Re: restaurant reports (Zadin in SF, Speisekammer in Alameda)

[Guest guest]

Hey Luther,

I haven't personally been to one of these yet, but I assure you that my sentiment will be the same if I go with my whole family. We should draft a letter (including the names of GF beers that go with pizza!) so we can give it to the manager when we encounter the issue. I mean jeez, they could limit the $5 charge to orders of less than $x...

>>>>

Ok now for my personal rant. What is it with these pizza places allcarrying GF crusts now and wanting to charge $5 extra? I appreciatethat they are carrying them, but hey, I am going to drag my wholefamily in and order a whole bunch of stuff so they are going to make abunch more money off of us anyway -- no need to gauge us for an extra$5. I realize they have some costs to cover, but if they didn'tprovide they option, they would miss out on our bill altogether. Andthey should at least add GF beer to the menus too ;-)

[Guest guest]

I could only wish that one of the pizza places in Santa Cruz would

offer GF crusts, so I don't have the luxury yet of ranting about any

price differences. (Or if some place in SC is now offering GF and

I've missed it, please let me know :-))

First let me say I totally respect your opinion and you are totally

entitled to speak your mind, but I needed to voice mine as well.

I understand if you're not happy that they are covering their

costs--$5 seems pretty reasonable to me considering how much I pay for

GF products at my local stores. I pay quite a bit more for a crappy

frozen Amy's pizza here at New Leaf Market than I think it's worth;

however, $5 to get a freshly made, piping hot, 'normal' pizza where a

caring restaurant owner has taken time to work through the

cross-contamination issues is well worth a measly five bucks--in my

opinion. I look at it like going to a steak house and deciding

between the rib eye and the Filet Mignon. But again, just the way I

choose to look at the world.

Tony

>

> Ok now for my personal rant. What is it with these pizza places all

> carrying GF crusts now and wanting to charge $5 extra? I appreciate

> that they are carrying them, but hey, I am going to drag my whole

> family in and order a whole bunch of stuff so they are going to make a

> bunch more money off of us anyway -- no need to gauge us for an extra

> $5. I realize they have some costs to cover, but if they didn't

> provide they option, they would miss out on our bill altogether. And

> they should at least add GF beer to the menus too ;-)

>

> -Luther

>

[Guest guest]

A $5 surcharge doesn't even come close to covering the actual cost of places

adding GF pizza to their menus, if they are doing their job right. They've

invested in staff training, extra prep space and cleaning time, research into

topping ingredients, etc. One restaurant owner I talked to said he'd have to

sell 5 or 6 GF pizzas PER NIGHT to break even on them, and currently he sells

about 2 per week.

If customers aren't willing to compensate them a bit for that investment, I

doubt we'll see GF pizza on the menus for very long, and suggesting that their

normal profits per table is adequate compensation doesn't work either

mathematically or logically.

Maureen

> From: Lombardi <tanya_lombardi@...>

> Subject: Re: [ ] restaurant reports (Zadin in SF, Speisekammer in

Alameda)

>

> Date: Tuesday, August 26, 2008, 8:31 AM

> Hey Luther,

> I haven't personally been to one of these yet, but I

> assure you that my sentiment will be the same if I go with

> my whole family.  We should draft a letter (including the

> names of GF beers that go with pizza!) so we can give it to

> the manager when we encounter the issue.  I mean jeez, they

> could limit the $5 charge to orders of less than $x...

>

> >>>>

> Ok now for my personal rant. What is it with these pizza

> places all

> carrying GF crusts now and wanting to charge $5 extra? I

> appreciate

> that they are carrying them, but hey, I am going to drag my

> whole

> family in and order a whole bunch of stuff so they are

> going to make a

> bunch more money off of us anyway -- no need to gauge us

> for an extra

> $5. I realize they have some costs to cover, but if they

> didn't

> provide they option, they would miss out on our bill

> altogether. And

> they should at least add GF beer to the menus too ;-)

[Guest guest]

Everyone –

Please make your ‘subject’ headings

consistent with the messages…it makes it easier for us folks that have

lots of e-mails to read through and delete based on topic.

