Have you ever wondered why two locations of the same restaurant brand can have different menus? The changes may be subtle – like, a few smaller items might not be available in all locations. It could also be more noticeable, too – a larger menu item such as a pizza is available in one location – but not in another.
The truth is, there are a few reasons why you might not find your favorite menu items at all locations. We’ll dig into three of the main ones in this blog post.
1. The Demand Just Isn’t There
Restaurants carefully track what sells, and what doesn’t sell, at each location. If a menu item isn’t popular at a particular location, don’t be surprised if that item gets removed from the menu. The cost associated with maintaining a low-selling menu item can be more expensive than any profit generated from selling the item. And, with margins being slim on many menus these days, it makes business sense to simply take an item off the menu and hope fans of the item like the brand enough to find a substitute when they are at that location.
2. The Location Won’t Allow It
When a restaurant enters into a retail location like a mall food court, the owners of the mall must be very careful about what brands are allowed to lease space. Mall owners must also be very careful about what menu items are offered as well.
If a food court has an established pizza brand tenant, for example, a new brand that sells a variety of items, including pizza, may be asked to not sell pizza in the food court to keep the other tenant happy. Food court space can be very competitive, so many brands are willing to comply with these kinds of limitations in order to get into a space.
This happens more than you may think as retail establishments like malls want to keep their food and beverage tenants very happy – because they drive a lot of traffic.
3. The Location Won’t Allow For It
This sounds a lot like #2 but it’s slightly different. When a brand wants to lease space in a retail environment (like a food court, or bus terminal), the size and shape of the space is usually already decided. If the space is limited, a brand may not be able to fit all of the equipment needed for a full menu.
If this is the case, the restaurant must decide what equipment gets installed – and what doesn’t. Pizza ovens, for example, can be very large and might not fit into a smaller space where a large grill, salad bar, refrigerators and other pieces of restaurant equipment are more important. There are also fire regulations that may limit what can and cannot be installed in certain areas.
So, the next time you walk into a new location of your favorite brand, take a good look at the menu and see what is, and isn’t, there. And then, if it’s an open concept, look at the kitchen space and see if there’s any space for the equipment needed to cook the missing menu items. That may be a clue that there’s just not enough space for all the equipment needed. There could be other reasons too, but just know that it’s almost always done for a reason – and it’s not always the restaurant’s choice.
