Whether you are visiting a fast food restaurant that specializes in seafood, chicken or burgers the odds are pretty great that they will serve french fries. French fries are a universal side and a great way to add in fun promos. They come in many different shapes with different types of seasoning. Not only are these a staple to fast food restaurants but many casual dining restaurants offer them as well. They never go out of style and are a comfort food to many, so here are some ways to jazz them up in the new year and boost your sales!
Toppings
You have heard the saying, if it’s not broken don’t fix it, but what if you could keep the same basic idea and just add a twist to get people talking and coming through your doors. Many fast food restaurants are jazzing up the standard fry by adding cheese, chili cheese, bacon bits, parmesan with aioli, buffalo chicken, brisket fries with cheese and jalapenos, etc. Basically, if you can think of it, you can add it to french fries. Many quick service restaurants have added it to their menu including Sonic, Whataburger and Dairy Queen and we will more than likely see more of this popular dish. Instead of just offering it as a side, you can now offer it as an appetizer when you begin adding on all the fixings.
Options
There are so many different types of french fries to choose from, but your restaurant does not have to settle for only one. It is not uncommon for restaurants to offer options such as regular fries or sweet potato fries. This also plays into the health movement and people trying to choose the better option when eating out. Besides the sweet potato, you can choose between spicy fries, waffle fries, wedges, crinkle cut, steak and a few others! Oftentimes, restaurants can use this as an opportunity to upcharge. You can offer the basic french fries for one price but then upcharge if they want to substitute for sweet potato fries or battered fries.
LTO’s
Fries are such an easy LTO to sprinkle into your menu and boost profits. With the endless different ways you can serve them, there are so many opportunities to bring in new people and try new dishes with ingredients that you probably have on hand. You can run a promo with a few loaded fry options and see which one has the highest sales to consider adding to your permanent menu. Fries are not super costly so you can offer them for free as part of your rewards system. After they have earned a certain number of points, they can receive free fries!
Even when prices are soaring and people try not to dine out as often, fries remain a food that will continue to be ordered time and time again and continue to provide a profit to restaurants. Making fries at home is just not as good as ordering from your favorite restaurant or fast food place. Give the people what they want. Pretty please, with chili cheese on top!
