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[mattm]

The other day, I was visiting with a few of my nieces and nephews that are in their early twenties. I was shocked at how different their lives, priorities, and ways of viewing the world are from mine. I can’t live without E-mail, but they view E-mail as a way to communicate with “old” people. I’M NOT OLD!

I have looked all over the web and I have not been able to find a good discussion with young people about their views on the future of restaurants. I have asked several people between the ages of 18 and 28 to share their thoughts on the following topics. Please post additional topics and also encourage other young people to join our conversation.

Initial topics:

• Where do you get recommendations for restaurants?
• What marketing methods work with you?
• What could a restaurant do attract more young people?
• How do you think young people’s preferences are going to change the restaurant industry over the next 5 years?

1. From friends/family generally.
2. Coupons and happy hour.
3. See the Elevation Lacrosse Facebook page. Their constant Facebook-based giveaways have gotten them a TON of attention.
4. That's a pretty presumptive question. If anything the answer is probably blah blah blah social media.

Where do you get recommendations for restaurants?

I tend to get recommendations for restaurants from friends and family members, people that have similar taste as myself.

What marketing methods work with you?

As far as print goes: clean-cut, but bright. I don't enjoy flipping through cluttered ads by any means; however, I still savor bright colors that not only catch my attention, but also reflect the atmosphere of the restaurant.

What could a restaurant do attract more young people?

For my age group, college kids, I think the most attractive thing is late-night specials. Any discount on meals or appetizers are amazing! Specially if they start after traditional dinner or work hours... 9, 10pm.

How do you think young people’s preferences are going to change the restaurant industry over the next 5 years?

I hope that my generation sways more towards a healthier menu. I'm crossing my fingers for more readily available meatless salads as entrees, and, in general, a wider variety of natural/simplified foods (less processed, fried foods).

[nprgrl]

As a young 20 something I am always on the look out for a new restaurant to try out with my friends. I would say that most of my recommendations come from either The Boise Weekly or word of mouth.

As far as marketing methods that I feel are effective, I would say it would be a toss up between Facebook and the Boise Weekly. On Facebook, when a restaurant has a page, if one of my friends “likes” it then it shows up on my mini-feed and I will typically click on their page to see more about it. With the Boise Weekly I like to look at the Best of Boise section that they have annually to see if they have any top ranked restaurants I haven’t tried out yet.

I think that restaurants can attract more young people if they move towards buying locally and adopting more of a seasonal menu. Just judging off of last years Best of Boise winners, the top three restaurants in the best local restaurant category are all ran off of proprietor David Krick, (Bittercreek Ale House, Café Vicino, and Red Feather Lounge) and each one centers around eating locally. I think that right now eating “green” is a trend that young people love to be a part of.

I think that young people’s preference for local cuisine will help to shape the restaurant industry greatly over the next 5 years.

• Where do you get recommendations for restaurants?

I only really get recommendations for restaurants from friends. There are really only two things that will get me to try a new restaurant: recommendations from friends and coupons. Unless I’ve specifically heard that I should try a place or I catch wind of a great deal, I’m probably going to stick with what I know.

• What marketing methods work with you?

Coupons work very well. If I stumble across a deal that’s too good to pass up, I’ll try a new restaurant (or go back to an old one that I usually am too cheap to go to). I’m thrifty, and money talks. Consequently, I have no interest in coupons that barely actually save you any money. The value of a coupon certainly depends on the overall price tag, too. If I’m going to a restaurant where an entrée is about $6.99, a buy one get one free coupon does wonders. So does a $5.00 entrée+drink coupon. For example, I hadn’t been to Qdoba in years when I stumbled across a set of buy one get one free and $5.00 entrée coupons. After burning through these coupons, I discovered I really love the food at Qdoba, and while I wasn’t willing to spend the $6.99+tax before, now I often am.
However, a coupon that would really just irritate me and not make me inclined to try a restaurant would be a “buy one entrée and a drink and get the second entrée half off” type of coupon. Throwing in strings attached like having to buy a drink that I wouldn’t normally buy (I drink water, always) kills the value of the deal for me. The same goes for slightly more expensive meals that require you to buy one entrée and two drinks to get any kind of discount on the second entrée. Either you want to give me a deal or not, but don’t make me pay for something I don’t even want to be able to use the coupon.

