Delicious Business
Appetizers and Specialty Dishes Abound In Diverse National Market

Whether it’s in the sunny South or the cooler North, something is tempting the taste buds of bar-goers nationwide.
    What have surfaced are staple dishes that keep regulars coming back time and again and unique menu items derived from creative sparks in the kitchen. Here are foods that can help maximize revenue, connect with customers, and have people everywhere craving a second helping.

Music City Snacks
    In Nashville, southern cuisine has received a facelift of colossal proportion. Rest assured that these starters are far from the offerings one might assume are prevalent in the music capitol. It’s not simply peas and carrots at Nashville’s Cabana restaurant and club. Its beginner menu boasts enough to satiate smaller appetites with a delectable selection of regionalized dishes prepared in unconventional ways. Some are spin-offs of older, reliable appetizers; others are exclusive to Cabana. Sous Chef John Smyth has overseen the creation of some of the more popular selections on the menu.
    “What’s hot right now are our starters,” Smyth says.
Cabana’s original Sliders feature miniature sweet potato biscuits with peach preserves and patron’s choice of either buttermilk fried chicken or Tennessee prosciutto. Also topping the ranks is their grilled chicken (or sliced steak) satay served with homemade banana salsa, jicama slaw (a legume native to  Central and South American regions) mixed in a cumin and sour cream sauce, and optional jerk style seasoning for the daring.
    A new entry to the Cabana menu, their smoked pork tossed in barbecue sauce and served with honey jalapeño cornbread and corn cream sauce, is turning heads as well.
  
West Coast Trends
    Customers stopping by Tracy, Calif.’s Great Plate Bar & Grill may arrive with ravenous appetites, but the Atkins mindset is alive and well there.
“The biggest thing going on here for us,” says Marketing Director Mike Corbett, “is people who are health conscious and come in here to dine on chicken wings to keep their diet in check. They’re all saying the same thing: ‘This is the lowest fat item I can get here. It totally works for me.’” Corbett says it’s all about the carbohydrate count for many.
    “They’re the same people drinking Michelob Ultra. They go to the gym; they want to keep the same kind of program going. And it’s rampant here — ladies, men, everybody.”
    Corbett recommends being mindful of vegan patrons too, keeping an alternative or two on the menu. Veggie Platters previously offered on the restaurant’s menu again have become a frequently requested item — and the demand is growing.

Brewer’s Treasures
    In a push for menu items with distinction, Minneapolis’ Town Hall Brewery quickly is gaining the lead. Since 1997, owner Pete Rifakes has provided the city with a list of starters that’s far from typical.
    Like Nashville’s Cabana, Town Hall customers have found a love of pork. The best seller is the Pulled Pork, roasted in Town Hall’s award-winning Hope and King Scotch Ale and topped with Swiss cheese and fried onions.
    “We go through about 50 pounds of pork every three or four days,” Rifakes says.
“Even though it’s just a bar,” Rifakes says, “I think people should be creative and put things that aren’t elsewhere (on the menu). Put something out there  rather than just bar food. I think that’s a pretty big key in our sales. We sell a ton of beer, but our food sales are outpacing the growth of our beer right now.”          NCB