TIPS ON MAKING Bodacious Bloody Marys THAT YOU CAN UPSELL loody Marys are the perfect cocktail. Few drinks can idea of appetizer cocktails and demonstrate how easy it can be to boast customer appeal for breakfast, brunch, and build an upsell Bloody Mary, operators in the room start pulling out Bdinner, and none offer a platform for so many upsell their smartphones to take photos of what I created. In a few weeks, opportunities. It’s easy to take a basic $5.99 Bloody Mary they will send me photos of their own creations at their restaurant.” and turn it into a drink and a meal all in one. By using this Harrison adds that another great tip for building momentum “appetizer cocktail” approach, you can increase the price to $20 for an appetizer cocktail is to let customers chime in on or more and create a signature drink for your bar. social media or at the bar. By asking customers to Dallas Harrison has been sharing her ideas create a restaurant-branded Bloody Mary with for building profitable appetizer cocktails appetizers they choose, the operator can for decades as Red Gold’s National Sales claim that the cocktail is customer-inspired and Training Director. “There are no and handcrafted from customer input. additional costs to the operator for Brick & Spoon, a four-unit Southern featuring an appetizer cocktail on breakfast, lunch, and brunch venue their bar menu. The ingredients are in Louisiana and Alabama, lets already in the kitchen. By using customers build their own Bloody items already on the appetizer Mary. With prices starting at $12.50, menu, it is easy to preload skewers customers can choose premium and feature at least one signature vodkas, up to five vegetables, and Bloody Mary on anyone’s menu.” up to seven seasonings. Upcharges can The number of Bloody Marys on menus include a boiled egg, $1 extra; vegetables, may indicate that bar and restaurant 20¢ extra; and meats and cheeses, 75¢ extra. operators have caught on to the upsell “When one customer orders an appetizer opportunity. Bloody Mary menuing is up cocktail, heads start turning among other nearly 20% in just the past four years, according to customers, and pretty soon everyone is ordering Datassential, a company that tracks more than 400,000 one,” says Harrison. “The secret is having the bar items that come and go across American menus. staff preloading skewers with the most popular The Michelada, a Mexican beer and tomato garnishes to reduce wait times. There are juice cocktail, has seen 106% growth always menu items still since 2014. Bloody Marias, hot for last-minute using tequila instead of grabs for skewering vodka, are up 83% over and serving.” the same period. Just one signature “A gorgeous appetizer cocktail Bloody Mary added to a bar’s loaded with menu for upselling scrumptious is an easy start to building appetizers is such a reputation for over-the-top a great marketing tool for drawing creativity that can spark the crowds to an operation through social profit and the buzz every operator wants. media,” says Harrison. “As I share the .