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MENUS WITH VACATION CUSTOMERS IN MIND

Chicken Gyro with Tzatziki

With sunny skies and schools out, the summer months are packed with vacationing diners. Serve them dishes that make their trip memorable.

  • Road ready. Offer plenty of grab & go options that are easy to eat in the car and that travel well—wraps, rice bowls, and portable mocktails.
  • Spoil them. Modern diners are looking for an experience to remember. Stock your menu with splurges like charred steaks with vibrant chimichurri, fried chicken with spicy-sticky sauce, and icy coconut-watermelon margaritas.
  • But keep it healthy. Accent indulgent dishes with nutrient-dense ingredients (think avocado slices on burgers, roasted vegetables on pizza, and sautéed kale and mushrooms over steaks) that fit into the overarching wellness trend dominating the industry

Dine-in vacation customers want a meal to remember, while those on the go want something quick and healthy. Here are a few important items to stock that can be cross-utilized and will reduce back-of-house labor, saving both time and money.

  • Ready-Set-Serve Salads & Blends make offering a diverse salad menu easy. No messy chopping, no waste, and less storage space needed. Just open the bag and toss.
  • Fruit salads are also in high demand. Ready-Set-Serve offers a variety of cuts and combinations that can be used across the menu: breakfast, salads, desserts, and beverages.
  • Ingredients like berries, melons, peaches, tomatoes, and corn all scream summer. Highlight dishes that feature these items.

Diners are increasingly hyper-focused on high-protein and plant-based foods. Alongside all of the new-fangled, lab-based, cell-cultured options out there is the humble bean. A staple food for millenia, beans are being re-examined as a healthy, versatile ingredient worthy of menu inclusion.

  • Retro and heirloom recipes—like Southern succotash, French cassoulet, and Cajun red beans and rice—fit the bill for those in search of authenticity.
  • Most world cuisines incorporate some type of bean in their classic dishes. Think feijoada in Brazil, black beans and rice with plantains in Puerto Rico, and garbanzo beans in Israel. Modern interpretations of these recipes are packed with produce and herbs.
  • The creamy texture of mung beans is proving an ideal substitute for those that are eliminating soy from their diets.