The MEALISON: 25% Off Orders to Pacific Buffet

Receive a 25% discount when you order from Pacific Buffet. Offer ends Monday 12/27/2010.

This one's for those looking to cater over the holiday season! The oriental line-up from Pacific Buffet offers something special for everyone from Korean BBQ Short Ribs to Clams with Black Bean sauce. The clams are a hit with Pacific Buffet's regulars. 

Pacific Buffet doesn't do individual take-outs but they do stick to what they do best: serving up delicious buffets. Their food comes in catering trays perfect for those holiday gatherings and parties. 

So check it out. You can order for take-out, or if you are looking to bring a meal into your office, you can do that as well.

The "Meal Is On" at Pacific Buffet.

More than 186 Yelpers give a solid 3 stars to Pacific Buffet. 

“Hundreds and thousands of people in every city across the country, and thousands more across the world wait weeks and weeks in anticipation of February 4, 2007.  It's Super Bowl Sunday 2007, it was the Bears versus the Colts, it was the battle of the best of the National Football League.

Luis M, Anne Marie, and I (aka IFOCEY - International Force of Competitive Eaters and Yelpers) waited weeks and weeks and weeks.  The tension had built up.  We all woke in a sweaty excited verklempt mess on the morning of Super Sunday, February 4.  Because we know where our priorities are.  We were going to PACIFIC BUFFET.  This was OUR PERSONAL SUPER BOWL.

Ladies and gentlemen, let's get ready to RUMMMBLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEE.” - Herra Chink y., Yelp

What to do:

1) Place an order to Pacific Buffet - (Note:  This deal is only valid for orders placed through GetQuik).

2) At the checkout page, enter the discount code: 

happyhols

3) For take-out orders, go to Pacific Buffet (we recommend you bring your order # with you).

Pacific Buffet

39550 Paseo Padre PWY

Fremont CA 94538

Monday-Sunday

11AM - 9.30PM

Let them know GetQuik sent you. You are set.

4) Enjoy.

GetQuik's Customer-Requested Improved Search

Ask and you will receive.  This one is for you Liz. 

We are still working out a few kinks on our new search, but it appears to be working pretty well.  Now you can search for both restaurants and "dishes".  Example:  If you really craving an order of Chicken Tikka Masala, now you can find which nearby restaurants offer the dish. 

The new search is pretty self-explanatory, but here are a couple of tips.  The search will look for matching results in restaurant names, product names, and product descriptions.



















In the above screen shot, you can limit your search to (1) search only for restaurant or a dish.  If you wish to refine your search to only see restaurant results or dish results, you are able to do this by clicking the corresponding request (2).  You can change the sorting of results (3) by distance, restaurant name or delivery minimum.  The default sort is by distance. 

From the search results, you will be able to easily find the dish you are looking for, as the search result page will highlight your keyword as illustrated in the below screenshot.

Keep the recommendations coming.  Accepting requests at support@getquik.com.

The MEALISON: 25% Off Orders to El Caminito

Receive a 25% discount when you order from El Caminito. Offer ends Monday 12/20/2010.

Along El Camino Real in Sunnyvale lies El Caminito, a modern day outpost that gathers fresh vegetables and lean meat while blending them with quick and friendly service alongside reasonable prices. While most Mexican restaurants use lard in their dishes, El Caminito uses low-cholesterol oil instead.  

El Caminito is one of those restaurants where we stare at the menu, make a feeble attempt to pronounce some items (check out tongue-twisters like the prescado a la veracruzana and the heuvos con chorizo), before giving up and placing our orders through GetQuik (the online version of nodding and pointing at the menu in the restaurant). 

El Caminito dishes out delicious burritos, fajitas, enchiladas while the combination plates which offer multiple choices of tacos, tostadas, chile relleno, enchiladas, and tamales, are wildly popular. 

So check it out.  You can order for take-out, or if you are looking to bring a meal into your office, you can do that as well.

The "Meal Is On" at El Caminito.

More than 71 Yelpers rate El Caminito as 3.5 stars. 

“Oh yes, yummy chile verde burittos. I didn't think they could taste any better until I added some Tapatio sauce and I felt like a mad scientist that had just created the ultimate combination of evil deliciousness. Nice price, nice service...go.” - Liquidman.., Yelp

" My family and I have been going here for many, many years!  I have enjoyed all the dishes I have tried over the years...from the chips and salsa, to the tortilla soup, to the San Tomas Burrito, to the crispy tacos and cheese enchiladas, to the refried beans and rice.  It's all so yummy! In fact, I wish I could order something now...but they're closed..." - Yvette M., Yelp

What to do:

1) Place an order to El Caminito - (Note:  This deal is only valid for orders placed through GetQuik).

2) At the checkout page, enter the discount code: 

thelittleway

3) For take-out orders, go to El Caminito (we recommend you bring your order # with you).

El Caminito

510 El Camino Real

Sunnyvale CA 94087

Monday-Thursday

11AM - 9.30PM

Friday-Saturday

11AM - 10PM

Sunday

10AM - 9.30PM

Let them know GetQuik sent you. You are set.

