Tag Archive: Breadsticks

1. Monical’s Nutritional Calculator

   April 15, 2014 1:29 pm 62 Comments

   

   In response to both increased guest demand and pending legislation under the Affordable Care Act, we decided to update our on-line nutrition information to make it more user- friendly.  We searched for a provider who could give us a more comprehensive approach for accessing our nutritional information.  After reviewing a large number of nutritional information pages on restaurant websites, we concluded that a “nutrition calculator’ would be an excellent approach for us to follow.  The nutritional calculator allows guests to “build” their meals and then receive a broad range of nutritional information.  A bonus of this effort was that the nutritional calculator would also list potential allergens to assist guests with food allergies in making safe meal choices.

    

   We selected Nutritional Information Services (NIS), a company headquartered in Washington D. C., as our nutritional information provider.  We submitted to NIS all of our recipes (including specialty recipes from our franchisees) along with portion information and product specification sheets for all of the food products we utilize in our operations.  Utilizing our information, NIS built a calculator specific to our corporate menu which will be linked to our new website.  While the calculator will be specific only to the corporate menu, each individual franchise location will have a link to a PDF, which will contain nutritional information specific to their local menu.

    

   Healthy eating is a product of making good choices based on accurate information combined with an active lifestyle.  For most people it doesn’t mean giving up the things you enjoy, just making choices with balance and moderation in mind.  Monical’s Pizza is working to provide enjoyable food of high quality with the information our guests need to make good meal decisions.

2. C is for Cookie (or Calzone!)

   July 20, 2012 12:09 pm 3 Comments

   Do you remember the Sesame Street song “C is for Cookie”? We do! We thought we would try to come up with Monical’s menu items to fill up the rest of the alphabet! We were able to come up with 21 of the 26 letters in the alphabet. How many can you list?

   A: Apple Slices
   B: Breadsticks
   C: Cookie or Calzone
   D: Delight (pizza combination)
   E: Extra Meat or Veggies (pricing per topping)
   F: Family Pleaser
   G: Gluten Free Pizza
   H: Half Sandwich and Salad Combination
   I: Italian Special (pizza combination)
   J: Juice
   K: Kid’s Menu
   L: Lasagna
   M: Mozzarella Sticks
   N: Nacho cheese
   O: Oven-Ready (Frozen) Pizza
   P: Pecan Grilled Chicken Salad
   Q:
   R: Ravioli
   S: Sweet Tea
   T: Turkey BLT Sandwich
   U:
   V: Veggie Toppings (or pizza combo)
   W: Wings
   X:
   Y:
   Z:

3. Monical’s Menu helps this Mom ‘Git-R-Done’

   February 24, 2012 5:34 pm Leave a Comment

   
   
   

   Monical’s Menu helps this Mom ‘Git-R-Done’
   Growing up my elders always told me, “the older you get the quicker time goes by” and man, were they right!  Like many working mothers I wear many hats and I have found, after having children, that time speeds by even faster.  My daughter, Josephine, is 17 months old and my son, Gavin just turned 3 on February 7th.

   To celebrate we had a party and of course this party had to have a theme, activities, prizes and not to mention a fantastic menu.   The theme was easy, Disney Pixar CARS as Gavin is a HUGE fan! Decorations, no problem!  Some handmade some store bought. Goody bags….check! Name the character trivia for the game and car related prizes such as car wash – piece of cake!  Coloring books, crayons,  stickers and more to keep the kids occupied – fantastic.  Now the burning question….what will the menu be and how can I relate it to this theme?

   Hmmmm. I pondered for a while then thought, “my family LOVES Monical’s and the Manteno, IL location always gives great service and the food is out of this world”. That settled that question but now, how can I make it fit the theme?  Looking at the menu and recalling the names of character in CARS it hit me; we will have – Ramone’s Rollies, Sally’s Salad, Route 66 breadsticks, Francesco Cheese Fries, Guido’s Italian Special Point Pizza and Tow-Mater and Cheese Pizza!  What a hit!!  Everyone revved their engines and raced to the food table to fill up their tanks and enjoyed every bite!

   Car related puns aside, the service and food as usual were fantastic and left them craving more!  Thank you Monical’s for being a true “Family Pleaser” and for helping to make my son’s birthday party a true success!

