El Restaurante Mexicano
Spring 2002
Enticing Entremeses
Great flavors and unique ingredients pack appetizers with profit power
By Jeff Siegel
Contributing Writer, El Restaurante Mexicano
©2002 Maiden Name Press LLC
Rusty Cornett knew he had to do something to perk up his appetizer selection.
"I wanted to do something that no one else in Florida was doing," says Cornett, the chef at Boca Rico in Boca Grande on the state's Gulf Coast, where the menu features authentic Mexican with an American touch. "I was looking for a signature, standout kind of thing."
Hence his Cactus Jack Quesadillas, grilled nopales and spinach combined with Monterey Jack cheese, served with a black bean relish. It became so popular that Cornett eventually moved it to the right side of the menu as an entree.
Appetizers can have that kind of effect on your business, say many owners, operators, and consultants. A top-notch appetizer lineup can improve sales without unduly inflating costs, increase customer loyalty, and even boost employee paychecks. Says Izzy Kharasch, a Chicago restaurant consultant: "Appetizers can be really, really good for a restaurant, and especially a Mexican restaurant. But you have to do them right."
Cactus Jack Quesadilla with Black Bean Relish
First and foremost, appetizers are a low-cost way to boost the bottom line. Most restaurants, according to industry surveys, offer appetizers, and the typical menu includes nine to 12 items. Since appetizers usually involve smaller portion sizes, less preparation time, and less expensive ingredients than entrees, they don't cost as much to produce, often as much as a third less. That means savvy operators can mark them up more than they do entrees, yet maintain a customer-friendly price point.
"The one thing you don't want to do is to have it too high, price-wise," says David Forti, the general manager of the family-owned Forti's Mexican Elder Restaurant in El Paso, Texas, which features traditional Mexican
cuisine. "What we try to do is to look at the portion size and the labor involved, and break it down so we get three times cost. And that's a
higher markup than we get for entrees."
The results can be impressive. By selling just one extra appetizer like Forti's $7.95 Chicken Salpicones per table per night, a 15-table restaurant can realize more than $37,000 annually in extra sales, and that's based on a
six-night-per-week serving schedule. Servers benefit
too: $37,000 translates into $7,400 in tips (at 20 percent) each year for the wait staff.
Flor de Calabaza Rellenos
That's just what El Torito is doing with such appetizers as the Taquitos de Camaron, one of the items on the Long Beach, Calif. chain's Veracruz Chef's Specials menu. The taquitos are filled with shrimp, vegetables, jack cheese and serrano-pepita abodo. The restaurant is featuring dishes from different areas of Mexico as part of a regional specials promotion.
And there's no indication appetizers cannibalize entree sales, according to Joe Beitzel, marketing manager for Chicago, Ill.-based McCain Foods. Instead, they can increase the market for entrees by encouraging customers to order some of the new flavors and items they've tried. So important are appetizers that McCain, makers of Moore's X-Treme Jalapeño Hot Rings, has even created a section on its website (www.appetizeriq. com) to help operators optimize appetizer success. The "Bucket of Fire," a combination of the Hot Rings, Tex-Mex Straws, Red Pepper Cream Cheese HotBites and Spicy Tortilla Jumpin' Jacks, served in a metal bucket, is one example of appetizer ideas on the site.
Anchor Foods' website (www.anchor.com) also has a Foodservice Appetizer Menu Customizer section full of recipes and ideas for using products like the company's Jalapeño Poppers to build appetizer sales. One idea: Poppers Ole!Ņa combo of Chicken & Chipotle Poppers and Chicken Fajita Poppers set around tortilla shells filled with avocado dip and salsa.
The key to success is in the execution, restaurant operators and experts say. Ask yourself these questions to see if you're on the road to appetizer profits.
• Does the left-hand side of the menu complement the right-hand side? Are the appetizers lighter than the entrees? Do the flavors on the left lead into the right, instead of matching or contradicting them? There is not necessarily a best direction; rather, it's one of consistency and focus, says Beitzel. That means something like Forti's light, chicken salad-style Chicken Salpicones pairs nicely with entrees such as the enchiladas, tamals and chile con queso steak.
Fried Oyster Tostadas with Andouille
Mid- to upscale restaurants could consider ingredients such as the squash blossoms that take center stage in the Flor de Calabaza Rellenos stuffed with black beans and caciotta from acclaimed chef Stephan Pyles, known for his culinary work in the Dallas, Texas kitchen of Star Canyon and author of "New Tastes From Texas."
Other up-and-coming ingredients to try: nopales; plantains; and Hispanic cheeses (anejo or asadero instead of or in addition to cheddar and Monterey Jack).
• Is the appeal unique? Everyone offers nachos, and there isn't anything wrong with that, says Cornett. But an appetizer menu does not succeed by offering standards alone. Some operators have turned quesadillas into wraps. Others have put a twist on the traditional by adding "fusion" items like the Mexican-Cajun Fried Oyster Tostadas with Andouille that Pyles featured at Star Canyon.
• Is your staff trained to sell appetizers? Nothing ruins a top-flight appetizer menu more quickly than indifferent employees. "Without the servers pushing them, appetizers just won't sell," says Kharasch. That means POS materials aren't enough. The staff must understand the appetizers and know how to sell them. One effective method: Set up contests that reward the wait staff (through cash or gifts) based on the number of appetizers each sells.
"Appetizers are not only an excellent profit center, but they're a chance to build good will that too many restaurants overlook," Kharasch concludes. "It's just one more thing customers can find to like about your restaurant, something they can mention to their friends."
Jeff Siegel, who lives in Dallas, writes about a variety of restaurant and marketing issues.