4) Enjoy.

Catering Tips - Step 2 - Make Your Meal Accessible

Complexity is the enemy of easy ordering.  Easy ordering leads to increased orders, less confusion, and superior efficiency.

GetQuik works with hundreds of restaurants.  The 80/20 rule is evident in our business.  For those unfamiliar with the 80/20 rule, it dictates that 80% of orders are being send to 20% of our restaurant participants.  GetQuik runs an online marketplace for restaurant ordering, which means that customers need to self-service their meal requests. 

There are many reasons that some restaurants get a higher share of business than others in the GetQuik network, and one of the key factors is the approachability of the menu.  The easier a menu is to understand, the more likely customers will feel comfortable in placing their orders to these restaurants.


Step 1:  Eliminate ambiguity

Many menus have a limited description of the menu items, leading to confusion on the part of the customers.  For ethnic cuisines, the meal name are not clear to those unfamiliar with the cuisine.

A dish titled "Aloo Gobi" is not going to help a customer who is unfamiliar with Indian cuisine.  Adding a simple description that the "Aloo Gobi" dish is a "cauliflower and potatoes in a spiced curry sauce" helps to provide the customer with a better idea of what the dish is.

For other dishes, the sides or lack of side dishes can help the person making the order.

An example is a "hamburger meal" may be served with french fries.  Make sure the description makes this clear.  The description can simple state, "meal comes with a side of french fries."

On the flip side, a Chinese menu might offer dishes "a la carte".  Since a lot of Chinese restaurants offer a side of rich with dishes, if a meal does NOT come with rice, it often makes sense to provide this information to the customers.  So for the meal category titled, "A la Carte Entrees", it would makes sense to provide a notice that "A la Carte" meals do not include rice.  This is the restaurant equivolent of a "batteries not included" label.

Step 2:  Accurate Portioning
It is useful for larger catering style trays to provide a clue to how large the "trays" are, and how many approximate people one tray can serve.  This can get complicated as there is a lack of consistent portion recommendations from one restaurant to the next.

From least helpful to most helpful in terms of portioning:

1. Large tray of pork-ribs, $85,
2. Large tray of pork-ribs, Serves 8-10 people, $85,
3. Large tray of pork-ribs, Tray Size (21 3/8" x 12 3/4" x 4 1/2"), Serves 8-10 people, $85,
4. Large tray of pork-ribs, Includes ten (2 lb) pork-rib slabs, Serves 8-10 people, $85.

Step 3:  Trays instead of Single Size Meals
Party of Catering Trays are useful tools to simplify ordering for larger meals.  By providing catering tray sizes, it provides customers will the assurance that your restaurant or catering business is familiar with serving group meals.

Step 4:  Set Catering (per person) Options
Another recommended way to drive more catering business by simplifying the order experience is to offer a set catering meal solution.  Set Catering meals should have the following parameters and considerations:

• # people minimum,
• Appetizer or Salad, 
• Necessary side dishes (i.e. chips & salsa for Mexican food, rice for Asian Cuisines, naan for Indian),
• 2-3 main meat entrees,
• 2-3 vegetarian entrees or side dishes,
• optional dessert.

Take a look at Thai Chili's menu for an example of a well-thought out and approachable set catering menu option.  Go to the "Catering Menu" section to see how easy this is for a customer to order.

For previous catering tips:  check out -

http://www.getquikblog.com/2010/11/catering-tips-step-1-use-common-sense.html

We'll discuss some additional tips regarding catering tips and gotchas in a future post.

Still Not A Fan of DRM

I am a supporter of DRM and region-locking when it is well managed and executed. DRM needs to be seamless and non-obtrusive to the content user while still maintaining distribution control. At best, it should be providing an entirely identical experience as with purchasing physical copies of the content.

To drop a few names of companies that do this well... I take that back. There seems to be only one company that does DRM right, and it is Valve. Valve is a game studio and a game publisher. They own their own online game digital distribution service, Steam, that is well-built, robust and provides a great user experience. Region locking for Steam distributed games are pretty much the same as management of the physical copies. Game not available in your area? No worries, get a friend to buy the copy for you and send it over. Valve made me a fan of DRM with their elaborate and thoughtful content management service.

Cue Amazon Kindle. It is a great service, what with their Whispernet technology and free global 3G. In essence it is the same as Steam - You obtain their distribution client and they give you speedy content delivery. It wasn't surprising that I quickly became a fan of the Kindle. Then my woes began when I tried to replicate the DRM experience I had with Steam on the Kindle. Logically speaking, books should be less controlled than natively digital products like games and movies. Voila! I bought my friend a book on World War 2 and much to his dismay (right after the initial delight of course), Amazon decided that he wasn't in a region that's good enough to read the book. "Sorry this book is not available in your region". For me, that's the equivalent of me buying a book in the US, bringing it back home to Singapore in gift wrap, and open it up to find that it has magically become a brick.

Okay fine, I thought, US publishers have decided to be a prick about the whole distribution issue. I thought game publishers had more to be worried about digital distribution. Maybe they fear that Asian countries might become more literate than their own people?

