Businessmen/Entrepreneurs of NS! +k

PurpleReign

PurpleReign

Member
My parents and I teamed up nearly three years ago to open a restaurant here in Minnesota. We saw a hole in the market for fast food pasta so we started designing a business plan that would cater to the more health-conscious, fast casual dining crowd. After jumping through many hoops concerning business loans, architecture, health standards, food suppliers, cooking, branding, etc, Pasta Zola was opened last November in the food court of a mall in the western suburbs of Minneapolis.

1312918966Zola.jpg


Website Here:

http://http://www.pastazola.com/about.html

http://www.facebook.com/PastaZola

So far it's been a dream come true, however we're up against some corporate giants in this food court (Subway, Leean Chin, Little Tokyo, McDonalds, Sbarro) and we need some help! I was wondering if there were any NSers with marketing are advertising experience, even small business or restaurant experience. Here are some areas that I think we could use some advice in:

Social Media (may even employ someone qualified!)

Deals and Promotions (Groupon, LivingSocial, store coupons)

Advertising/Branding

Business Structure

What do you look for in a quality fast food dining experience?

Are there certain characteristics that you look for more than others?

What deals/coupons are you most likely to redeem and why?

For those of you who have eaten at Pasta Zola, or would just like to help a fellow NSer out with his dream, please feel free to like us on Urban Spoon (http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/29/1557660/restaurant/Twin-Cities/Pasta-Zola-Eden-Prairie) or Facebook. Also let me know if you have any questions about the restaurant or starting a small business in general, I know I've heard a lot of people express their business dreams on NS, you never no who can help. Thanks!

Sparknotes: My family and I started a restaurant, need help developing the brand and increasing overall customer satisfaction, +k for good business ideas and support on local internet review sites

 
Its funny because on the right side there is a google ad sponsoring google ads But my dad sells promotional products. PM me if you want to.
 
Make a deal to get some promotion that suits to your target market. Talk to local gyms such as lifetime fitness. Word of mouth is your cheapest and greatest tool
 
For those of you who are nearby, we are located in the Eden Praire Center mall about 20 minutes west of downtown Minneapolis. Mike-O, yeah it seems like Europe is a bit ahead of the game when it comes to pasta, any Europeans want to tell me why that is? Is it because you are more health conscious? Lack of better alternatives? We get a lot of foreign customers at the restaurant and they seem to love it, challenge is getting the Americans to give us a try vs. going over to the McDonalds as always.
 
It's really important to know your target market. Make sure you understand the lifestyle and behavior of that demographic and market accordingly. Since you have a competitive advantage over these "corporate giants" I would suggest leveraging that to encourage people to eat at your place.

Promote your health-conscious product in areas where people are actually concerned about being healthy. ie. health magazines, gyms, athletic stores - depending on your budget

You can even start small by talking to stores around the mall to help promote you,
 
Well, pasta isn't that much healthier than any other food due to the high amounts of quick carbs, but yeah, as my own example I eat pasta almost everyday. I don't know about that lack of a better alternative, the most delicious meals I've eaten have been different kinds of pasta.

I've always thought that pasta is big over there as well in restaurants and homes. Like it says on your site, first industrial pasta machines were made in the US etc.

Mickey D's in Finland at least had it's first ever year of loss in 2009 and it's been declining fast ever since. Mostly drunk people account for their revenue these days and that's only if there isn't a kebab or pizza joint nearby.
 
I would love to have that in my town.

My advice would be to put a lot of focus on search engine optimization. SEO, if you don't know, is optimizing how your website appears whenever someone searches on a web engine (i.e. google, yahoo, bing etc.). Its all about using certain tags so when people search for something, your restaurant is the one to pop up first. This is a decent beginners guide to SEO if you are interested.

http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo

Good luck! And COME TO NORTHEAST OHIO! I WANT ONE!
 
