Where did the early bird special come from?
The phrase started in shops, not restaurants. Word historian Barry Popik found it in a 1904 Portland, Oregon, newspaper ad for a department store sale on men's summer underwear, from 8 am to noon.
Restaurants picked it up in the 1920s, according to Andrew Haley, a historian at the University of Southern Mississippi, speaking to The Week. Prohibition had taken away drink sales, so restaurants looked for new guests at quiet hours. Diners, he said, got good at it: "Diners were very sophisticated in thinking about filling the restaurant through the entire day."
By the 1950s the format looked much like today's. A 1952 Oakland Tribune column quoted by Popik describes a San Francisco nightclub's dinner with a cocktail and fried chicken "for a couple of bucks". The catch was timing: "The early bird idea means you have to come before 7:30."
The deal later became linked with retirees, especially in Florida. Wikipedia notes that this brought a stigma, and that some restaurants rename the offer a "twilight dinner" or "sunset dinner" for that reason.
Who does it suit, and how do you set it up?
An early bird menu works best when your evening has a clear quiet stretch before a busy one. Look at your till or POS report for covers by hour. If you seat few guests from 4:30 to 6 and you're full from 7, that early window is your target.
The guests it attracts tend to eat early anyway: retirees, families with young children, shift workers and people heading to a show. If your crowd arrives at 8 pm and stays late, a happy hour menu at the bar may fit better.
If you have that quiet window, set it up like this:
- Pick the window from your own numbers. Start where covers are lowest, and keep it short. One to two hours is easy to staff and easy to remember.
- Say exactly when it ends. Seated by 5:45 pm is clearer than until 6. It also stops a late table from ordering the early price at 6:30.
- Build it from dishes that cost little to make. Soups, braises, pasta and roast chicken hold well and cost less than steak. It's the same thinking as a diner's blue-plate special.
- Keep drinks at full price. The drink sale often makes the early table worth having.
- Check the margin. In our example below, three courses sell for $28. If the food costs $8.50, that leaves $19.50 for everything else.
What are the risks?
The biggest one is training guests to wait for the deal. Some regulars who used to arrive at 7 and pay full price may start coming at 5:30 for less. Then you haven't gained guests. You've only cut the price for people you already had.
So track it. For a month before and a month after the launch, compare covers and sales for the whole evening, not just the early window. If the total barely moves, change the dishes or the hours, or drop it.
Watch table time too. An early table that lingers until 7:30 can block your best seating, so keep the window tight.
What does an early bird card look like?
Monday to Thursday · Seated by 5:45 pm
Starter: soup of the day or house salad
Main: roast chicken with potatoes, pork chop with apples, or mushroom pasta (V)
Dessert: rice pudding or ice cream
Not available on holidays
With Menupresso, the early bird can sit in its own section with Individual dish prices switched off and the price in the section introduction. The menu doesn't switch at set times, so write the days and hours there. A guest who opens the menu at 8 pm then knows to come back earlier. For other set formats, see our guide to the table d'hĂ´te menu.