Time Flies When You're
Medicated
Wow, can it possibly be almost Thanksgiving? It must be, because the stores are selling Easter candy. It seems like just yesterday that the judge was telling the orderlies from Looney Acres to "take him to his happy place, and lock him up." They do wonderful things with macaroni art therapy there, and best of all, the glue comes in strawberry. On a related note, I have a showing of my bigger 'objets d'pasta' pieces opening at the gallery in December. Juice boxes will be served. But I kid. Truthfully, I haven't been on court-ordered medication for 2 weeks now.
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Which means my vision has cleared up enough that I can see the keyboard again, and actually type. So you all get afflicted with another of my occasional rambling rants about our little restaurant, what we're doing, and why it smells like roast turkey in there all of a sudden.
Business has been pretty good, or at least that's what you all keep telling me. I'm the guy who pays all the bills, so I'm always looking for more customers, but truth is, it really has been pretty good. A great big thanks to all of you regulars who keep coming in. We have (knock on wood) not only recovered to our pre-recession business levels, but even grown some from there. I know it's still a scary world, especially for construction and housing development, and every time someone sneaks up behind me and says "Greece!" I jump out of my skin. Actually, if our tiny business is any indication, things are getting better than they seem to keep saying on CNN and CNBC. So my sincere appreciation to all you customers.
In fact, lots of you voted for us in the 2011 Pinnacle Reader's Choice poll. Enough that we are very pleased with the results. I'm not supposed to spill the beans until the paper comes out this week, but let's say that what we won rhymes with "Burst Mace" in several categories, including the all important "Test Yurger" (I couldn't find a rhyme for burger - oops, ignore that last part).
Also, we've decided that it is time to expand the restaurant. Imagine that! We often run out of seats, at lunch especially, plus we want a normal restaurant with an actual kitchen and all. So we're currently looking for a way to expand and do some upgrading. Our big challenge is in lining up the necessary cash (about $150K), so if any of you have compromising pictures of local bank executives, please forward them directly to me. I'll return them as soon as the loan funds get deposited. If we can actually pull this off, I plan on throwing a big party for all our best customers, which, natch, includes you all. (I'm not kidding, I need those pictures.)
Another change I'm looking at making is adding a
loyalty program.
The companies that market these programs tell me that they increase
customer repeat visits and increase revenues, but really I only want to
do one because I like giving away free stuff. (He says, with
fingers firmly crossed behind back.) Personally, I hate when a
business requires me to carry another card or even one of those
key-chain mini-cards, so I'm testing a couple hip new-tech mobile phone
loyalty systems, where all you'll need is your phone. That way,
you don't get "Costanza Wallet". Keep an eye on our
Facebook page
for the announcement of when we go live and what app you should download.
If you have one you already use for other businesses and you like it,
let me know. I'm looking at Punchd and Punchh (yes, confusing, I
know).
Since you're still reading this, and I can assume that you are stuck waiting somewhere without something more interesting to do, I have another question to ask you. We've been debating going back to doing delivery of food, like in the old days, but with hot food from the current menu. Until we can expand, this is one way to service more customers. Despite the concerns about french fries getting cold (they really don't travel well), our big issue is how to pay for it. I'll be upfront with you, our average profit (after everything) on a 1/2lb cheeseburger and fries is about 10%, or $.90. To deliver that burger to, say, Sadies Court costs us about $8.00 in mileage and labor, so running one burger out to someone's house isn't smart business. Of course, the economics of it aren't quite that simple since some overhead is fixed. Right now, we frequently deliver platters of sandwiches and burgers to corporate meetings and such, and we do it for free if the order is over $100. But for small orders, we would have to charge something. So the survey below asks you to indicate whether you would use Running Rooster delivery under various cost scenarios (free, $4, and $7). Your answers will help us determine if the service is viable. Please be honest in your answers.
NOTE: If it only says "loading" below and there is no survey, please click here to open this newsletter in a regular browser window, then complete the survey. Sorry for the hassle, but not all email programs will load the survey.
Current Specials
So now to tell you about our current
specials. First up, is the Thanksgiving Burger (artist's
rendering at right, macaroni on coffee can, 2011). This consists
of fresh roasted (and really good!) turkey meat, carved warm and piled
on a bun with warm turkey gravy, lettuce, and cranberries.
Think of it as a day-after turkey sandwich but with fresh turkey, not
left-over. Caroline Noble loves it, if that convinces you.
To go with it, we have for a limited time the Pumpkin Pie Milkshake.
Wha? Let me repeat: Pumpkin Pie Milkshake. No, we
don't put actual pumpkin pie in there, as someone suggested (you know
who you are, Brenda). Hard to see how that would get through a
straw. But it is delicious, and it may be unique to Running
Rooster. And unlike a certain coffee company (not naming names,
but it starts with an S and ends with an arbucks) we'll actually run our
Thanksgiving specials through Thanksgiving, and not prematurely switch
to Christmas specials so a person can't even get the Thanksgiving blend
anymore . . . Honestly, would you order a pine-scented burger with
candy canes on it before December? I don't think so. (spoiler alert)
In addition to the above, we are putting our Ribeye Steaks on special,
now through the end of the year. We feel we have one of the best ribeye steaks in town, but being a burger joint, we don't get any steak
respect, you know? However, we sell a USDA Choice, aged, boneless,
16oz (that's one pound for you metric types) ribeye steak with two
sides. Normally $24.50, we're offering Hollister's best steak
dinner for $19.00 through New Years. That should get a few
more of you to try it, I think. Happy Holiday, all you carnivores.
Do me a favor and order it bloody.
Holiday Hours and Parade
Wednesday,
Nov. 23: 11am to 3pm
Thursday, Nov. 24: Closed
Friday, Nov. 25: 11am to 8:30pm (regular hours)
Like last year, we will be closing on Wednesday before Thanksgiving after lunch, at 3PM, and will stay closed through Thanksgiving Day. We'll be open again normal hours on Friday, so after you've "Black Friday" shopped all Thursday night, you can come recover at the Rooster with a burger. And like every year, we invite you to come enjoy the Hollister Downtown Lights On Celebration on Saturday the 26th. It's an all-day event this year, but the parade will probably happen around 5:30. As in years past, we will have our scratch-made Ghirardelli Hot Chocolate to warm cold parade watchers' tummies. But don't wait, because we usually sell out.
See you there.
Running Rooster, 800 San Benito Street, Hollister CA, 831-634-0135