How can I get more people to eat in my school diner?

Question

I'm the student manager for my school diner, its not a cafeteria its more lke a restraunt, the problem is we would like more patrons. Any ideas at all would be helpful, marketing suggestions, food items, theme suggestions, anything! Also the main them is a bulldawg and the 50's, the bulldawg being our mascot and the 50's idea has been around for awhile. Also it is called the Dawg Diner. Thank you!

Answer 1

offer incentives from 3-6 certain items that you may have got 50% off or look into a coupon program,.. Being as school is just starting back up I am sure it will get better.  Offer like Karaoke?? times

  

Answer 2

Start with some marketing research. Do a survey or a focus group (or two or three) and ask things like how often students eat there, why they don't eay there more often, what they like and don't like about (food, service, theme/atmosphere, seating, prices, etc.) Give students a chance to comment, not just choose from multiple choice answers and rankings.

If your school has a marketing class, maybe you can get some students to do this for you for free (or for meals) as a class project. Talk to the marketing professor about it.

Then devise a plan to improve the areas where your place falls short. If you use marketing students, they can help with this, too.

Publicize the changes and the diner in the student newspaper, on bulletin boards and kiosks, etc. If there's a student store on site, ask to insert diner flyers into bags for a week. The flyers should have the diner's name and logo, hours and location. If need be, add a little map. Put a coupon on the flyer, too, maybe offering a freebie rather than 10% off. For example, "Free beverage with any sandwich or entree." or "Free dessert with any meal" Or "Free side with any sandwich."

IMO, the most important factors to students are (in about this order):

price

decent food quality

cleanliness (no bugs, no strong disinfectant smells)

range of foods available

reasonably fast service, reasonably friendly

Theme is probably not the reason for lack of business. It's usually price, sanitation/cleanliness, anf the food itself.

The fresher and higher-quality the food, the better. This includes the oil. Don't reuse the same oil a thousand times - it makes the food taste awful.

The standard sandwiches, salads, soups (in season) are always in demand. More people are vegetarians, so offer some really appealing veg choices. Burgers and melts are also still loved, as are entrees. Also pizza, neverendingly.

Sides you could have: French fries and onion rings, but also potato salad, macaroni salad, cole slaw, garden salad, carrot pineapple salad, broccoli slaw, cooked greens, cooked carrots, cooked green beans, etc. Fresh fruit salads in season.

People are health conscious, so offer some lean options - but not the old diet platter of cottage cheese and canned fruit on lettuce. For example, you can stir-fry strips of lean beef or chicken, or shrimp or tofu, with vegetables and serve over rice or pasta in a sauce. This can be completely customized to each person - the pick which veggies, protein, and sauce they want, and rice or pasta. Sauces can be teriyaki, brown sauce, Hunan, spaghetti, alfredo or pesto. (Some employee cafeterias have this nowadays, and it's very popular.)

Experiment by trying things out as daily or weekly specials. You can even do this around themes.

One more suggestion. If you don't offer this already, make it easy to get carry out.

Answer 3

Find out what they like to see,do and eat.

................50"s?

Answer 4

advertise within the school...thats how you're going to get people to come to your restaurant.  

Answer 5

Hey Devin:  If you have good prices, then the only thing you have to do is get the word out.  If you have a school radio station you might be able to get an ad on there or in the newspaper.  Offer a reduced price for a classic meal each week, like have a grilled cheese sandwich with pickle and chips for $2.50 or a meatloaf and mashed potatoes dinner with peas & carrots for $5.00.  When you do this, have a picture of the grilled cheese meal with a chocolate shake and offer to add one for whatever your regular price is for one, or let people substitute a side of fries for the chips (at whatever the difference in price, without gouging).  The name of the game would be to promote a atmosphere  of a great hangout.  

Answer 6

Ask all the students, what they would like to see in the menu, and then go through it and decide what is the most requested.

good luck