Restaurants prep for gridiron party
Area restaurants are getting ready to do the Super Bowl shuffle to provide munchies for their customers' game day parties.
Pizza places, sub shops and chicken joints have been taking orders and making plans all week for the big day. Like the sports teams preparing to take the field, some are looking back at past years' performances, and others are readying the entire team for game day.
"We've projected our sales and put in the food order to our distributor for the products we'll need," said Jeff Baker, manager of Papa John's Pizza on Whiskey Road. "Every employee on our payroll will be here Sunday. Generally, Super Bowl Sunday is our biggest day of the year, and we'll overstaff to provide our best service."
Baker said the pizza chain has records of store performances across the country for past Super Bowl Sundays. This year is different from recent game days in that the game has a later start time, but Papa John's locations can look back to past years with a late-afternoon game for potential pitfalls.
Baker said wings are as big an item for his restaurant as pizza on Super Bowl Sunday. Zaxby's and Wing Place on the Southside also spent the week taking orders for chicken.
"We're looking at lots of wings and chicken fingers," said Wing Place co-owner Dick Dickerson. "We'll be open all day Sunday; normally we're closed Sunday, but we're opening for the game. We'll have extra staff, and my partner and I will both be here ourselves."
"We'll be putting extra people on just to handle the party platter orders," said Zaxby's District Manager Ted Lisowski. "We'll be able to take orders even on the day of the game, but it may take a little longer; normally we just need an hour's notice. It may be longer than that, but we'll be happy to put an order together for them."
Zaxby's orders began coming in last week and picked up steam on Monday. Lisowski said that in addition to chicken dishes, the chain's party salad bar has become more popular this year.
Firehouse Subs on Richland Avenue also has been taking football field-size orders all week, according to owner Kirk Downey.
"The big thing we've done is offer a tiered discount starting Friday to people who put in their orders in advance," he said. "We expect it to be normal in here for lunch Sunday, but in terms of extra food, we may have to add an extra person to prepare."
Contact Suzanne Stone at sstone@aikenstandard.com.