In any case, I gave Amazon a call and asked for a refund. Yes I had to make an international call from Japan to get a refund for a book that turned into a brick in Singapore. Here's how it went:

Me: "Hi I want a refund on a Kindle eBook gift I bought"

Rep: "Sorry gifts can't be refunded"

Me: "Okay look, I bought a book as a gift for a friend using your service. You had his information from his Amazon account. Amazon KNEW that he wouldn't be able to read the book after receiving it but still went ahead and charged my card for it."

Rep: "Yes sir. I'm really sorry about that."

Me: "So now that Amazon has sold me a brick that I cannot read, my friend cannot read and I can't get my money back, how am I supposed to solve this problem?"

Rep: "Your friend would have the option of converting the eBook gift into Amazon credit by which he can make Amazon purchases"

Me: "That doesn't even make sense. $9.99 is way too little to afford anything on Amazon that can actually be shipped out of the US. Not to mention that now he has to spend on shipping to get a $10 item just so that he can claim his gift from me and there's no rational point to this whole issue because I meant to buy him a book, not a pack of instant ramen."

Rep: "I'm very sorry about this sir. There's nothing I can do about it. Give me a moment."

*wait on line for 5 minutes*

Rep: "Yep sir, there's nothing we can do about it."


So let's summarize my experience here. I paid Amazon to give my friend access to their stock of digital books. Then I paid Amazon again to give my friend a book he has been given access to and Amazon decided that he wasn't good enough for them. Then Amazon denies me of my money back and forces my friend to buy something from their store for taking my money, which he is clearly not going to because it's not worth the shipping costs to Singapore. Amazon basically took my money for nothing.

Will I continue to buy books from them? Yeah probably. But is this the enjoyable sharing experience that book reading is supposed to be? I just laughed at that statement.

MEALISON: 25% Off Orders to Cafe Epi

Receive a 25% discount when you order from Cafe Epi. Offer ends Monday 12/13/2010.

Nestled along University Avenue is a ‘blink or you’ll miss it’ cafe with an unpretentious deep mahogany wood brown decor. This week’s Meal Is On directs the spotlight on Cafe Epi which offers mouthwatering pastries, salads, pasta, sandwiches and paninis. 

If you are feeling up for it, order the Ultimate Dessert Basket which promises envious stares from your colleagues or family. If you think you’ve got an inner bread connoisseur,  Cafe Epi’s sandwiches and paninis which come on french baguettes are also popular with the lunch crowd.

So check it out.  You can order for take-out, or if you are looking to bring a meal into your office, you can do that as well.

The "Meal Is On" at Cafe Epi.

More than 148 Yelpers rate Cafe Epi as 3.5 stars. 

“I'll keep this simple. 

Our office is on University Ave, within a few blocks of about a dozen different breakfast places., and we've tried them all. We order from Cafe Epi every single day for breakfast. Everything we've had from there is excellent -- the fruit/yogurt parfaits, the eggs, pancakes, omelettes, etc.

The owner is in there behind the counter every morning and every item on the menu is made fresh.

This place is the bomb.

Oh, and keep an eye out for Silicon Valley billionaires in there. I've done more than a few double-takes while waiting in line for my take-out order.” - Michael R., Yelp

What to do:

1) Place an order to Cafe Epi - (Note:  This deal is only valid for orders placed through GetQuik).

2) At the checkout page, enter the discount code: 

epic

3) For take-out orders, go to Cafe Epi (we recommend you bring your order # with you).

Cafe Epi

405 University Avenue

Palo Alto CA 94301

Monday-Sunday

8AM - 10PM

Let them know GetQuik sent you. You are set.

4) Enjoy.

Earn Reward Points When You Refer Friends!

We are relaunching our "referral" program.  When you successfully refer a friend to GetQuik, you earn a reward point for every dollar your friend spends on the GetQuik network.  This referral incentive is good for 6 months from the time your friend activates their GetQuik account.

Example:

• Go to the My Tools | Refer a Friend section of the GetQuik site.

• You will see that you have a few options to drive referrals.  You can post a notification on Facebook or Twitter, or you can send out emails to your friends.  In the example, the customer invites friends using the "Mail It" option.

• Notice that you have your own referral link.  Every time one of your friends activates an account by first discovering GetQuik using your referral link, you receive credit for these referrals.  In this example, your friends activate their accounts at different times.  As mentioned earlier, since they discovered GetQuik from your referral recommendation and link, you will get credit for the referral when they finally register their GetQuik account.

• As your friends active their accounts after your refer them, you will be able to keep track of your referral points for each successfully referred friend.  In the above example 6 of your friends have activated their accounts.  Of the six accounts, 4 are still active and 2 are inactive since the 6 month referral period has ended.  As mentioned above, for each dollar your friend spends on the GetQuik network, you earn one GetQuik reward point. 

Hint:
When you share your GetQuik purchases on Facebook, we will include your referral link.  If one of your friends discovers GetQuik from your Facebook status updates, you can earn referral points from these friends.

If you have any questions regarding the GetQuik referral program, you can email GetQuik at support@getquik.com.

Thank you for helping to spread the word about GetQuik.