Lunch customers don’t always have time to linger over a good meal. They appreciate quick selections that don’t slow them down. Your staff appreciates a lunch menu that’s easy to prep and serve.
Ring up better lunch sales by giving your customers affordable options and great food. Coordinate back and front of house so that every service runs smoothly.
Smart lunch special strategies and great recipes make it all work.
Ingredients for a Successful Lunch Special
Consumers usually go out for dinner because they want to. More often than not, they go out for lunch because they have to. How do you consistently funnel that midday traffic into your restaurant?
Stay visible online and through social media.
Focus on lunch selections that appeal to everyone.
Offer healthy options for diet-conscious customers.
Feature LTO promotions specific to lunch.
5 Easy and Healthy Restaurant Lunch Specials That Increase Sales
1. Classic Fattoush Salad
This delicious Mediterranean salad assembles quickly, so it's ideal for a busy lunch service. Colorful ingredients make it presentation-perfect. Fresh flavors make it a midday customer favorite.
2. Stacked Veggie Sandwich
Offer guests a healthy lunch sandwich stacked high with fresh taste and contrasting textures. Simply layer sliced avocado, Persian cucumbers and golden beets between crisp leaves of iceberg baby lettuce.
3. Chipotle Turkey Club
Update the traditional turkey club with a touch of heat. Give customers the classic flavors they love with a generous dressing of house-made chipotle mayo. The sweet, smokey condiment can make this sandwich a signature lunch dish.
4. Curry Chicken and Romaine Wraps
With its mix of chopped celery, golden raisins and shelled pistachios, this curry chicken salad is sure to become a customer favorite. Fresh romaine hearts add special crunch to the delicious lunch wrap recipe.
5. Pizza on French Bread
Satisfy the lunch crowd with a special they can size to fit their table. French bread pizza lets them order half loaves for two or two dozen. Customers enjoy a tasty lunch that's quick for staff to prep and serve.
10 Smart Lunch Strategies for Your Restaurant
1. Serve Brunch For Lunch
Today’s hectic lifestyles often get people out of the house without their first meal of the day.
Serve guests the comfort of breakfast at lunch with delicious selections like hearty biscuit sandwiches or healthy veggie frittatas.
Why This Works: Brunch offsets empty tables before the lunch rush. It's a cost-effective way to increase sales and manage labor costs because staff is already on the clock.
2. Let Customers Grab And Go
Develop quick cafe lunch specials that let customers walk in, pick up and walk out. Grab and go options free up tables and increase sales. They streamline prep and service, and that helps hold down labor costs.
Why This Works: Every customer that leaves your restaurant with a branded grab-and-go lunch also carries out packaging that works as a mobile marketing strategy. It's a simple, low-cost way to increase your brand's visibility.
3. Let Them Build Their Own
Take some of the heat out of the kitchen by letting your restaurant guests do some of the work.
Customers enjoy customizing their meals, so give them soup and sandwich stations where they can mix and match ingredients and quickly assemble personalized plates.
Why This Works: Consumers appreciate the variety that comes with this type of self-service experience. It maintains customer interest, especially if you rotate ingredients on a regular basis.
4. Refresh The Salad Bar
Turn your restaurant’s salad bar into a lunch destination for customers who want healthy options. Keep it stocked with premium produce like fresh spinach, arugula and hearts of romaine lettuce.
Every guest who self-serves at the salad bar is one less order for your busy kitchen.
Why This Works: Fresh vegetable salads always score high with customers. The salad bar fills their plates with a guilt-free lunch that holds down your food and labor costs.
5. Offer Two For Almost One
Give customers choices that help stretch their lunch budgets. Offer a different dish each week at its regular price with the option to purchase a second serving at a deep discount.
Keep your lunch bargains profitable by keeping a close eye on your restaurant’s food costs.
Why This Works: Rotating the featured menu item on a weekly basis encourages customer engagement. It builds a sense of curiosity and anticipation that brings more business through the door.
6. Pick The Right Price
If you price it at $11.99, they will come, order and enjoy.
Whether you call it psychological pricing or the nine factor, it’s a marketing tactic that works. Keep this lunch special idea easy and flexible by listing dishes and their charm prices on in-house blackboard menus.
Why This Works: Consumers want quality products at reasonable prices. Charm pricing conveys a sense of value that makes it easier to justify going out for lunch on a regular basis.
7. Celebrate Loyal Lunch Guests
Set up and promote a loyalty program that encourages repeat lunch business. Customers appreciate being appreciated, so target your midday market with rewards like gift cards, complementary desserts and exclusive lunch deals.
It’s a strategy employed by some of the biggest names in the foodservice industry.
Why This Works: Being active in a loyalty program gives consumers a feeling of exclusivity. They enjoy it, and they share that sense of insider status with others. It's a highly effective way to promote your brand.
8. Make Your Chef A Star
Encourage your culinary talent to mingle with customers in the dining room.
Guests feel honored to meet the chef, so bring him or her out of the kitchen and into the lunchtime spotlight. It’s a great opportunity to encourage honest customer feedback on everything from menu selections to front of house service.
Why This Works: Getting to know the chef makes guests feel like a part of the restaurant family. That personal connection is a powerful draw that helps fill tables during lunch service.
9. Go For Great Presentations
Give restaurant guests memorable lunches that inspire sharing on social media. Wow them with picture-perfect shrimp cocktails in baby lettuce bowls. Impress them with entree salads featuring brilliantly colored veggies.
Every social share shows off your lunch special to an expanding digital audience.
Why This Works: Photogenic plate presentations are perfect examples of affordable marketing strategies. The small cost of dressing up a dish is well worth the attention it can bring to your lunch menu.
10. Print Out The Good Word
There’s always room for print in restaurant marketing. Trade free meals with surrounding business owners in exchange for displaying your lunch special flyers on their counters.
Once you’ve made the arrangements, regularly update and restock your printed materials.
Why This Works: Printed marketing materials provide easy access to valuable information about your latest specials. It's an effective off-line strategy for connecting with potential and regular customers.
You Can Always Count on Us
Establishing your restaurant as the go-to spot for lunch secures its place in a highly competitive field. Loyal customers bring in even more business, and better profits let you expand on improving sales from breakfast to closing.
We’re glad to do our part by sharing creative ideas for lunch specials that fit all types of restaurants.
Whether you’re in the market for restaurant menu inspiration or the freshest produce available, you can always count on us here at Hitchcock Farms.
