If you run any kind of restaurant, I’d place a good bet that you’ve tried some variation of special menus. Everyone does it, and for good reason. Restaurant specials have a number of core benefits.

  • They can boost workweek traffic with enticingly-priced deals on unique offerings.
  • They encourage regular visits. Many customers will make a habit of visiting restaurants week-to-week for their favorite special, or to check out what’s new.
  • They’re excellent promotional opportunities. New specials are great subjects for email newsletters, social media updates, etc.
  • They can improve low-performance dayparts. Put the right special in the right time slot to give business a boost.
  • And more!

Naturally, different specials can fulfill different roles. Here’s seven special menu ideas to try out in your restaurant!

  1. Prix Fixe Menus. Try offering a prix fixe menu on a specific night, featuring a multi-course, lower-priced deal. Throw in a starter (salad, soup, or appetizer), an entree, and a dessert to seal the deal.
  2. Drink Specials. Martini Monday? Wine Wednesday? The sky’s the limit. Slash the prices of a few select cocktails on your night-of-choice and watch the orders roll in.
  3. Workweek Lunch Combo. Great for getting extra business from the working crowd, a lunch combo can be the perfect go-to option for lunch breaks. Offer a different combo each day (e.g. sandwich of the day) to encourage repeat visits throughout the week.
  4. Extended Happy Hour. Have a Happy Hour menu? All you need to do here is tack on an additional hour or two to the duration. An extended Happy Hour pairs nicely with a Thirsty Thursday.
  5. Sunday Brunch. Whether you’re setting up a buffet, offering up a special menu, or both, brunch can be a popular hit in your restaurant. Prix Fixe menus work quite well with brunch.
  6. Late Night Menu. Is your restaurant open later than most? Many restaurants are trying out late night menus. More limited in scope, these menus do well to attract the bar crowd.
  7. Seasonal Specials. Mixing up your menu with annual seasonal specials can help attract customers all year long. Not only will they want to try what’s new, they’ll also want to get their favorite special one more time before it’s gone.

Promote Digitally with CoGoBuzz

Now that you’ve got a few more special menu ideas, it’s time to figure out how you’re going to promote them all. With CoGoBuzz, our state-of-the-art marketing service, we leverage powerful WiFi, SMS, and Email solutions to promote your specials both in-store and out.

Starting with a one-time login to your restaurant’s in-store HotSpot (through email, social media, or phone number), customers are taken to a custom landing page. This page is specifically tailored to your restaurant. From there, they can check out your specials menu, sign up for your brand new text-based loyalty program, and more! On top of that, CoGoBuzz develops fully-realized customer profiles for every single login.

To learn more about CoGoBuzz, check out the rest of our website!

What special menus does your restaurant use? Sound off in the comments!