The Week in Ideas, May 6, 2013

This week we just can’t let go of the $1 menu. Dealing with people who can’t deal with breastfeeding moms. A police themed restaurant treads carefully with its branding. And a show-stopping Bloody Mary garnish you have to see.

Idea #1: Don’t let go of the value meal. As others subtly move away from $1 meals, Taco Bell gets ready to double down with its new “$1 Cravings” menu.

Idea #2: The problem isn’t the breastfeeding mom, but the person complaining about the breastfeeding mom. After a customer complained about another customer breastfeeding her baby, a waiter at an Indiana restaurant had words with the mother, who left in anger. A few days later a group of moms descended on the restaurant, Tony Sacco's Pizza in Granger, to hold a “nurse in,” and the restaurant changed its tune. "The real change [in our policy] is that we'll deal with the person who is complaining and we'll try to relocate them or hook them up with something like an appetizer or card for their displacement," said Jesse Arredondo, general manager.

Idea #3: The police-theme restaurant. One is opening in Times Square, but the owners are being sensitive about their branding: "I don’t want to bring up bad memories. I want to bring up nostalgic, creative memories, and not the day you got arrested," says owner Stephen Barounis.

Idea #4: The Bloody Mary garnish to end all Bloody Mary garnishes. You can order the drink the first Sunday of every month at O’Davey’s Irish Pub & Restaurant and it comes topped with popcorn, bacon, peanuts, beans, sausage, a pretzel, sliders, a pickle, nachos and cheese, veggies and cheese curds. Mind you, that’s not served on the side. It’s the garnish. Has to be seen to be believed.

 

 

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