• What could a restaurant do to attract more young people?

Come up with a set of menu options that are economically viable for people who make $7-9 an hour and have bills and rent to pay. Have attractive menu options (not appetizers with 5 bites worth of food) that are priced low enough for me to consider going to your restaurant when I’m thinking “I’m hungry and don’t want fast food but don’t want to spend a fortune.” It’s a difficult nut to crack, but it’s the truth. Another thing that attracts young people is drink specials. Nearly every Wednesday, I go to a certain Mexican restaurant because they have 2-for-1 margaritas. I also often go to the Ram when they have happy hour to sit down to a good beer that doesn’t break the bank (note: cheap Pabst isn’t going to bring me or anybody else to your restaurant).

• How do you think young people’s preferences are going to change the restaurant industry over the next 5 years?

Eating out is expensive. This is much worse for young people who don’t make much money than it is for older people with some more disposable income. With the economy the way it is and many young people lucky to even have jobs, let alone ones that pay a decent wage, there isn’t a lot of money going around to go blow a bunch of money on one meal. Furthermore, many young people (myself included) try to eat at least somewhat healthy. My mother has even commented on how my generation seems to eat a lot healthier than hers did when she was my age. As such, I stay far away from Taco Bell and McDonald’s if I have any say in the matter. When it comes down to deciding what I’m going to eat, I try to find a balance between price tag and nutritional value. I think as time goes on, more and more restaurants are going to start finding ways to provide menu options to appeal to people trying to find that same balance in price tag and nutrition. That might be a hard balance to find, but I can assure you that if I walk into a restaurant and see that isn’t providing anything like that for me, I’ll go find one that will.

[mattm]

Hey Vandallax07:

How do you think a 1$ pint promo would do to bring in a crowd on a Tuesday night? I am thinking about something like 1$ pint (of good beer) with the purchase of an entree.

• Where do you get recommendations for restaurants?
Family, friends, write-ups in the Boise Weekly

• What marketing methods work with you?
Detailed reviews, good drink deals
• What could a restaurant do to attract more young people?
Anything involving getting something for free or for less than its normal price, large menu variety, deals that cater to large groups
• How do you think young people’s preferences are going to change the restaurant industry over the next 5 years?
I'm a bit picker than most people my age about what I eat, but good food (and a lot of it) for a low price never fails to draw in the college crowd.

Originally Posted by mattm

Hay Vandallax07:

How do you think a 1$ pint promo would do to bring in a crowd on a Tuesday night? I am thinking about something like 1$ pint (of good beer) with the purchase of an entree.

If the price is right on the food, I'd be all over that.

- Almost exclusively by word of mouth, other than for fast food restaurants which are more or less thrown at you via the television.
- Humor is far and away the most effective marketing method for me.
- I feel that young people think first with their wallet and second with their stomach. Price is everything.
- I think the biggest impact the younger generation will have on the restaurant industry is that younger people tend to care less about service than the older generation, which is no real surprise since I feel that it's been that way for a long time.

[Chef Mickey]

It's pretty simple really - as you look at the trends with todays youth - the internet, texting, the new i-pad, the way to the restaurant customer of the future is simply going to be using old methods - i.e - coupons, promotions and specials through text message marketing and email marketing, twitter, facebook - any form of social media - my college students that work for me live on these sites - so the modern day restaurant owner must be able to create new ideas for integrating into the web 2.0 world.

What used to be location location location - has turned into information information information - you've got to go where these kids hang out - ONLINE!