Should Your Restaurant Consider All-Day Breakfast?

Americans love breakfast food. Whether it’s a quick bagel or a full breakfast, we’ll opt for it around the clock. According to the National Restaurant Association’s 2015 Restaurant Industry Forecast, 72 percent of us say that we’d order breakfast items throughout the day if offered. But there are pros and cons to consider before adding breakfast items to your menu.

The Pros.

It’s easy. Most breakfast dishes don’t require a high level of expertise to execute. You can add them to your menu without adding another highly experienced chef to your payroll.

It’s cheap. Breakfast is usually carb heavy, keeping food costs low and profits high. Think about what goes into typical breakfast foods: Usually some combination of butter, flour and eggs – filling but not expensive.

There’s a demand. As stated above, nearly two thirds of adults enjoy breakfast any time. Think also about people on shift work. Traditionally, we think about breakfast during normal hours (6 am to 10 am), but for someone who is working on a second or third-shift schedule, their breakfast time can differ from that traditional window. Not offering breakfast to those customers could be a missed revenue opportunity.

The Cons.

It may not take off. There’s no way of telling if people will turn to your particular restaurant for breakfast. Test the changes and track the results before changing your menu.

It requires more space. If you are running breakfast at the same time as dinner or lunch, you’ll need more space to prep and cook. A larger menu simply requires a wider range of product which can lead to needing additional space.

You may need more staff. Additional kitchen staff may be required to augment existing workers. If you believe demand could extend into late night, you could need to add a shift. It wouldn’t have to be a highly experienced chef, but there could be the need for more kitchen staff. Make sure to balance those potential revenues and expenses.

More demand on front of house. A bigger menu means more choices, more to remember. For servers who don’t work during your traditional breakfast serving times, there may be an initial learning curve about understanding all of your restaurant’s product offerings.

Is it worth the risk of adding staff, buying more product and printing new menus to potentially capture this market? Assess your business and the local market to find out. Check out what competitors are doing. Ask servers to let you know what customers are asking for.

Adopting new ideas can be risky, but hiring doesn’t have to be. By working with the restaurant recruitment experts at Horizon Hospitality, you can get the high level talent you need to keep your restaurant running efficiently and profitably. Contact our restaurant executive search firm today to learn more or begin your search.

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