Friday, May 9, 2008

Friday's Specials

Today’s Specials
Friday, May 9, 2008
Cheese Steak Grinders $5.99 / $7.29
w/ choice of sautéed onions &/or green peppers &/or mushrooms

Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad $5.89
fresh Maple Brook Farm Mozzarella, vine-ripe tomato wedges, fresh basil,
and balsamic-maple vinaigrette over mixed spring greens
add chicken for $7.29


Smoked Turkey Wrap $6.75
w/ Artichoke Hearts, Sun-dried Tomatoes & Cream Cheese

Pastrami Reuben on Rye $6.25
Pastrami, Swiss, Thousand Island, & Sauerkraut on toasted Rye

Cranberry-Walnut Chicken Salad
w/ lettuce, green peppers, red onions. Swiss cheese & honey mustard
Sandwich $5.95
Wrap $6.99

Buffalo Chicken Grinders $5.29 / $6.99
with blue cheese dressing, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions

Meatball Subs $5.29 / $6.99

Soup: - all homemade!!
sm $2.79 / med $3.79 / lg $4.69
Chili con Carne – meaty!!
Creamy Tomato-Basil Rice Soup – totally meatless!!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

We love your store and your food but Michael needs to talk less and move along cashing people out. It takes way too long with him babbling at everyone. We have to get back to work. PLEASE make the cash register line move faster!!!!!!!!!!!!!

pamscanlon said...

If I had your email address I'd email you personally about this, but we are trying! If you'd care to email me at radiodeliburlington@gmail.com I'd love to chat with your particular encounter, what time of day you go to lunch and what types of things you order, what your ideal time in/time out would be etc.

On Friday, 15 people all walked in the door at the same time. Some had multiple orders, leading to one of the biggest hours we had ever in deli sales. Great for us, but really hectic for those who had to wait for their food.

We had three people working behind the deli to fill those orders. Three staff members can make things pretty quickly, but it takes some time to ring them out, especially when they use credit and EBT cards. Oftentimes it's the credit card or food stamp machines that are holding up the register and Michael chats while this happens.

We do know that we all can chat a little less during rush time and I guarantee you it's being addressed. We'd also like to let customers know that there's something they can do that would shorten up the time for sales to be processed. Use cash, not cards.

Over 80% of our lunch customers use credit cards, ebt cards or debit cards. Each time that happens it adds a couple of minutes or more (EBT can take up to four or five) for the transaction to go through. That backs people up.

Also, please be aware that when you order by phone, we put you at the end of the line that is currently in the store. If there are five people in line, then your phone order is #6.

We're hoping to come up with some solutions that help people get in and out so they can have as much time for lunch as possible. In reality, the kind of backup you saw on Friday usually lasts for half an hour. Before or after that it dwindles to nothing.

Some of the things we've been batting around to help congestion are

1. Having people with multiple orders write them down ahead of time or on a pre-printed slip.

2. Attaching pre-printed slips/with names to the order so it doesn't get lost or mistaken.

3. Having people pay when they order. This would involve another cash register and space for it. Currently we don't have the space for this, but may incorporate it into our upcoming redesign.

4. Having a separate line for more "ready to go meals" like soup/hot meals than sandwiches and salads. This might be another thing we incorporate into our upcoming design changes.

5. Not taking phone orders at all or only before 11 or after 1. When a phone order comes in during the rush time, it delays people being rung out and also delays the prep line. We are not sure this is fair to those walking in.

6. Ensuring that specials are posted online by 10:30 am to give people time to order by phone before 11.

7. Having an email list of specials go out to people on weekdays - again in time for them to place a phone order before 11.

8. Banning vendors from delivering during lunch time. We have requested this from all vendors, but mostly our requests fall on deaf ears. We have to deal with perishable items, delivery drivers and payment all during lunch time.


Some of the things customers might do to get in and out quicker are:

1. Coming earlier/later than the 12-12:30 rush.

2. ordering by phone before 11 for later pickup.

3. Paying by cash instead of using a card.

4. Writing down orders, especially multiple ones, before you get here. Then you can just hand over the order to one of us which will help things run more smoothly.

Thank you for your comments. We are planning some design changes soon - including fixing the floor - and hope that these changes will help the flow of traffic. Please feel free to contact me with your comments and suggestions - but I would really like to know who I am talking to!

Pam