Mellow Mushroom: customer comes second

My friend Krisha Newport lives in Knoxville, TN. I have been in Asheville, NC all week performing and she came last night to see me in my show. We had dinner at Mellow Mushroom. Wow, what a lame experience for someone who wanted a slice of thin crust pizza. Read the email I sent them below:

"I think two of your policies do not put the customer first. They benefit you. They make your business easier to run. I have two ideas to remedy this.

1. You do not serve more than one type of crust. Why? This is a typical, normal expectation of customers who eat pizza. I like thin crust. You offer nothing but that thick, chewy crust. No choice.

2. You do not serve slices after 5pm. It's my guess, and I could be wrong, that the reason for this is to keep the evening check totals high. It prevents customers from coming in and taking up a table during a busy time (evening) and only eating slices.

Two solves I came up with for you:

1. Offer a thin crust. How long would it take the cook to take the raw crust, cut it in half, reshape it into a thin crust, and make the customer happy?

2. Serve slices at all hours, but only at the bar. That will (a) make single-slicers happy and (b) put them smack dab in front of your liquor/beer selection, which could encourage them to order a beer (or four). You could also serve slices as "to go" only. That way, the customer is happy and they don't take up a table where a bigger-check customer could be sitting.

I think to-go single slices is a possible missed income opportunity, actually."