If your restaurant is looking to expand its reach and bring in new customers, there’s no better way to do so than by hosting a tasting event! Restaurant tasting events are a great marketing tool that often gets overlooked when you’re looking for ways to get the word out about your restaurant. But tasting events can be creative, effective, and best of all, FUN!
Timing for Tasting Events
We recommend hosting tasting events at times that don’t coincide with lunch or dinner rush periods, such as in the afternoon. Weekends are also a great time to host tasting events because many people will be out of work for the weekend and looking for something fun to do. A tasting event is one part meal and one part entertainment event, so make sure you market the event as a great time for people to hang out and catch up with friends. If you’re worried that your event will draw in too many people for your venue to handle, consider having a limited number of tickets available or having guests call ahead for reservations.
Tasting Event Themes
One of the best ways to go about hosting a tasting event is to work around a theme. The easiest thing to do is to choose a theme based on the season you’re currently in, such as a summer- or autumn-themed tasting event. This will allow you to best incorporate locally-grown seasonal ingredients, which in turn can help draw in more interested customers. But you can be as creative as you’d like with your theme for your restaurant tasting event!
Be Creative with Offerings at Tasting Events
Tasting events are a great time for your kitchen staff to try out new dishes on a smaller group of customers. You can find out what people like and dislike and make alterations accordingly without having to go through the process of buying a large quantity of necessary ingredients and adding the dishes to your everyday menu, only to find out that your guests would prefer some changes.
Take Suggestions!
One of the best things about restaurant tasting events is that they give you a chance to get feedback and suggestions from guests. Consider leaving out a basket for comment cards–that way, you’ll have easy access to these ideas later when you go to work on developing new dishes and menu items!
Give Your Guests a Reason to Return!
Okay, so you’ve hosted your tasting event–now what? You need to give your guests a reason to come back to your restaurant! We recommend giving your guests a coupon or discount card, and you can even consider giving them one for a friend, as well–this way they’ll be even more likely to spread the word about your great offerings, and even more new patrons will find your restaurant! We hope that our tips were helpful to you as you work on developing your restaurant’s tasting event!
