Here's a story of an idea almost executed very well. Last night my wife had a hunkering for pasta and so off the family went to our local Macaroni Grill. It's been a while since we have been there and, I must admit, the restaurant was far nicer than I had remembered or the name does it justice.
(Macaroni Grill has always felt 'factory-like' and has never done it for me in terms of inspiring thoughts of delicious Italian cuisine. In that space, The Olive Garden does far better in communicating taste and ambiance via a brand name...but that's neither here nor there for this post...moving on...)
As our family consists of my wife and I and our two young daughters (ages 5 1/2 and 2), the existence of a kids menu is always appreciated - especially when it includes some healthy options. As you can see above, we were pleasantly surprised by Macaroni Grill's offering on this point. Two fun looking kids menus were placed in front of our children. They included games and stuff and had the above kids menu on the back cover. We immediately noticed that, in addition to the normal kids fare, they also offered a Chicken and Broccoli dish. Perfect! Kudos to them!
We ordered the kids some milk - which came in kids cups with straws, so the Macaroni Grill team clearly understands that kids' drinking needs are different than adults and that a sturdy plastic cup with lid and straw is mandatory to avoid the spills and messes sure to come without them.
However, once the kids meals came, it was clear that the understanding of kids' eating behaviors stopped with the drinks...(to be fair - this is fairly common across most restaurants and chains, so I'm not trying to pick on Macaroni Grill here - just that we were eating there last night and it became a 'teachable moment' :))
Notice a couple of things within this picture:
1 - The fork my 2 yr old has to use is about the size of her head. Each forkful brought with it the danger of her puncturing the back of her throat. When we asked the server for a smaller fork - perhaps a salad fork even - she let us know they only carry one size.
2 - The plate is a bread plate that we portioned out the meal onto for her (same for our 5 year old, not in the picture...). Those with kids know that they aren't the most coordinated when it comes to forking food - hence a bowl or some sort of plate with a raised side is helpful to give them something to push against. Would help avoid a lot of the mess you see.
3 - OK, you can't tell this one by the picture, but the Chicken with Broccoli dish came as it would have for an adult. A full size chicken breast and several large pieces of broccoli. Not exactly kid friendly. So...before my wife and I could start to eat our meals, we had to cut up the kids meals and do some portion control.
Please keep in mind that this post is not meant to be a whiny customer service complaint - although that is something I reserve the right to do at a later time. The key point here is that some simple consumer observation by any restaurant chain would quickly recognize that kids eat differently than adults and have very different needs. (quick props to past BMC speaker Scott Williams, now CMO of Morgans Hotel Group and past Chief Creative Officer of Starwood Hotels, who is a HUGE proponent of the virtues of consumer observation).
Such observations would most likely lead to the following 'innovations':
1 - Kid-friendly eating wares that extend beyond just plastic cups. Simple observation would dictate that any establishment that wants to be kid-friendly should have some kids plates/bowls and kids utensils ready.
2 - Kid portion sizes. Has anybody NOT heard about the problem of childhood obesity? Kid portions at restaurants should be just that - sized for kids. Not just blander adult meals.
3 - Kid food sizing. Watch any family with young kids and the first thing they will do when a plate of food comes is start cutting it down to size. Why not just deliver the meals already cut to bite sized pieces? Save the parents some time and effort and show them that you actually understand the difficulties of eating out with young children.
Just one easy example of how some simple consumer observations can take a good idea to great. I cannot stress enough the value of just watching your consumers interact with your products/services. If you haven't lately, start planning right now for when you will!
