Five years ago, I decided to take a big risk and follow my life-long dream of opening a restaurant. I wanted it to specialize in the home cooked, southern comfort food my momma always made for me as a child. After a large investment of time, energy, and money, Mamma’s Kitchen finally opened six months later. I could not believe it, but it was an immediate and unexpected success! We were barely able to keep up with the influx of new customers and the hordes of first-timers who were fast becoming regulars. Although I was overjoyed with the success of the restaurant and the wonderful feedback I was receiving from patrons, a few months after opening the place I wanted to try something new.

I thought it would be fun to change up the menu every week by offering weekly specials. Here is where I ran into an unexpected challenge. When I first began offering weekly specials, I simply wrote the specials on a chalkboard that hung on the wall. The problem was nobody bothered to look up at the board and most customers were unable to see it from where they were seated. It was a complete failure! Next, I tried including paper inserts inside the regular menu we pass out to each customer upon seating. I assumed this was the method used by most restaurants so I thought it was worth a try. Little did I know how ineffective it would be! Since the specials were printed on paper, they were often torn, spilled upon, ripped, crumpled up, or simply thrown away by accident. This means we were passing out a new insert for almost every patron that came in the door! Not only was I wasting paper, I was wasting money. The weekly printing costs became exorbitant and I couldn’t keep it up. There had to be a better way to handle it.

After spending weeks of exploring different marketing options, I decided to look online to see if anything jumped out at me, and right away I found great tabletop sign holders. They were inexpensive, easy to use, and overall, seemed like the perfect solution. Now that I have started using them to display my menu specials, I am noticing the benefits they bring to my restaurant every day. First, using sign holders to feature my menu specials make it much easier to replace the special each week – all I have to do is change the paper inserts. The cost is minimal and I am able to try out am new designs and layouts all the time. I’ve noticed the sign holders look great with bright colors and lots of pictures – and people are actually reading them and trying new options on our menu! I have had the same gentleman come in for lunch every Wednesday for six-months and order a vegetable potpie every time. Now he orders a new special whenever he comes in, and he is here three or more times a week.

Regular customers look forward to sitting down and reading what is new for them to try, and I have had several people comment on how the new sign-holders do a nice job of displaying our specials. One regular patron said, “Great idea! I would have never tried your roast beef sandwich if it wasn’t for that mouth-watering picture.”

What is more, these sign holders have six sides to them, allowing me to fit everything I need to without a problem – so I can include several different “specials.” It really works out for my customers and me – they enjoy more options, and I enjoy more sales. Occasionally I notice a customer will pull out the paper, and write a message about how great the food is. I love it! It makes me happy to see these little notes and it makes other customers confident in what to order. Overall, I am so grateful for having discovered this way to promote the delicious weekly specials at Mamma’s Kitchen.

Without these sign-holders, I don’t think I would be experiencing the recent boost in business!