The Strand will debut a new breakfast menu starting Jan. 30. In the coming weeks, the restaurant will also begin offering curb-side pick-up and delivery services.
The Italian restaurant in CityScape has been spreading the word on its new menu to regular customers. According to co-owner Ernie Vega, the owners decided to add a breakfast menu after a period of adjustment following the Strand’s opening in December.
“All along we had planned to have a breakfast menu,” Vega said. “But we wanted lunch and dinner to run smooth first, to take the time and do it right.” The Strand also features a cafe and a bar area.
The breakfast menu will include crepe wraps, a breakfast pizza topped with eggs and vegetables, and zeppolinis, a type of flavored doughnut that Vega predicts will be a “big commodity.”
They have not set the prices yet, but Vega said they will be similar to lunch and dinner, or ten dollars and under.
Estimating the projected revenue for the breakfast menu is difficult, Vega said. He thinks the Strand will make about 50 percent of the lunch revenue per day on breakfast. He has higher hopes for the delivery service now in the works.
“As for delivery, the sky’s the limit,” he said.
According to Vega, the delivery service could grow into a catering service oriented toward business meetings, weddings and other formal events. However, the Strand will deliver primarily to the downtown Phoenix core when the restaurant begins the service.
Future plans for the Strand may include adding locations throughout the Phoenix metro area and a discount for ASU students.
Vega is an ASU graduate and wants to cater more to the downtown student population.
“We want to do something for students,” he said. “We want to do what we can for them.”
Describing the restaurant’s decor as “really hip,” cashier Stephanie Cano said “the business is doing pretty good.” The restaurant ordered 30 new seats and new countertops to accommodate crowds during peak hours, which run between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
Regular customer Greg Crosetti, a Scottsdale-based wine wholesaler and Vega’s friend, is excited for all the changes that will happen.
“I’m very much looking forward to (the breakfast menu),” he said.
Crosetti anticipates the delivery service will also be successful.
“Are you kidding? It’s paramount,” he said.
Contact the reporter at bkutzler@asu.edu
