Same Great Food, New Lower Prices

Yes, that's right. Running Rooster is lowering prices on all of the hot dinner items. Same food, no compromises, no reductions in quality, just in price. All of the hot dinners (Wood Roasted Chicken, BBQ Baby Back Ribs, and Grilled USDA Choice Tri-Tip) have come down. As an example, the family chicken meal for four, formerly $24.99, is now just $19.99. The family Tri-Tip meal, formerly $37.99, is now $31.99.

Why would an otherwise sane individual attempt this in a business with notoriously elusive profitability and thin margins? At a time when food prices (including what we pay for goods) are otherwise in an inflationary spiral upward?

Let me speak plainly. Brenda and I know from observation and from conversation that most Rooster fans fall into one of two groups. There are some with the means to eat a Running Rooster dinner whenever the mood strikes. They are our most frequent and loyal customers, and we thank them sincerely for their patronage. And there are others who love the food but have to watch the budget. For them, Running Rooster is a bit of a splurge. They might have kids, or be on a retirement income, whatever the case may be. Quite honestly, these are the people we have to serve better.

It goes back to our mission statement. If you haven't read it, please take a look (it's short). "Bringing dinner back home" means making good quality food accessible to people who need it most. Having dinner together as a family should be a regular school night activity, not a special event. By lowering our prices, we hope that everyone will more often be able to enjoy this simple act: sit down, eat a good meal, and talk to each other.

Now, we aren't magicians. Food, and the labor to prepare it, cost money. Not compromising on quality means not cutting corners on ingredients or technique. So where have we found the savings? Partially, it comes from careful purchasing. Squeezing an extra penny a pound here, saving 10 cents a box there. As we have grown, so has our negotiating ability on some items.

Partially, it comes from changing a few portion sizes. Slightly smaller containers of mashed potatoes and corn, for instance. We're aren't trying to hide this from anyone. On the contrary, so many of our customers are families with kids, and we heard repeatedly that many of you would prefer to buy smaller quantities of food at smaller prices. Some like leftovers, but many would rather pay less to begin with. So by making this change, we are trying to fit our portions and our prices more closely to people's budgets and needs. Ounce for ounce, our mashed potatoes cost the same as before. Only now, we offer 6 ounces per person (3/4 cup) at $2.25 instead of 8 ounces (1 cup) at $2.99. If you need more, you can get more, no price penalty.

Lastly, this is partially a gamble on our part. Our wood-roasted chicken, formerly $9.99, now $7.99, is no smaller and no cheaper for us to buy or prepare. But we think at $7.99 we'll sell more of them. If our lower prices allow some of you to pick up dinner from us a little more often, then we'll come out OK in the end.

If you've been reading this newsletter any length of time, you know that Running Rooster is a voyage of discovery for Brenda and I. Discovering what we are capable of, discovering what our customers want, and finding the intersection of those two. It's a great quest, our Holy Grail if you will. We're happy to have you on it with us.

Need to Feed a Crowd? Get a Full Pan of Lasagna.

With the holidays approaching, we know that the social season is kicking in. More parties and more potlucks. Whether you're the host or guest, a great option is a pan of our delicious and popular Traditional Lasagna. We now offer 10" by 12" pans of lasagna (warm, ready-to-heat, or ready-to-bake, your choice) that you can pick up at the store with 24 hours' notice. This is exactly the same lasagna we've been selling for over 2 years now. One pan costs $55.00 and will feed 12 to 15 people. That's as low as $3.66 per person! How're you going to beat that? Our lasagna, made with fresh herbs, plenty of meat and real cheese, is hearty and satisfying, especially with the approach of colder and damper weather. Just call the store (634-0135) if you need one.

Other New Food Items: Garlic Bread and Pecan Crunchers

If you've been in for dinner this week, your nose was doubtlessly assaulted by the aroma of garlic, parmesan, and french bread as we've been baking up samples of our newest menu addition: fresh-baked Crusty Garlic Bread with parmesan and oregano. We make it right in the store using the same delicious Crusty French Bread that everyone loves. It's just $3.25 for a generous slab and it goes great with the lasagna, tri-tip, or chicken. Come on in, we'll gladly give you a taste.

Also available (starting Thursday) are our new Pecan Crunchers. Some of you got a taste of these when we had samples out a couple weeks ago. The Pecan Cruncher is a lightly candied pecan with a dusting of a special secret ingredient. They are positively addictive, and nuts make a great snack to boot. You can get a 4 ounce bag at the introductory price of just $2.99. We'll have samples for your to try. Pop one in your purse or the car for those occasional munchies.

And coming soon, we'll be adding Cinnamon Pecan Crunchers. Kids really love these as a lunchbox treat.

Second annual habitat harvest ride

Last year Running Rooster was honored to provide lunch to a wonderful group of dedicated (for the day, at least) cowboys and gals. Habitat for Humanity San Benito County, which works to provide affordable housing right here in our community, sponsored its first Habitat Harvest Ride and everyone, even those with less-well-conditioned posteriors, had a great time. Lunch was held at a gorgeous location on the Holthouse Ranch. You can see a video from last year's ride at the HFH SBC website.

The Harvest Ride is a wonderful opportunity to experience our area as it used to be, when everyone farmed or ranched, and people came together in the fall to celebrate the land's bounty. This year's ride will be on October 21st, and we will again be providing lunch at the halfway point. The ride is going to turn into a great local tradition I can tell, even if they did make me swear not to do my Festus impersonation ever again.

