Which Wich bag system
One Fat Frog loves eating at restaurants, perhaps even a bit too much, at least according to our financial advisers and nutritionists. So we Froggers are always up for trying a new restaurant. Even for us, however, there are a lot of restaurants that we have never tried and never well. It’s not because we don’t want to eat there; it’s simply because there are so many restaurants out t here and we already have a few hundred favorites. That is the dilemma faced by restaurant entrepreneurs. You have a lot of competition. So how do you stand out amongst the other restaurants?
Many first time restaurant owners will say that they will stand out “by having the best food.” That certainly helps, but there are a lot of restaurants trying the same thing and most of them have good food. If you and your competitors all have great food, how are you going to stand out? One way to stand out is to be unique.
I’m thinking about this because I ate at Which Wich today for lunch, where I had a great Philly cheesesteak. Which Wich is a member of one of the most crowded low-priced restaurant types: the sub and sandwich shop. You have places like Subway that make money off of having the cheapest sandwiches and you have higher priced places like Firehouse Subs saying you should eat there because they have better ingredients. So how did I choose Which Wich for lunch? Keep in mind that within a 2 mile radius I have access to Subway, Publix, Firehouse Subs, Quiznos Sub, Jersey Mike’s Subs, and Blimpie Subs.
So why did I eat at Which Wich? For starters, they are a great client of One Fat Frog and we’re proud of the great business they are doing down the street. Another reason is they are unique. When you walk into a Which Wich, you’re greeted with a wall of different numbered bags. Each bag is for a different type of food that goes in your sandwich. For example, Bag #1 is all of their turkey sandwiches and Bag #3 is all of their beef sandwiches. You then grab a bag, choose a sandwich from that category, and take a Sharpie to mark all of your preferences, such as hot or cold, white or wheat bread, the type of sauces and seasonings you want, your toppings, and more. You then bring the bag to the cashier, who takes your order and then hangs your bag on the order line.
How does this change the taste of the sandwich? It doesn’t (though the sandwich tasted great), but it makes Which Wich stand out as a unique restaurant. I remembered my first time eating there and it’s likely that I’ll go there again because the restaurant is memorable.
“What’ll ya have?”
There are a lot of unique things you can do to make your restaurant memorable. One of my favorite restaurants in Atlanta is The Varsity, which is a burger joint similar to Five Guys. What makes it unique is that the cashiers and cooks all yell at you and are super impatient. It’s a lot like the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld. When you get to the cashier, you’re quickly asked “what’ll ya have” before you have time to look at the menu. You’re then asked a second time. If you don’t tell then what you want by the third time you’re asked, they skip you and ask the person in line behind you. It may sound crazy, but that creates a fun environment where ordering is almost a challenging game.
Those are just two examples, but I think you get the point. You need your restaurant to be memorable and there are a lot of ways to do that. Giving your restaurant a unique experience can help you stand out from the competition.