Issue
When a family or group of friends goes out to eat, the restaurant is usually chosen by the person with a particular dietary need, whether vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, or simply calorie-conscious. According to a national restaurant industry association, 73 percent of adults are trying to eat healthier at restaurants than they did just three years ago. Restaurants that don’t cater to these diners risk losing not only them but their entire party, leaving seats empty that could otherwise be filled.
Findings
Meeting these demands is often easier than restaurants expect, and many simply need some menu tweaking. A recent client, a small chain of Mexican restaurants, illustrates this. Its menu already contained dishes that met healthy criteria without being identified as such. For example, its house-made corn tortillas were already gluten-free, and it offered a vegetarian version of a dish made with cheese.
Portion balance was another problem. A nutritional analysis of the restaurant’s traditional carne asada (grilled beef) plate revealed it contained the equivalent of more than three portions of rice and four of guacamole, with only a small amount of grilled vegetables and beans. The dish came to a surprising 2,100 calories.
Solutions
The first step is to find the hidden healthy dishes already on the menu. Restaurants should learn the requirements for each dietary category, review their recipes (or hire a consultant to do so), and identify dishes that qualify or could easily be modified. For the client, a cheese-free variation of the vegetarian dish was added to satisfy vegans who avoid dairy. The menu was then reprinted with icons that help customers quickly identify these options. If a restaurant has enough dishes in one category, such as vegetarian, it can create a dedicated menu section.
The second step is to lighten up by creating lower-calorie versions of existing dishes, often just by reworking proportions. For the carne asada, the amounts of vegetables and beans were increased, while the beef, rice, and guacamole were reduced to one normal portion each. The result was still a full plate of delicious food at just 600 calories. Several dishes were revamped this way and placed in a new “Light” section of the menu.
The final step is to let customers know about the new offerings. At minimum, restaurants should add signage inviting guests to try the new vegetarian and vegan dishes. Better still, they can send a brief announcement to local media and area food bloggers, since word of mouth spreads quickly in healthy-eating circles. Using this approach, the client kept its existing customers while attracting many new ones.