A few years ago, Duncan, who was about 8 years old at the time, walked into O’Betty’s Red Hot! and announced he had an idea for a special: a hot dog with chili sauce and peanut butter.
Now, “Duncan-Go-Nuts” is a big hit for the eatery, said owner Bob Satmary.
The item, however, is not on the menu.
Duncan-Go-Nuts can only be found on the O’Betty’s “frequently requested specialty dogs” list, a catalog of about 11 items known only to employees and some of the regulars. Many of these specialty dogs are from the minds of the hot dog joint’s customers.
Satmary said this option provides an opportunity for the business to interact with the community.
“Anyone can come in and make what they want,” Satmary said. “We’re bringing them into the decision-making process versus having them pick ‘the No. 2’ or ‘No. 4.’ … Once in awhile, one (special order) will catch on.”
At Restaurant Salaam, it was the popularity of a few dishes that earned them a spot on the permanent menu. The “taverna eggplant” appetizer was a staff and customer favorite, while “Hilarie’s salad” was added because the owner ordered it so often. Other than that, Nicholas Capanna said Salaam does not have a secret menu because of its style of dining.
“We build our menu around the ingredients we have,” said Capanna, a shift supervisor and server. “We put a lot of time and effort into our menu and sort of everything we do is on that page. … I think a secret menu is more useful in a take-away food setting.”
Mark Speer, a barista at Donkey Coffee & Espresso, said he thinks the secret menu culture originated in bars and coffee houses. Rather than it being a “secret” menu, Speer said items not explicitly written on the menu are often just the standards that are in all coffee houses.
Patrons can find some of these standards just by asking for a different name. A caramel macchiato, for example, is simply a flavored latte on Donkey Coffee’s menu.
And in many coffee houses, a shot of espresso combined with a cup of coffee is known as a “red eye,” though Donkey Coffee dubs it “a shot in the dark.”
Whichever name you choose, Speer said the drink can be ordered either way.
Another benefit of not listing every possible drink concoction is the space Donkey saves on its menu board.
“The rule of thumb for restaurants is that the more items you have, the less specialized you are in them,” Speer said. “So instead of having a gigantic menu, we have a very specialized one.”
Even though Speer said people order off the menu daily, Donkey Coffee employees are not trained to learn the off-the-menu items.
“We count on them either knowing what it is or being a coffee expert and having already had it themselves,” he said.
Bagel Street Deli’s owners, however, encourage their employees to experiment.
Lori Linnevers, one of the deli’s managers, said employees consistently create their own sandwiches, which are then advertised on a dry-erase board until the next invention comes along.
But once they’re erased, they aren’t gone.
“We have an entire book of sandwiches our bagelers created in the past,” Linnevers said. “It’s 19 pages with about four sandwiches on each page. …They all have their own name. A few are the ‘Hot Donna’ — named after That ’70s Show — or ‘Tickle My Pickle.’ ”
The recorded sandwiches are no longer advertised, but Linnevers said people still order them.
“It’s nice because that means we know they come in often enough to know about these sandwiches,” she said. “It’s also special for the customer because they feel like they know a little secret that other people don’t.”
@Buzzlightmeryl
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