People tend to ask, “How does Naan & Kabab stay in business in these tough times?” It boils down to a few simple things, really.
Most important is bonding our staff and creating a culture that brings out the best in everybody. To put it simply, we work to build a culture where you can feel relaxed and be happy going to work. When people are in a bad mood they pass on that aura to the customer. So the culture that’s created here is friendly and relaxed and positive.
Passion is important. I believe that if you love what you’re doing – you’ll never work a day in your life. I started this restaurant so that I could share the food that my parents used to make and my neighbors would bring by when I was a child. I love my job.
And if you have passion about something, you can create a really powerful skill for it. The skills we cultivate here are in being able to find and deliver the best product for less money – that’s how we stay in business. I’ll go five different places to find the best ingredients at the lowest price. That takes effort, commitment, passion, and consistency – and when you put your team members in the kind of mood where they want to give all of themselves, then you’re getting more for your money!
How do you keep them in that mood? You treat them right – be honest with them, don’t micromanage them. Everybody here knows all the sales – my books are open. They know our food costs, they know our labor costs – in our management meetings our books are open.
In a leadership class that I took years ago, they urged you to enlist, enthuse, empower, and include your team members. And I make sure to complement them in front of the customer. That I learned from my father.
As a leader for my team, I’m either helping them, or joking with them, or praising them. And if there’s something that needs to be improved, I live by the rule: “Say the whys instead of the hows.”
And finally, we stay in business because of our loyal customers. We can’t appreciate you enough. And we know that if we don’t consistently do our job, you wouldn’t be as loyal as you are – and so we will continue to do our best and listen to you, our most valuable assets.
Marina, a fabulous Mediterranean Dancer, will be gracing us with a performance this Saturday, January 30th, at 7pm. Come join us for an evening of entertainment and a get a preview of what’s to come for our upcoming February 12, 13, and 14th Anniversary Celebration!
And don’t forget about our Fan of the Month Lottery – we’ll be announcing the winner on February 12th – just in time for our 1-year Anniversary!
Mediterranean Steak, House Salad, Awesome Dude Ice Cream – $7.47
You’ll begin with our signature House Salad – crisp bites of hearts of romaine, ripe tomatoes, and crunchy cucumber slices with julienne sweet red onions. Our salad is dressed with 10 year-old Balsamic Vinegar and 100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
Our steak is a house specialty: 7-8 ounces of marinated chuck tender steak, served with saffron basmati rice and marinated, fire roasted assorted vegetables.
Finally, for dessert you’ll enjoy the Awesome Dude Homemade Ice Cream: We take low sugar vanilla ice cream and add pistachios, rose water, pieces of frozen, unsweetened cream and flavored with saffron. And if that wasn’t enough, we top it with pieces of baklava.
All this for, if you can believe it, $7.47.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading about our very first Entree of the Week – the Mediterranean Steak.
February 14th is our One-Year Anniversary! Thank you all, so much, for welcoming us to Reno and helping make our first year so successful.
In honor of your support, we’re throwing a three-night anniversary bash, February 12th, 13th, and 14th, in which we’ll be featuring local performances by Mediterranean dancers (see below).
Along with the entertainment, we’ll be featuring our full menu at no extra cost, and no cover. But with a deal like that, it’s bound to be a full house, so make your reservations today.
Also, we have a goal of reaching 500 fans by our Anniversary – so help us spread the word by clicking “Suggest to Friends” under our Facebook Profile Picture.
And so you know how important you are to us – 85% of what keeps us in business is our return customers – you are invaluable and we wouldn’t be here without you.
Bill O’Driscoll, of the Reno Gazette Journal, wrote an insightful article on Naan and Kabab, etc. and other restaurants in the area who are coping with the economic downturn. Thanks for featuring us, Bill!
Maybe, just maybe, he believes, he might break even by his first anniversary on Valentine’s Day.
An estimated 85 percent of his clientele are repeat customers, and he vows he’ll do so eventually.
“It’s tough to bring people in when they don’t have money,” Afraimi, known as “Chef Maurice” in his 20-table restaurant on South Virginia Street, said of the ailing economy.
“But they say if you like what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. And I have a passion,” he said.
Read the full article HERE
Well, you’ve all done a great job of spreading the word – we currently have 227 fans on Facebook!
And to reward you, we’ve decided to up the ante for our Facebook Fan of the Month Lottery – and not on your side, but from ours. Instead of offering one 3-Course meal, we’re offering a $20 gift card to a lucky fan. Which means, that instead of enjoying one 3-Course meal, you could easily enjoy two if you like (bring a friend or a loved one) and still have something left over! You could enjoy our Boutari Nemea – a fabulous Greek red wine. Or you could put it toward our Mashabi Special Family Style Meal (pictured above). This way it’s your choice – whatever makes you happy. Because that’s what will make us happy.
And while we understand not wanting to stiffen the competition, having more fans will help us continue to provide Reno with the Mediterranean food that we love so much (and ever more valuable Fan of the Month Lottery prizes in months to come) – so take a moment and lend a hand to the Naan & Kabab team by spreading the word!
The easiest way to let people know about the Naan & Kabab Facebook Fan of the Month Lottery is to “suggest” our Facebook Fan Page to your Facebook friends. Just follow the link to the Naan & Kabab Facebook Fan Page and on the left-hand side, just below our profile picture, click “Suggest to Friends”. Then select the lucky ones (be sure to be liberal with your mouse) and click “Send Invitations” at the bottom.
Thanks for your loyal support – we hope to see you again soon, and we’re looking forward to announcing our inaugural Naan & Kabab Facebook Fan of the Month Lottery Winner on January 15th. Stay tuned!
To show much-deserved appreciation to our Loyal Facebook Fans, Naan & Kabab introduces our first-ever, Facebook Fan Lottery. We’ll be randomly choosing one lucky winner on January 15th from our list of facebook fans to receive a free 3-course meal (details to come). So go ahead, become a fan, and who knows – you may get lucky
Koobedeh Burger!
Naan and Kabab is now featuring daily mid-day specials, from 2-6 pm.
We present your choice of 6 different entrees, including salad and dessert, and for only $14.95 for TWO people!
That’s two entrees (which include salad, roasted vegetables, basmati rice) and our homemade Awesome Dude ice cream for only $14.95. Come in and enjoy!
Searching for a tasty healthy appetizer? The Hummus Sampler at Naan & Kabab is exactly what you have been searching for.
The Hummus Sampler is an appetizer consisting of four homemade flavors of hummus and wedges of Naan (Mediterranean Flatbread). Unlike any other restaurant in town, Naan and Kabab creates these delicious flavors of hummus fresh daily. You might be wondering what flavors of hummus you can expect to try with the sampler. Well, the four flavors the chefs have perfected are fire-roasted red bell pepper, basil, sun dried tomato, and roasted jalapeño and cilantro.
The mouth-watering fire roasted red bell pepper is complemented by a hint of lemon and garlic that creates a unique savory flavor. The basil hummus has a great light fresh taste. The sun-dried tomato hummus is tangy and sweet. Lastly my personal favorite, the roasted jalapeño and cilantro hummus has a spicy flavor unlike anything else served in the restaurant.
Come try the Hummus Sampler and tell us which hummus is your favorite by commenting on this blog.
Naan and Kabab is located across from the Peppermill at 2740 S. Virginia Street.
