National: Recession Obsession
In these lean times, almost any expense can be hard to justify, especially spending more than necessary on food. This, obviously, makes it hard for restaurants that sell anything fancier than a Big Mac to stay in business.
So what's a struggling eatery to do? Clearly, the answer is to practically give the food away and hope things get better. We've seen a couple reports lately of restaurants offering real, legitimate, non-big-mac meals for less than $1. This keeps customers walking through your door, and, hopefully, buying more expensive stuff once they have money again.
You may have noticed in yesterday's FYI the item about the Spanish restaurant offering an "anti-crisis" lunch for one euro. There was also an item on Marketplace the other day about the Four Crosses pub, outside Birmingham, England, where they're offering full pub meals for a pound, a deal that instantly brought in customers by the hundreds.
The manager is happy. He says his booze sales are up five-fold since he introduced the credit crunch menu. Many similar promotions are expected around Britain in the coming months.
We've heard of fewer such offers stateside (the one in the photo notwithstanding). Ironically, New York City's Gray's Papaya chain recently raised the price on their ever-popular recession special--two dogs and a drink. Of course, they don't serve booze, a luxury on which few seem hard-pressed to splurge when the going gets tough.
Spanish restaurant launches 'anti-crisis' lunch menu for one euro [China Daily]
British economy shrinking fast [Marketplace]
Gray's Papaya [MenuPages]
Photo: Via Reverend Andy/flickr]
