Your restaurant (or grill bar) is one of the most profitable zones of your golf club. After spending a couple of hours on the course, who is not hungry? Not to mention having a nice lunch with fellow players, or having some beer.
Even when the traditional dishes you serve have done well so far, your clients are evolving in their taste for different food and flavors, so your golf clubhouse needs to keep up with that changes to provide the best dining experience. Rather than sell just burgers and fries, your food options must provide another reason to spend a day at the course.
So take a look at these great options to extend your food service and tell us if you cannot offer the same to your hungry customers.
Supply your members with healthy options
Your clients are becoming more health-conscious, so they will need more than junk food. If you provide them with healthy options (not only salads but meals prepared with natural, unprocessed, wholesome ingredients) you will probably get some extra sales from people who would have otherwise skipped your clubhouse.
Take special needs into account
Some diets (vegetarianism, vegan, paleo, keto, and others because of food intolerances) require special ingredients and procedures to be prepared. There is no need to devote the entire menu to those requirements, but you should have options that those clients can have rather than the traditional menu.
Dishes like gluten-free pizza with cauliflower crust, hamburgers with a lettuce wrap bun, mashed cauliflower, or squash spaghetti would not crush your food ingredient budget and will provide options to your customers.
A golfers breakfast on the go
Most of the golf sessions start early in the morning. So, why not provide a breakfast before the players hit the links? Some of them would like to sit down in the restaurant, but many would prefer to have takeout breakfasts and get to the tee box. For them, you can prepare breakfast sandwiches with a variety of egg styles, for instance. During the week, you can offer only this kind of breakfast, opening the restaurant just on Saturday and Sunday.
Use only sustainable and local ingredients
As people care about the quality of the ingredients, you can make an alliance to support local suppliers and buy the ingredients from them. You will get fresher quality products, as well as the prestige of the brand as a supporter of the local economy. That includes, of course, beers and wines.
Offer dishes to share
Rather than a whole meal, some customers just want a quick snack that they can share with their colleagues. In the Spanish spirit of tapas, you can implement the same for your restaurant or grill bar. Another option is the kind of plates that comes with more than one ration (paellas, for example) that allows you to save effort and ingredients.
Offer beverages in “tasting” formats
Beverage tastings serve fewer quantities of a given drink, instead of one large one. This serving style encourages your customers to try out a variety of tastes, rather than an entire portion. For this kind of serving, use only high-quality drinks: you can charge a large tap, and give at the same time to your clients the opportunity to try something new.
Expand your cuisine flavor
Golf used to serve traditional American or continental dishes. But, why do not try out something new? You can include thematic days of dishes from around the world, using almost the same ingredients you already have at your disposal. People are now showing a preference for African, Indian, and Middle Eastern food: even if you are not willing to compromise your own cuisine in this endeavor, you can use food delivery through third-party like Uber Eats or GrubHub.
Ok, let’s get greasy
Even if you are trying to offer healthy options to your clients, it does not mean that some of your members prefer some junk food in their lives as a treat. Good-old burgers, doughnuts, or homemade ice cream are dishes that you could include on your menu for people who want to break their food habits.
Lowering the food waste
It is impossible to have a zero-waste food operation. However, you can manage your food waste in a way that helps those in need. Put your creative mind into it. For instance, a lot of fruit is wasted nowadays just because they don’t look pristine and perfect to the eye of the consumer, even when it is perfectly usable and eatable. Those no-so-perfect fruits can be the material for natural juices, fruit salads, and more.
Increase the professionalism of your service staff
Make sure that each member of your staff is courteous, efficient, and friendly, knows about every item on your menu, and is trained on the best food safety practices. You need to put in place a training program for new and existing employees to deliver the same great service to every guest, every time.
Review and expand your drink menu
Golfers from the younger generations are interested in different drinks and trying out new cocktails. Therefore, you will need a well-trained barman to sell these drinks to guests.
Run a fresh juice bar
Do you remember those no-so-good-looking fruits we talk earlier? Well, if you can find a local and stable source of fresh fruit (maybe not too good to the eye but in good conditions), you can add to your sources of income a fresh juice and smoothies bar.
This facility provides quick, healthy alternatives to snacks and can be also taken anywhere. Also, you can expand your offers and offer more vegetable-based options.
Serve “street food”
Street food includes different meals from around the world, like Mexican tacos or Belgian Waffles, but also hot dogs. This kind of option is low-cost and has a high-profit margin so why not giving to your golfers an easy meal that they already love?
Offer pre-made meals for golfers on the go
If you think that sandwiches are enough for golfers in a hurry, think again. A more efficient and profitable way to feed your customers is pre-made meals, stored in recyclable containers and displayed near the counter. That will give golfers the option to quickly grab some food before they’re round: chicken wraps, tempeh bowls, veggie bowls, and yes, fresh sandwiches are some valuable and healthy options.
We hope that these ideas to serve food in a different way will help you to make your cuisine more profitable. Some of them require some investment, but others can be applied right away.
