Big congratulations to Jenn Borchers for winning the Ram Home Office March Madness Tourney.  Hard to believe she was the only person to pick U-Conn to win.  Mary Wawrin’s sister (Ann Bowen) grabbed second place.  Jayden Patterson stands tall in third place.  Proving that even the losers get lucky sometime (according to Tom Petty), Jevin Patterson received his $10 entry back for finishing last.  Thanks to all who participated, and thanks to Tim Bunch for organizing this annual, fun boondoggle. 

In addition to the March Madness Tournament, the Home Office has a little action on Burger-Rama sales this year.  Each entrant puts in $5 and picks their choice for the top-selling burger.  While the LTO continues for another week or so, it will be an uphill battle for any other burger to eclipse the Humble Bee’s sales.  Should that be the case, the pot will be divided amongst Diane Williams, Banger Smith, Tim Bunch and yours truly.  I encourage these fun little challenges and contests in your restaurants.   By the way, a shout-out to the Medford team for their tasty Humble Bee Burger creation.

            Also on the burger front, our culinary team has been working to bring back a longtime favorite, The Husky Burger. Our new version features a grilled 18oz. burger patty, three slices of Wisconsin creamy Havarti cheese, three slices of tomato, iceberg lettuce, three slices of bacon, mayo, sautéed garlic mushrooms, served on a jumbo size grilled bun! As we were taking photos of the burger, one of our guests said… “Oh, are you bringing back The Husky?” We have yet to finalize pricing, but we plan to run this via our “Chef Specials” in the coming weeks.

Chef James Cassidy and I attended the International Pizza Expo & Conference in Las Vegas last week.  To see an entire convention facility filled with pizza exhibitors was amazing and surprising to some degree.  The size of this organized event built around the food culture of pizza was impressive.  Every pizza vendor under the sun was showing their wares from ovens, peels, dough, sauce, boxes, flour etc…  James and I sat through a few educational seminars and picked up a few tidbits that we feel will make our pies even better.  By the way, keep your eye out for our Cincopatas pizza box coming soon. 

On the subject of pizza, an offering we are working towards is Pizza of the Month.  A few restaurants advocated for a Chicken Bacon Ranch pizza and have been selling that with success.  Another signature pizza that was championed is a Pickle Pizza.  Believe me, it is tasty.  Take our house-made dough, add ranch dressing, cheese and dill pickles.  Banger and James have been perfecting this treat.  You and your guests will get to enjoy it soon. 

Final food note for this newsletter, we are testing a new plate presentation for our Calamari and are planning to change the name on the menu to “Calamari Fries”. This should help with confusion and feedback we have received from our Teams & guests.                                

Gracious Hospitality is how you make someone feel.  In our business, we have so many opportunities to influence positive emotions in our guests.  Expertise in product knowledge is a great way of cultivating loyal guests, as it stimulates interest and builds trust. 

With this in mind, we expect two things beginning now:  First, ALL FOH team members will welcome all guests with smiles, eye-contact and a personalized tidbit about our daily special or current LTO as well as a specific Ram beer recommendation.  Second, ALL guests will be sincerely thanked for dining with us upon their departure.

Thank you for making this happen and growing Ram’s culture of Gracious Hospitality.

            During the month of April, we say Happy Birthday to:  Andrea Johnson, Joshua Tucker, Mason Bolen and Kristie Webb. 

            A heartfelt thank you to the following team members celebrating significant anniversaries with the Ram this months:  Brandan Brocklebank (6 years), Kevin Martinez (37 years), Katherine Rosenthal (9 years), Frank Parascondola (7 years), Darla Shamel (6 years), Lucian Jasso (6 years), Oscar Mejia Hernandez (5 years), Scott Hull (7 years), Collin McNees (12 years), Ramiro Mendiola Hernandez (10 years), Ricky Wilson (7 years), Carlos Gutierrez (9 years), Jason Scalice (7 years), Alfonso Ruiz Garcia (11 years) and Miguel Solano Cobian (11 years).  Thank you very much.