El Restaurante Mexicano
Jan-Feb 2010

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Lent and Easter promotions for Mexican restaurants

With Lent here and Easter just around the corner, now is a good time to create special menus and promotions that will bring customers into your restaurant during what is typically a slow dining season.

Offer Lenten dishes

From now until Easter Sunday (April 4), many of your customers will be following diets that don’t include meat. Adding special Lenten items to your menu is one way to accommodate these customers.

Soups like Caldo de Vigilia made of cactus and smoked fish; Caldo de Camaron Secon (dried shrimp broth); and Caldo or Sopa de Haba, a bean soup commonly served on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, are three appropriate options. You’ll find the recipe for Caldo de Vigilia at www.mexgrocer.com/639-vigil-soup.html.

Introduce Cascarones

Cascarone (pronounced cas-ka-ronay), the Spanish word for eggshell, refers to an egg that has been emptied, brightly painted, filled with confetti, then sealed with a small square of tissue paper blued over the opening. It is traditionally used as a party favor and broken over a friend’s head for good luck. Cascarones also are frequently used in Easter season fundraising events.

To gain business and possibly free PR, restaurants could:

• Sponsor an in-restaurant cascarone-decorating party for children, or hold the event at a local school (possibly a tie-in with art or Spanish classes).
• Decorate restaurant tables with cascarones; include an egg with a small prize inside with every kids’ meal; or have specially marked cascarones that reward customers with a free drink, appetizer or meal on a future visit.

For more information, and to learn how to make a cascarone, visit www.lasculturas.com/articles/culture-and-identity/27-cascarones.