We hope you can join the ride this year and help the local HFH chapter raise the money it needs to begin building projects here in our county. If you don't have a horse, maybe someone will loan you one. (I don't think you can simply go with two empty coconut shells). Signup forms are available in the store. Also, we are donating a portion of the proceeds from sales of our Trail-Ride Tri-Tip sandwich to the cause, so come on down for lunch and pick up a signup form.

October Menu Calendars

The fates and UPS willing, we should have October's calendars in the store by Wednesday evening. If you'd rather grab a copy off the web, you can download and print the PDF file from our website.

Besides the lower prices, we're tweaking a few other things on the menu starting this month. For one, the Poached Wild Salmon will be a regular daily menu item (chilled) starting Thursday. Eventually, we'll have a selection of sauces you can choose from for your salmon. For another, the Chicken Enchiladas are being moved to the rotation and will take their turn with the other rotating entrees rather than running every other week as we have been doing. And finally, Chicken Pot Pies will be a frequent (not quite daily) guest on the menu, meaning we'll make them as frequently as time allows. Feel free to call and reserve one.

Saturday Lunch Deals - $1 Off Day

OK, we've been at this 'open on Saturday' thing for a while now, and it seems that finding customers in downtown Hollister on Saturday is harder than locating a shrubbery in medieval England. So we're going to throw a little incentive out there and see if we can't coax a few of you out of your homes. Starting this weekend, we're going to take $1.00 off all sandwiches and burgers on Saturdays. If you commute out of town during the week, then Saturday is your chance to come down and get the best burger in Hollister, or try any of our sandwiches and salads. You'll see why our lunches have gotten so popular (at least, Monday to Friday). And moms, don't forget that we have the train table and a new kids lunch menu with inexpensive but tasty options for the little ones. We're open 11 to 3.

Calling All Moms (or Dads!) - We're Hiring Again

Are you looking for a part-time job at a great friendly place? We have a few more shifts to fill at the store, both lunch and dinner, and we think one of you or one of your friends might be perfect for the job. We need someone who is friendly, team-oriented, and attentive to detail. No particular experience required, but if you know how to work a cash register, all the better. Hours are flexible - work during the day when the kids are in school, or in the evening after your spouse comes home.

With our application for beer and wine sales, we do need to hire more persons over 21, so no high-schoolers this time around, sorry. Our ideal candidate would be someone who is just like our customers. So we thought, "why not one of our customers?"

If you're interested, come into the store and ask for Brenda.

Customer Comment:

Date: 09/28/2006
Time: 10:31 AM

Jim and Brenda, I stopped by the store last night to see what was cooking. I decided to try your linguini with clams in a cream sauce. It was absolutely divine. My wife and I were in heaven. My only complaint is that your recipe is better than mine, I guess I will try to copy it. Better yet, I will just come back in and pick up some more. That is much easier than cooking it myself. Don't tell my wife though, I am going to pretend I cooked it and get all the glory. Thank you, Ken (the recipe thief)

Upcoming Dinner Menu

You can always see our menu by checking our website menu pages, or by downloading and printing our monthly menu, or by getting a copy of the monthly menu at the store. Here are your choices for the next couple of weeks:

Regular Menu Choices:

Hot Daily: Wood-Roasted Garlic Rosemary Chicken, Memphis BBQ Baby Back Ribs, Marinated Grilled Tri-Tip (all available a la carte or as a dinner combo);
Chilled Daily: Old-fashioned Lasagna, fresh-made Pesto, Poached Wild Salmon, Dinner Salads (Chicken Walnut, Caesar, Cobb, and Shrimp Louie) and sometimes Chicken Pot Pie;
Fridays and Saturdays: 1/2 pound Gourmet Hamburgers served fresh from the grill.

Daily Menu Specials:

This Week: Roast Pork Loin;
Next Week: Mel's Diner Meatloaf, Chicken Enchiladas.

Subscribers Discount

To my knowledge, only one person got last month's free dessert trivia question right. The answer was the movie "Network", with Peter Finch. Great flick very much worth seeing, more prescient now than when it was made.

But enough about the past. Let's talk about the future. Specifically Halloween. I love to decorate the house and spook the little kiddies. All those crazy folks on Severinsen, those are my kind of people. Our kids want to dress as TV characters. Pokemon and whatnot. In my day, you were a ghost, monster, or a witch. Unless you were a teenager, in which case you were allowed to just smear shoe polish on your face as a fake beard and go as a "hobo".

Of course, it didn't use to be all candy and glamour for witches. The old times were hard for wiccans. Just because you are fit and trim and light as a duck, they burn you for it. Or someone sticks a carrot on your nose and tries to build a bridge out of you. "What is this nonsense" you say? Shrubbery? Coconut shells? Well, devotees of Monty Python will recognize these references from "Holy Grail". And they won't have any trouble remembering that this weeks discount phrase is "She turned me into a newt!" Remember to use this phrase for a 10% discount on every order at Running Rooster (including lunch).

And a free dessert to anyone who knows the airspeed of an unladen European swallow. Just kidding. To anyone who knows Sir Launcelot's favorite color. (Yes, that's an exceedingly obscure trivia question, but Python fans are seriously fanatical, and I guarantee someone will know this from memory. Sad, really. I'm one of them.)

_______________________________

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.