There’s a restaurant I used to go to called Wingman. As you can probably guess, they serve Buffalo wings… but they also serve:
- Hamburgers
- Hot dogs
- Philly cheesesteaks
- Grilled chicken
- Chicken strips
- Popcorn chicken
- Potato salad
- Macaroni salad
- Coleslaw
- Garden salad
- Mac and cheese wedges
- Jalapeno poppers
- Cheese stix
- Fried mushrooms
- Fried zucchini
- Funnel cake
- Apple pie
But of course! They’re called Wingman, so why wouldn’t they be serving fried zucchini?
“Oh they’ll come for the wings, but they’ll stay for the apple pie!”
This is obviously stupid just from a financial perspective, as they’re wasting money on ingredients they use for 10% of the orders. And it slows down their order times drastically because new customers are suddenly overwhelmed with an abundance of choice that they didn’t expect (probably not a huge problem, as the place isn’t very popular). But what aggravates me most is that THEY’RE CALLED WINGMAN, yet they serve uninteresting foods that have never been associated with wings.
“But Charlie, maybe they get orders for outdoor corporate events! It’s always good to have potato salad at the company picnic, LOL!”
Of course they get bulk orders from time-to-time — all restaurants do — but that doesn’t mean they should accommodate every buyer’s random needs. Just because some of your customers love apple pie, it doesn’t mean it should be on the menu.
Why are they even serving salads? To accommodate vegetarians? SCREW VEGETARIANS! If you don’t eat meat, why the hell are you in a restaurant called Wingman? Put up a big sign that says, “Want salad? Go back to Whole Foods, hippie.” Then pelt them with frozen chicken wings as they run out.
Nothing pisses me off more than a good product or service that gets completely diluted because the owners wanted to please everyone.
So polarize the crowd. Instead of matching your competitors’ offerings, veer in a different direction that everyone else is too afraid of. Stop adding, and start taking things away. It’s far more interesting when choices are reduced, and people are excluded.
Source: GoComics.com
I get your concern regarding all the things on the menu, it certainly does dilute the specialty they are known for. But maybe the tough economy forced them to expand the menu to stay afloat.
As for the vegetarian option, when people come as a group to have dinner/lunch, there might be someone in the group who is a vegetarian/vegan. It does help to rope in customers so that the vegetarians have something to eat. Business-wise, it skewers the decision making process of prospective group of customers to decide in favor of visiting the restaurant.
By: Arun on January 10, 2010
at 9:56 am
This menu was around before the recession, trust me.
By: charhoehn@gmail.com on January 10, 2010
at 2:15 pm
Great in theory, but in my opinion pretty tough to execute such common sense advice of having a focus and not being line extended!
By: Kyle Hansen on January 10, 2010
at 10:50 am
I remember discussing this issue with you when we were eating at Wingman and after looking into a few other wing restaurants, I realized most are guilty of this. Even Jim’s Wings in Fort Collins has a ridiculously extended menu with offerings such as rocky mountain oysters, calamari, and shrimp baskets. I never saw anybody order anything but wings and it makes me question the quality of their seafood.
By: John Bidwell on January 10, 2010
at 5:03 pm
Yea, Wingman definitely isn’t the only one guilty. There may be a good reason for all this, but I can’t figure out why the menu would be extended to such an extent.
By the way, found a better wings place in our area for next time.
By: charhoehn@gmail.com on January 10, 2010
at 5:54 pm
There’s a little place in College Station (home of Texas A&M – pretty big city). It’s called Laynes.
Here’s the description from their webpage:
Twelve years ago we started off as a small fast-food restaurant, in a dumpy looking building. Today we are a thriving small business and one of the most popular places for Aggies to eat, in our same dumpy looking building (Well, there is our second location that’s totally sweet…but that doesn’t count). Our tables and booths don’t exactly match, our landscaping looks terrible and our building is not exactly sturdy, but our chicken fingers are why people come.
The chicken fingers are amazing. So is the secret sauce. There’s 4 entrees all consisting of chicken fingers, and 2 sides, and some toast. That’s it.
I suspect Seth would like this place.
By: Ryan Stephens on January 10, 2010
at 10:08 pm
Ha! Brilliant find, Ryan — you’ve proven my point exactly. Might write a quick follow up on Layne’s.
By: charhoehn@gmail.com on January 10, 2010
at 10:46 pm
Exactly!
I say the same things to my wife all the time. I don’t want to go to a restaurant that has 50 mediocre items on the menu.
Which by the way, most will be precooked, processed and likely transported half way across the country. I went to a food convention in Canada last year for restaurant suppliers. Everything was precooked in a factory. I don’t want to eat out in Canada any more.
I love going to restaurants that do one thing very well. I don’t want a hamburger from a pizza restaurant and I don’t want a pizza from a hamburger restaurant. That would be stupid.
By: johnbardos on January 11, 2010
at 1:39 am
Charlie,
Thank you for this post. You raise a great point. Too many restaurants, and businesses in general, try to be everything to everyone. Wingman would likely do good to be known for the best wings in town and forget everything else. Building a great business means that choices must be made, the menu must be cut.
Best,
Joseph
By: Joseph Joel Sherman on January 11, 2010
at 5:17 pm
Same goes for Five Guys Burgers and Fries they are known for having the best burgers around. Their menu only has a choice of burgers or hot dogs. Concentrate on making your product the best it could be and it will sell.
By: Chris Dehnert on January 12, 2010
at 4:31 pm