Thanks

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of Lombardi

Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2008

8:32 AM

Subject: Re: [ ]

restaurant reports (Zadin in SF, Speisekammer in Alameda)

Hey Luther,

I haven't personally been to one of these yet, but I assure

you that my sentiment will be the same if I go with my whole family. We

should draft a letter (including the names of GF beers that go with pizza!) so

we can give it to the manager when we encounter the issue. I mean jeez,

they could limit the $5 charge to orders of less than $x...

>>>>

Ok now for my personal rant. What is

it with these pizza places all

carrying GF crusts now and wanting to charge $5 extra? I appreciate

that they are carrying them, but hey, I am going to drag my whole

family in and order a whole bunch of stuff so they are going to make a

bunch more money off of us anyway -- no need to gauge us for an extra

$5. I realize they have some costs to cover, but if they didn't

provide they option, they would miss out on our bill altogether. And

they should at least add GF beer to the menus too ;-)

[Guest guest]

Yeah, I hear what you all are saying but from a pure economic

standpoint I bet they would make more money by not chargin extra. I

took my family to Bobby G's and we spent about $50 for a casual pizza

dinner -- and that was really just the bill for my wife and I. If they

had GF beer we would have spent more. We wouldn't haven't even

considered going there if they did not have GF crust. I think their

pizzas are priced high to begin with (10 " personal size runs $15-$25

depending on toppings). So by offering GF pizza they are broadening

their market. If they think they need to cover GF costs on the GF

surcharge, they are not thinking like a smart business -- they need to

take into account that just having the option will bring a biunch more

revenue than just the GF crust. So even though they have a cost

associated it, they are going to have more revenue overall. We were

just two people (and kids). Let's say a group of 4-5 people go in

there because their one GF friend can eat there now. They would have

gone somewhere else otherwise. So now they have a $100+ check that

they would not have had at all -- but if they are counting GF crust

sales, they are upset because they only sold on GF crust that night.

Basic MBA stuff.

But yes I iam happy to have the option and I appreciate that they are

going out of there way to accomodate us and I can see the other

argument as well.

-L

On Tue, Aug 26, 2008 at 8:51 AM, scruztony <scruztony@...> wrote:

> I could only wish that one of the pizza places in Santa Cruz would

> offer GF crusts, so I don't have the luxury yet of ranting about any

> price differences. (Or if some place in SC is now offering GF and

> I've missed it, please let me know :-))

>

> First let me say I totally respect your opinion and you are totally

> entitled to speak your mind, but I needed to voice mine as well.

>

> I understand if you're not happy that they are covering their

> costs--$5 seems pretty reasonable to me considering how much I pay for

> GF products at my local stores. I pay quite a bit more for a crappy

> frozen Amy's pizza here at New Leaf Market than I think it's worth;

> however, $5 to get a freshly made, piping hot, 'normal' pizza where a

> caring restaurant owner has taken time to work through the

> cross-contamination issues is well worth a measly five bucks--in my

> opinion. I look at it like going to a steak house and deciding

> between the rib eye and the Filet Mignon. But again, just the way I

> choose to look at the world.

>

> Tony

>

>

>

>>

>> Ok now for my personal rant. What is it with these pizza places all

>> carrying GF crusts now and wanting to charge $5 extra? I appreciate

>> that they are carrying them, but hey, I am going to drag my whole

>> family in and order a whole bunch of stuff so they are going to make a

>> bunch more money off of us anyway -- no need to gauge us for an extra

>> $5. I realize they have some costs to cover, but if they didn't

>> provide they option, they would miss out on our bill altogether. And

>> they should at least add GF beer to the menus too ;-)

>>

>> -Luther

>>

>

>