Looks like a pretty good idea, congrats on getting it together. It seems like the hardest part would be your location and targeting the health conscious crowd. Because if your really a health conscious eater you're not thinking of the mall food court to go for a meal.

So it seems like having more on site materials demonstrating why Pasta Zola would be a better choice over the traditional fast food around you, which would make the customers think twice about munching on another Super Size BigMac and choosing a healthier option.
 
In my town, there are several food places that have come and exploded. The one that is most recent and beneficial to your cause is Moe's southwest grill.

Two years ago, Taco Bell was the hot spot in our town. Pretty much all highschool students went there all the time. Their business was great, the food was cheap, it was pretty much the meet here on a Friday night and everyone decieds where to go that night while they pregame. When we heard Moe's is moving in right across the street, we all thought it was a lost soul, bound to be overtaken by the reigning champ, TBell.

Moe's opened. Everyone, EVERYONE who worked during the after school shifts was a highschool student, generally of the more attractive sort. Do you want some attractive young person serving you, or do you want granny shaking as she grills your onions. Right. Everyone wanted to go try the place out, but mainly just get stoned, see their friends, and munch out. With the first meal, it was easy to notice that not only was the quality great, the portions were wonderful, a main course with drink was under 8 dollars. The drink machine was in the open, inviting free refills and every meal came with a free basket of chips. There is a salsa bar just after the register with several choices on types of salsa. VARIETY, each is delicious. People tend to overlook or take for granted these things, but variety and free things are important. 8 dollars is somewhat expensive for a highschool student when a TBell meal is half as much, so theres Moe's Monday. Drink + any burrito for 6 dollars. People loved Moe's, and at this cheapened price, every Monday was a holiday. Coupons were abundant and in every newspaper in town for good deals and the famous buy one get one free. Thats a half price meal. You're still making money, but people feel like they're getting a deal. PEOPLE LIKE FEELING LIKE THEY'RE GETTING A DEAL. It might decrease the earnings on those couple of burritos, but the benefits are endless. Not only did that bring more money conscious people in, it brought more people in general. When you're with a group of 6 people and theres two coupons, you just raked in more money and the two non-coupon people are going to go regardless of if they have a coupon or not. This fills more seats and makes it look like this place is booming with business. If everyone is there, it must be good right? I wana go there. You just got business of the non-locals who make decisions based on first impressions. The thought that you're eating at a place that isn't money hungry makes you more likely to return during a normal, full price, no coupon day and think nothing of it.

I forgot to include this above and don't want to reread the whole paragraph to find where it makes the most sense. Portions: Make portions good. People like being overfed. When your single meal fills you up completely, you are happy. When you can't even finish your free chips and are forced to give them to a friend/throw them away, you feel like you just got a great deal. Those chips are decently healthy, fill up stomach space, taste good, and cost maybe 10 cents max per person with 2 cups or salsa. People LOVE having to throw away food they couldn't even finish. Thats a happy customer.

Atmosphere: YongYong's is another nearby Chinese buffet that has nearly everything listed above, makes a decent business, and has good food. Buffets = eat as much as you can right? They must be packed 24/7. Nah, you walk in, its kinda poorly lit, the decorations look outdated even for China. The drab Chinese music isn't catchy. The seating is just tables and chairs. The cups are Styrofoam. DON'T DO THIS. BE ATTRACTIVE. Make your place well lit. Play the local hip-hop radio stations so everyone can listen to the top 20 over and over, thats what the general population likes! Get halfway decent cups and lids. Its something small that always bothers me. I hate foam cups. They suck and pollute the environment. WARM COLORS on the walls. Not super bright, just some earthy reds and oranges to keep it bright and cozy. Chairs and tables? Yes and no. Everyone likes booths much more than tables, face it, but you still need tables for those big groups, wheelchair people and people who just don't like booths. Glass. Use it where it looks good. People like glass, it looks modern and cool.

