Samantha Malone - Taqueria La Mejor
We have reached the end of week 6 of the quarter, which means that things are picking up in class. We have established a relationship with Maria, the owner of La Mejor, and she is very excited for us to start suggesting changes. Over the past two weeks, we have surveyed customers and spoken with Maria about what she would like to see changed.
Our survey was short and asked for customers' ages, food preferences, dining habits, and opinion of the restaurant. Over the several times that we have visited the restaurant, we have noticed customers sitting alone and with family, so we hope that this survey will help us understand customer habits and what attracts each group to La Mejor. We are also hoping to use this survey to narrow down the menu. If there are items that customers do not order, we can cut down the menu accordingly and focus on what they like. We may use Chipotle as an example here since they combine the same few ingredients multiple different ways to create a popular menu. We may also use Chipotle as an example for La Mejor's hours, which are about 9:30AM -11PM every day. We are trying to show Maria that, though the late hours seem to be working well, the early mornings may be unnecessary, as Chipotle does not open until 10:30AM.
Though Maria is very happy to be working with us and our suggestions, she has many ideas of her own, which focus on fixing La Mejor's safety issues. Some hazardous working conditions, like uneven flooring, could prompt lawsuits that Maria cannot afford. Thankfully, we are collaborating with a technical school that can handle the labor and the NPI class has received grants to cover the costs so these problems should be relatively easily fixable.
In class on Tuesday, we will present our findings and suggestions to the class. I am very excited that our introduction to the neighborhood is finished so we can put our education to work in the best hands-on experience SCU could have offered us.