Have you ever noticed many hotel restaurants are more like a diner than they are a restaurant that reflects the quality of the hotel? The major culprit in this is, to be quite honest, laziness. With several hundred possible guests each and every day, some managers have the attitude there is simply no need or desire to market the restaurant to outside guests.
Now, that may be true for 200-plus nights out of the year, but it is unlikely the hotel will be at full occupancy every night of the year. With nothing to offer, the restaurant literally depends on the hotel sales team to drive its sales. Without hotel guests, the bar is quiet, and the tables are empty. Now, some managers will take the approach it is time for employees to recover, but I would guarantee those servers and bartenders would rather be putting tips in their pockets.
The only way to make that happen, however, is to create a true destination restaurant in the hotel. You have to give people a reason to come if you want locals to put your restaurant on their list of go-to restaurants.
In-House Recommendations
Upgrade Your Beer
It all starts at the bar. Far too many hotel bars have nothing more than standard beers on tap: Coors Light, Budweiser, Bud Light, and Heineken. BORING! Today, most communities have local craft breweries that would love to have their product in a hotel. Keep the boring beers in bottles and leave the taps for the beers that will start a conversation.
Shorten Wine List
Hotels are infamous for having these massive wine lists. They look great, but how many of those bottles are actually moving? A far better option is to keep the list short and serve every bottle by the glass. Wine distributors will fall all over themselves to be the main supplier for a hotel, so take advantage of their generosity. If they want your wine list, have them pony up a wine preservation system that will allow you to serve more wine by the glass.
Lower Wine Prices
If you want to move more wine, the price is going to have to be more reasonable. Think volume rather than liquor cost here. While serving as the Asst. Food & Beverage Director for the Cherry Hill Crowne Plaza, we radically changed pricing. Rather than gouge customers, we doubled the price of the bottle, added $2, and that was our bottle price. Our glasses were priced aggressively as well. We poured five glasses per bottle, so we charged 25 percent for the glass price to encourage diners to order a glass of wine. The result… we doubled our wine sales for the year!
And, if you are going to be pushing wine, your staff needs to know the characteristics of the wines being offered as well as how to pair it up properly with the food. If you do not have a resident wine expert on staff, ask the wine purveyor to hold training classes. There is a service they generally offer free of charge, as they are more than happy to educate your staff on how to push more of their product.
Theme Your Liquor Display
Pick a liquor and make it “your thing.” Tequilas have been all the rage for the last decade and it is unlikely they are going to go anywhere anytime soon. Vodka is always a safe bet, as are rums. Whiskeys are also making a big splash these days. Whatever you choose, though, go all out. For instance, if you want to make your bar a tequila bar, have at least five or six brands and have at least three levels of each tequila (silver, reposado, and añejo). For a martini bar, consider bringing in an ice block to pour them through. Presentation is everything, so you need to “wow” your guests.
Your staff may also need to be educated on how to serve these products as well as knowing traditional and new drinks featuring these liquors. Again, most liquor companies are more than happy to provide training on this, so take advantage of it.
Small Plates
Today, people like to share when they go out to eat. That being the case, consider creating a small plates menu for the bar. This is also a great way to get food on the table for parties that might not normally consider ordering food simply because they don’t want a lot to eat. It also makes it much easier for the manager to comp out food for people to try. If they like what they eat, they are more likely to order food on their own the next time they are in.
Marketing Recommendations
Social Media
We live in a social media age, especially when it comes to food and beverage. Take a quick look through your friends’ Instagram feed and most of the pictures are food related. This is something that can easily be done in-house, but it must be done consistently. It is also a terrific way to get customers to become salespeople for the property. Have the manager tag customers on the spot. They are far more likely to like and share the post that way, giving your posts an even broader reach.
Tastings and Shows
“Restaurant Week” promotions are very common, so join up or start your own. In most cases, these are pre-fixe menus that allow the restaurant to showcase its signature dishes at a reasonable cost for diners. You can also host tasting events at the restaurant on your own.
Local shows are also a must if you want to capture local business. For instance, Dallas recently held its “Taste of Dallas” at the Gas Monkey Garage. While the show itself will be operated at a loss, the business gained from the exposure will be significant if you are putting out an exceptional product, which you need to do at these events. Do NOT take the attitude that these events are a way to empty out the walk-in box. Put out your best dishes and WOW the guests.
A hotel restaurant presents any hotel manager with a massive opportunity to increase profits. The restaurant should be more than a convenience for hotel guests. All it takes is a little attitude adjustment and some creative thinking. If you are looking for hotel managers that can make your vision come true, contact Joseph David International. We don’t find managers, we find the RIGHT manager for your property. For more information about our hospitality recruiting services, click here.
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