Five Most Common Mistakes Kebab Restaurants Make

Have you ever thought what are the most common blunders in the field of kebab? I came up with a little list that has the worst mistakes. Those are the problem areas in kebab restaurants and thus give the greasy spoons a bad name. They drive your customers away and harm your business a lot. Without further ado, here they are: the bottom five mistakes of kebab restaurants!

#1 – They serve dry kebab

If I had to pick one mistake it’d be definitely this. Dry kebab meal is horrible: it doesn’t necessarily mean the meat is dry but it can be any part of the dish. For example, a roll kebab with a dry pizza bottom and a bit of sauce is dry as Sahara and usually tasteless. Same applies to pita kebab. Make french fries a dry side order and you will be pouring a gallons of water to your mouth.

Those kebab restaurants that serve dry kebab usually pay a little attention on their products. Their mix of ingredients is off-balance. I think this could be easily fixed if they tasted their own products: if customers taste it the owners will definitely notice it, too. After all, they are the experts (or should be), right?

#2 – They use no imagination

You have to stand out from the crowd if you want to succeed. Many kebab restaurants settle for serving only mediocre kebab. Yeah, this is fine if you have it while drunk. But if you go there sober (the normal state for most) you won’t probably remember it later. It takes something special to be a good place: funny waiters, perfect mix of blue cheese and other ingredients, delicious sauce… you name it. No average please!

As with the previous point, this one has it’s roots on not aiming for the best. Those mediocre restaurants could learn a lot visiting the best ones in the scene. There are mainly two resources for finding the best place in town: Internet forums or word of mouth. Now, have a study trip to the number one restaurants, apply what you’ve found to your kebabs and you are good to go! It’s about learning from others.

#3 – They don’t use enough meat

Mistake number three is meatless. After all, you ordered a kebab and kebab means meat, right? Side dishes make the kebab meal whole but usually the number one is the meat. If the meat is used conservatively the kebab will lose it’s point and may even become dry (see #1). We want to taste the greasy and yummy part of the meal, not only the bread or french fries!

Cutting the amount of meat usually boils down to cutting the expenses. Meat is expensive and one of the ways to cut is logically lowering the quantity. Sadly, this has a negative impact on how kebab tastes. This will drive your customers away and what you save on meat you lose on fewer customers. Finding a perfect balance is the key here.

#4 – They use microwave meat

This one isn’t so bad than the previous one. I’ve tasted good meat that has been warmed in a microwave (ie. not sliced off a rotating meat spit). It’s just that usually microwave meat is combined with other major & minor mistakes like soft french fries, tasteless sauce or too thick pita bread. So my advice is: if you hear “beep”, avoid the meat.

Kebab restaurants must use microwave meat due to two things: sake of comfort and lower expenses. It’s easier to take meat from the freezer, toss it to the microwave oven for a minute or two and take it to the customer. Even though this might be faster than the meat spit method the customers will note the difference. You might again have lower expenses but people will probably go elsewhere. Getting a meat spit should be considered!

#5 – They play Lady Gaga

In student parties this wouldn’t make it on the Top 5 worst list. But we are talking about kebab and I think eating should be done in peace. Top 40 music channels playing at a high volume don’t belong to kebab restaurants. While feasting, I want to keep my poker face without the help from Lady Gaga and I like Alejandro serve my kebab, not to be fidgeting around in high heels.

Many restaurants fall in the trap of playing hit music too loud. They must be thinking it’s trendy and cool to do so. But it’s not. It makes the customers anxious and wanting to leave the place soon. Hmm, maybe this is a clever strategy? I have to admit that this one is a bit on the customer too: you can ask the waiters to lower the volume, but ultimately it’s the staff’s duty to decide what music they play.

So, this is my list. I know there are so much more those mistakes but I consider them minor. Or did I forget something important? If you could tell me I’d gladly hear your opinion!

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