Something sick: Do something to stand out a little. For Moe's, it was their drink machine. I'll admit, I drove across town with a few friends just to get a soda once. They have some new high-tech soda machine with a touch screen and something like 150+ flavors. You step up to that thing and feel like you're overwhelmed with choices. I've had someone spectate and comment on my choices of sodas as they stood in line behind me. It was the lols.

Moe's now has lines to, or frequently, out the door nearly EVERY night. They make bank.

To go. This is completely off of the top of my head and probably already implemented somewhere. Your building has no drive thru? Damn. Make a line and register specifically made for to-go orders. When you're in a rush, you don't want to wait in a line for people who are eating in when you want to be in and out ASAP. Put a big sign above the beginning of the line saying "For the road" or something. Will some smartasses still go in that line and then eat in? Sure, but the majority won't because most people believe it or not will respect basic rules.

Theres my help. Hope I helped a little.
 
I'm sorry, double post, and thats one big wall of text, but to sparknote it, its a complete analysis of a local, new and exploding fast food place.

I noticed that you are pushing the health factor of your place. Don't push it too hard, it will drive off the people who just want the food and aren't worried about health. Once you show its healthyness early on, it will stay in the people's minds and float from word of mouth from the first person to their spouses and family and make its point without being pushy.
 
Excellent post filled with intelligent ideas, thank you very much. Moe's sounds like a great joint and that kind of atmosphere is something we are truly trying to create at Pasta Zola. I'm glad that you mentioned portions, that's one area where I believe we blow away the corporate competition. We deliberately serve our orders in those take out looking boxes in my original post so that customers may take their leftovers home with them. The boxes are easy to carry and can be popped right into the microwave back at the house. So far our average order comes to about $6, but pasta combinations range from $4.25-$10+. I personally feel like that accomodates a wide range of price points, from high school students to folks looking for a solid meal with large portions, whaddya think?
I totally get what you mean about having something novel to a restaurant, like Moe's soda fountain, and that is something we lack at the moment. The restaurant in general has a very environmentally friendly vibe ie. recycled glass countertop, efficient energy and water use, and I think it goes well with the fresh food offerings...but it doesn't get people EXCITED to eat there. I was kinda thinking about devising some sort of food challenge, like the ones on Man vs. Food, where customers would have to finish a giant pasta and then get a tshirt and their picture on the wall or something like that.
Couple other questions come to mind as well...We are currently located in a food court, but we are hoping to open a second location as a stand-alone store. This would allow us a lot more creative freedom in the design of the space as well as the functionality of the service. What do people like to see in a fast casual setting?
Are there any locations that might be better suited for our restaurant? Like near what kind of businesses or other restaurants?
 
Also, what are everyone's thoughts on food trucks? Or restaurant could easily be put on wheels and take to the road, does anyone have any good experiences/stories involving food trucks??
+k if you keep liking us on Urban Spoon! Link in original post! Thanks NS!
 
youre in a mall. people arent going to go out of their way to come eat at your place. most food court eating decisions are spur of the moment based one what looks good. make sure to be giving out free samples and look presentable. i am much more likely to choose your restaurant in a food court if it looks clean, bright, and the workers look happy. nothings worse than a grimy ass piece of pizza from some miserable bitch in the food court.
 
The key to success in a food court is to push free samples to everyone who walks by, but make it something warm and delicious. People walk by a little asian girl in my local mall as she barks "Free sample?!" and its this amazing chicken that makes you right away be like damn, I want this. It works, lots.
 
Well I defiantly agree with one of the posts above about location. We have something similar at my college and the place is stupid packed because other choices at my school consist of fried food garbage. If this mall has a higher class or younger person clientele than it will work. If its just a normal mall with a bunch of mall rats it might not.

I feel like this could take off in a metropolitan area where business people come out of work. They are always looking for a quick bite so they can pack as much as they can into their break. The problem is finding a healthier solution in that time.

 
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