September 13, 2005   (Look for the subscribers-only discount!)

Hello again, folks, this is Jim (the Cook) with your latest Rooster News.

A Time Of Change (Good Ones!)

We've been busy as beavers here at Running Rooster, not just cooking chickens but working on making some improvements to the business based upon all the feedback we got from the August Rooster News plus the daily store comments and emails.  There's even a new look for these Rooster News postings.  We'll cover each one separately below.

Monthly menus Are back

We realize that we’ve sent out quite a few Rooster News Flashes over the last two weeks due to the number of menu additions and specials we are running.  The good news is we are now moving back to providing you with a monthly menu so you can see in advance when your favorite dish (or dishes) will be available.  You can pick up a copy or two of September menu’s at the store (or download and print copies from here), then post them on your fridge (and at the office, and give one to your neighbor, you get the idea).

Back to school fundraisers

Summer is officially over as the kids all started back in school last week.  No more sleeping in.  Now it’s the flurry of lunch packing, backpack grabbing, homework finishing and hustling to after school activities time.  Armed with your new monthly calendars - hopefully Running Rooster dinners can help easy some of the strain.  We also are happy to kick-off the year with our fundraising efforts to support the local schools.  Fundraising efforts are now conducted in one-week blocks – so take a look on the monthly menu to see when your school or organization is featured.  Then just mention your school’s name when you’re at the store that week and 10% of that sale will go to your school.  No need to pre-order (unless you want home delivery).  The next two weeks' schools are:  Ladd Lane (this week), Sunnyslope (next week) and Marguerite Maze (week of Sept. 26).

Note:  Please be aware that the 10% School Fundraiser credit can only be applied on regularly priced dinners.  The Doorhanger discount and other coupons make the purchase ineligible.

Changes in packaging and flexible pricing

From the survey questions we asked a few weeks ago, we are going to change the way we bundle our meals and move towards a simpler pricing method.  Over the next week, we will stop selling meals packaged as “two-person” or “family” with the sides included and will switch instead to carrying a single size of each item.  This will allow more flexibility in how you build your meal.  The reason for this is because customer feedback told us that what was just right for two people in one case, might feed four in another, and barely one person in yet another case.  So we allow the customer to decide how much they need to buy.

You can still walk out the door with a complete dinner as we’ll still offer the all the same vegetable sides, bread and desserts, however now you can choose how much you need based more on your family's individual needs and portion sizes.  This way you can get as many sides as you need and choose two different entrees if you want etc.

Home delivery update

Based on peak times for delivery demand, we are condensing our delivery time to one delivery run each day from 5:00 to 6:00, Monday-Saturday.  If you’d like a Running Rooster meal brought right to your door, all you have to do is call our store at 634-0135 by 4:45pm.  Our delivery fee is still just $4.25 despite rising gas prices, but no tipping the driver - seriously!

Our biggest Rooster thank you

On August 30th, we sent out a Rooster News Flash asking people to help with the Hurricane relief efforts.  Much to our happiness and your credit, you all responded immediately and generously.  We sold out all the Gumbo all three days, and you donated another $250 to boot for a total of almost $800.  Every little bit helps and the local Red Cross chapter is happy for the donations so Brenda and I just want to say thank you for your support.

Here is our menu for the weeks of September 11th and September 18th.  You can see these menus and descriptions of each item on our Current Menu page.

SUN:  11	MON:  12	TUE:  13	WED:  14	THU:  15	FRI:  16	SAT:  17
	Wood Roasted Garlic Rosemary Chicken
Ladd Lane	Memphis BBQ Back Ribs
Fundraising	Old Fashioned Lasagna
Week	Penne Pasta with Italian Sausage			Chicken and Dumplings (new!)
		American Farmhouse Pot Roast			Picasso Pizza
			Braised Lamb Shanks

SUN:  18	MON:  19	TUE:  20	WED:  21	THU:  22	FRI:  23	SAT:  24
						Closed for private function
	Wood Roasted Garlic Rosemary Chicken
Sunnyslope	Memphis BBQ Back Ribs
Fundraising	Old Fashioned Lasagna
Week	Mel's Diner Meatloaf			Tex Mex Steak Fajitas
		Joe's Shrimp Louie Salad (new!)			Picasso Pizza
			New Orleans Red Beans & Rice

Note:  All menu items may be subject to substitution or selling out, depending upon our suppliers, our customers' appetites, and the whims of Jim (The Cook).

Have you tried the new desserts?

I don't know if many of you have noticed yet, but we have secretly replaced our usual Cheesecake with a new house-made one.  It is creamier and a little bit lighter, not so heavy.  Also, our new home-made Apple Pie seems to be getting good reviews.  Finally, we have settled on a Chocolate Decadence recipe that really seems to please.  Make sure you try one of these new desserts and let us know what you think.

Events

And finally, we would like to thank everyone who paid their hard-earned money and came out to the Kinship Center Wine and Food fund raiser this past Saturday.  It was our first time there and it was a truly wonderful event (very well run, by the way).  So many people came up to our table to sample our house-smoked turkey and tell us how much they enjoyed their Running Rooster dinners.  We had great fun.

Mailing List Note:
You received this email because you either added yourself to the Running Rooster mail list on our Rooster News page, or you indicated that you wished to be added to the mail list via some other format, such as at the store. To be removed from the Running Rooster mail list, simply reply to this email with the subject line “REMOVE”. Please allow up to 3 days for removal, as I do it manually. After all, I cook chickens for a living.  This tech stuff is a pain.