No, they’re still slinging diner fare, of course. But Little Italy, 5 Guys, and the hot dog guy are slinging food a lot faster than Waffle House or The Grill can manage.
I guess there’s no harm in putting it on the menu, but I’d think a sack full of ham/bacon/egg/cheese/whatever biscuits would be the default order on the way back to the apartment.
Have you spent any time researching Biscuitville’s business model, by chance?
I’d make sure you understand the demographics of the university students. Where do they come from? What is the majority and secondary ethnic groups?
That might give you more relevant ideas in constructing a menu.
That One Biscuit Place
I think that’s why it works. Porridge can be whatever you want it to be and people will assume that this is how it’s done. Breakfast soup just sounds weird IMHO.
My associations for ‘porridge’ are a nasty, overly thin, cooked cereal - something orphans were forced to eat in Dickens’ novels.
YMMV, of course. Maybe do a poll in IMHO to see? But I’d limit it to asking Americans only to vote.
I agree. “Porridge” (though I enjoy it) conjures up to me associations of Dickensian poverty or something like that. I’d go with “soup.” I still think it’s a little odd for a biscuit place (though I like breakfast soups like Asian soups or any of a number of hangover soups.) But, who knows? Maybe it’s the kind of weird twist that could become popular. I wouldn’t bet on it, but as long as the main dishes are solid, I support a little fun or oddness on the menu!
ETA: Beaten to the punch on the Dickens association!
No, but I’ll look into that. Thanks!
From the university’s 2013 fall semester data: Total students = 20,517. Approximately 13,000 white, 5400 black, over 19,000 from Georgia. Not a very exotic mix!
I hope that you have a different crew for the overnight shift. And if you’re serving customers from 5am, I imagine that someone needs to start food prep earlier than that.
I have. PM me if you’d like.
Their hours are 5 to 2, which is what prompted my question.
I’m picturing a thick, chowdery, proto-gravy which is closer to stew than soup based on the references to congee and porridge. Is it a chowder/stew or is it watery soup? If it’s soup, I’m off the bandwagon. If it’s thick enough to sop up with biscuits, I’m on.
Instead of calling it Porridge, you can call it Breakfast Chowder, or Southern Stew, or something more appetizing.
True, one can take ideas from any type of food the world over, and rename it to fit a particular theme.
White borscht becomes Ma’s Hangover Soup, and Yakitori becomes Chicken Grillers & Biscuits.
I think “breakfast chowder” does sound more appealing than “breakfast soup” for some reason.
Porridge is only slightly better than gruel, connotatively, for me.
Yeah, I’m down with “breakfast chowder.” That works. “Southern stew” would have a whole different set of expectations for me, though. I’d probably be expecting something along the lines of a Brunswick stew.
Heck, we could just call it “Student Chow.” That might work for an overserved frat boy at two a.m.! (And yes, it will be a rich, creamy concoction - not a broth, but more like a stew or chowder.)
As for the choice of business hours, I was looking at maximizing the customer base while minimizing down time. Other than students, we’ll also try to capture the shift workers at the three major industrial employers for breakfast. Two of the factories begin their shifts at six, and the other at seven. Not to mention all of the other non-students heading for work. And staying open for lunch later than two p.m. is foolish - business drops off precipitously by that hour. No point in paying a bunch of labor costs for so little potential return! We’ll probably have special hours during some local events (home football games mostly,) and probably limited menus during those times, to expedite service. And during the summer, when 75% of the students are gone, we’ll almost certainly suspend most of our late-night hours.
I sat down again with a potential schedule, and realized that, unless Ma and I both want to work ungodly hours, we really need to hire two, possibly three, part-timers before opening day - whenever that might be. Fortunately, that won’t be difficult, since there are always more job seekers than jobs in a college town. The other good news? I can schedule both of my teenagers for weekday cleanup and at least one shift each per weekend - Georgia labor laws allow wide latitude for employment at family-owned businesses, so long as the kids aren’t performing hazardous jobs like using a meat slicer. (And, being the mom and the boss means that I can enforce the rule about saving a certain amount of their earnings, by issuing each of them a certain “allowance” from their paychecks and depositing the rest in a savings account that requires my signature for withdrawal! Because I’m evil like that…)
Ma’s Best Biscuits. Says it all! College kids can call it BB’s !
Breakfast soup is brilliant, (please don’t change the name!), make it one of the cheapest items on your menu, available at all hours! Consists of decent quality muesli, topped with seasonal fresh cut fruit, served with a single serve healthy yogurt, mix it yourself to suit. Ready in a second, no cooking! Watch and see if the diet conscious girls don’t order it “hold the muesli!”. (Decent quality yogurt and muesli are paramount!) you gotta have something for the skinny girls. And where the girls eat the boys frequent!
You want to call yogurt and fruit “breakfast soup”?
That seems counterproductive.
I thought of Biscuit Bistro (or Ma’s Biscuit Bistro) and Googled it. There is/was a Le Biscuit Bistro in Budapest, and there is a Biscuit’s Bistro in NYC.
Okay, I’m searching for trademarked names, and my own brainstorm seems to (a) not be in use and (b) even more awesome, because of this song: Mama’s Drinking Liquor Again. Ma will laugh her ass off!
Also, according to Urban Dictionary? No way I can call it the Biscuit Basket, or (worse,) Ma’s Biscuit Basket. I draw the line at a restaurant name that has a UD definition.
And no offense intended, elbows, but I have to agree with jsgoddess: fruit, yogurt, and granola is entirely unlike soup. I certainly intend to offer fruit and yogurt, at a minimum. Maybe homemade granola, too, if the demand is there. But that’s just no soup.
If the soup is a chowder consistency - could you top it with a thin slice of biscuit? I’m thinking - take one of your biscuits, cut it in half horizontally, and lay over the top of a cup of breakfast soup. It would give it a unique flare, look kinda like French onion soup or maybe chicken pot pie, and fits a meal into one container. Basically - what I’m saying is - needs more biscuit.