Chef's Choice

Steve Cole writes:

Most people eat out at several restaurants, sometimes in a random order and sometimes in a specific order. If one of your favorite places has daily specials that are "Chef's Choice" (usually, whatever the chef had too much of, or found a bargain on, or was inspired to fix), then you should suggest to the manager that he place a small flyer on each table that says:

Ever wonder what our specials are? Well, now you can find out without calling. Just write your email address on the bottom of this flyer and give it to your wait-staffer or the cashier. The manager will add you to the list. Every day, the chef will Email everyone on the list what he has decided to fix "special" for that day. If the special excites you (or even if you just want one of our regular selections) then join us for lunch. Maybe someone in your regular lunch group would be willing to come here (which we know is your favorite place!) if the special excited them, allowing you to enjoy your favorites from the regular menu, or the special itself.

This kind of marketing costs the restaurant nothing, but would encourage people to come for the special, encourage the chef to make specials that bring in a crowd, and would allow regular customers to convince reluctant lunch mates (who don't care for the regular menu) to go with you because today they can have the special.