The restaurant business is absolutely brutal, especially for a small, mom-and-pop op. Just getting customers in the door to try the food you've spent months perfecting, instead of hitting up a chain, can be a huge challenge.
So it's no surprise that restaurants will come up with gimmicks to get hungry bellies to their tables. It never hurts to aim at the funny bone, and you have to wonder if anyone does that better than the El Arroyo in Austin, Texas.
If nothing else, they'll amuse folks stuck in traffic nearby, and maybe help El Arroyo's name stick in people's heads when their stomachs start to rumble.
And apparently they don't have one joke-writer on staff, but a group of about 15 people, including managers and owners, chime in with ideas. They also take suggestions on their website if anyone wants to put their wit to the test.
Sometimes they'll post seasonal things, sometimes they'll comment on current events, and sometimes they'll even use it to remind folks that they are, indeed, a licensed restaurant serving food as well as witticisms.
From that group of 15 people who put their best ideas forward, the day's winning message is “generally picked based on how hard we were laughing reading,” according to Austin360.
You've probably even seen a few of their signs come up in your various news feeds from time to time as folks share them around on social media. And now, they're largely available in book form, too.
Kind of a nice way to branch out from just the food business, amirite? And if they can keep it up, it wouldn't be a shock to see further volumes in the future.
