives customers an option to order from the machine and then take the reciept to the staff directly.
#1 and #2 are great ideas to drive traffic and increase sales.
ReplyDeleteRe-branding with Sami's is excellent because it makes it more unique (less generic).
Suggestion: Sami's Mediterranean so we still know what type of cuisine. Some will shorten and some will not.
I like number #2 because I have always thought one of the 21st street restaurants should deliver to individual Owen students during lunch. If they are the first to corner this market then they will significantly increase their revs.
Good luck! Push the HOTSAUCE
They must decide if they are into customer service or the mediterranean atmosphere. We like the food but can't go unless we have PLENTY of time. The service is usually very, very, very, did I say very, slow. How about that theme it Med food without the Med wait...
ReplyDeleteI've never been to the Mediterranean place so I can't speak about the service. But I can speak from a potential customer's perspective. My top 2 constraints for eating out at lunch are time and price. A lot has been said about the service. What about price? I go to Subway because they have those daily special meal deals. Consider pricing the quick lunch alternative slightly lower than the rest of the menu options. The volume will surely make up for the lower price and I suspect it will bring more people in.
ReplyDeleteI personally do not like the idea of online ordering/menu. This will not increase patronage because there are still fundamental service issue problems.
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of a quick service lunch menu. This will be easy to implement as they already have the kitchen staff, recipies, etc. They would just have to change the process in the kithchen to have large quantities with a smaller pre-set menu.
I like the pay and go option. There is a HUGE lagg at this restaurant between getting the food, and then again getting the bill. I have waited up to 15 minutes in the past for the bill and another 15-20 to get the food...off the lunch special menu!
I love med-cuisine, too. But I don't often go there.
ReplyDeleteLots of reasons, but none having to do with the name or the lack of website. I often order it "to go" and then walk across the street to pick it up and bring it back to Owen. I do this not to save time but rather to avoid the lack of ambiance in there. Even though it serves middle-eastern soul food, the place has no soul! Even Chee-Boiga (as my kids and I call Cheeseburger Charlies) has a sense of "place" and a consistency of food quality and service that is true to its identity.
I would patronize a "Med-to-Go" 3 times a week if it were consistently fast, high quality, and easy to get in and out of there (Think Panera). As it is, I have learned to call ahead and even then I have to wait for a waiter or waitress to come up to the front to take my money for an order. And then there's the awkwardness about the tip, too, since it is technically a sit-down restaurant and so I'm not sure what to tip. (No such problem at Chee-Boiga's or Panera.)
This leads me to think, though, that you may need to consider a different lunch (vis-a-vis dinner) strategy since the populations are probably different. Does Sami have a preference for the one or other clientele? My comments above presume meeting my lunch needs and not my dinner needs (which would be more around ambiance and byob).
Also consider that Med Cuisine used to have belly-dancing and Hookah smoking. Not sure if they still do but that definitely strikes it off the list of places where I'd want to eat dinner. That is to say, that even if they don't do that stuff in there any more, I can't help but think that they do when it comes up as a place to eat dinner.
((We often go to Kalamata's. The guy who runs that should buy out Sami! They are also in a strip mall and have no liquor license but it has lots of soul and unbelievably good and inexpensive food! It is VERY consistent. Sami should benchmark it in all dimensions.))
Parting thought: Sami might consider a catering side-business focused on Vanderbilt. It may be a good way to get more people around campus exposed to the good food.
Just my 2 cents!! Good work and good luck!!
I agree that there is a lot of untapped potential in the Mediterrenean Cuisine. It offers something different from all the surrounding chain restaurants (Panera, Subway etc.). It would be a great place to have lunch if you were actually able to get lunch within an hour. This is why I like both ideas 2 & 3. Number d allows for planning your meal ahead so that you don`t have to sit and wait at the restaurant which saves you time. Number 2 will be able to make the restaurant more visible, and inform people about the options for getting a quick lunch there.
ReplyDeleteI like idea #3 I think the faster they can turn out meals the more business they will do. Noshville turns out a meal every 30 seconds during the breakfast and lunch rush hours.
ReplyDeleteYou have a lot of great comments here, so here is just one more:
ReplyDeleteMaybe they could considered a lunch time ordering system like Subway or Qdoba -- customers walk through a gyro bar and tell the employee what they want on their gyro (or other meal). They then immediately pay, and can exit (to avoid the poor ambiance). I personally like sitting outside there, but it is weather dependent. Good luck!