4. A duo meant for the ages… “Sweet & Tart”

   August 23, 2011 3:06 pm 2 Comments

   For 50 years, Monical’s has been famous (in part) for our Sweet & Tart Salad Dressing.  Our Guests have learned to use it not just on salad, but also on pizza, breadsticks, sandwiches and just about anything else on the menu.

   [youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=fGoeVbU5gZY]The original Sweet & Tart recipe dates back many years, and the recipe is not easy to reproduce or duplicate. The slightest variation in the way it’s made can cause changes in color, texture or taste. Because of the incredibly loyal following this dressing has, our Guests or our Management Teams notice changes immediately. It’s then that our Quality Assurance Team must spring into action and work with vendors to find a solution.

   We not only purchase the dressing in large quantities for restaurant use, but also sell it (a lot of it) in pint bottles. We recently developed a “light” version with a nearly identical taste profile that is (shameless promotion to follow) for sale online or in our restaurants.

   Due to the extreme popularity of our Sweet & Tart Salad Dressing, we know we must do whatever is necessary to monitor and protect the quality and consistency of this product.  Salad dressing may not seem like a big thing to many restaurants, but to us and our Guests, it’s a significant part of what makes Monical’s special.

5. Monical’s – My first ‘out-on-my-own’ job!

   June 14, 2011 11:56 am 2 Comments

   Prior to 2002, I had been a regular at Monical’s Pizza with my parents. Typically around twice a month we’d have a meal of thin crust pizza, salad, and breadsticks and leave more than pleased. This had gone on for quite some time, as my aunt had worked at one of the Kankakee locations and my cousin worked at the Gilman location.

   Towards the end of 2002 we were at Monical’s for one of our regular visits. During this visit, it was busier than normal and my cousin happened to be working alone. I offered my assistance, and while it was declined because I wasn’t employed there, I was given an application and encouraged to turn it in in a timely manner. Not much later I received a call from that location’s manager asking me to come in for an interview. I was eager and ready for the opportunity; it could be my first “out-on-my-own” job. And sure enough, that’s what it became. I was hired as a pizza maker soon after that interview.

   Within the first week it was evident that I hadn’t just taken a job. I had never put much thought to the slogan of “Family Pleaser” until that week. Not only did we as a staff exist to bring families together and give them a great experience, we were also a family ourselves. Through my four years of working at that Monical’s location, I can think of hundreds of great moments while working, from customer compliments to laughs with co-workers; enjoyable meetings to late night cleaning events; maintenance tasks to employee get-togethers. It was never just a job that I attended to receive a paycheck. I was interested in learning new positions and everything that I could: I had started as a maker, but I also tended to the ovens, delivered, made dough, did morning prep, took orders, and (only at desperate times) helped serve and bus tables.

   As a matter of fact, I enjoyed my job enough to endure forty and fifty hour work weeks while attending at least nineteen college credit hours worth of classes. I lived halfway between college and work, so I would drive to class in the mornings, drive home in the afternoon, change, and head to work. I put a lot of miles on my poor car, but I had moved up to a shift supervisor position at the location and knew I had to keep up with school as well.

   When it was time to transfer colleges, I found that I could no longer do both, and chose my education. I don’t regret the decisions I made, but I’d be lying if I said I that I didn’t miss working at Monical’s. From the strange looks that I got from customers while wearing shorts year-round (it was hot in the kitchen!) to the custom food creations, there are plenty of memorable times.

   I’m still a customer, whether it’s just my wife and I carrying out or we’re with our parents at one of the many locations. I tend to keep it simple, not asking for any wild concoctions that I may have once created. Although, if I may suggest, everyone should try a pair of garlic breadsticks with all three (nacho, cheddar, and tomato) sauces mixed. Or, if you’re into a little extra spice, try your usual pizza, but ask for it as a “blue flame.” Just after the sauce is spread onto the dough, the crushed red peppers are sprinkled in. It has a good taste, given that you don’t mind it hot.

   —
   # Eric Wilborn
   # twitter: @ericwilborn
   # web: http://ericwilborn.com

6. Recycling at Monical’s Corporate Support Center

   May 31, 2011 4:05 pm 2 Comments

   It began with recycling aluminum cans. Many of us were drinking canned soft drinks, so we installed a can crusher on the wall in our employee kitchen and placed a lined plastic garbage can under it. After empty cans were crushed, they simply fell into the lined garbage can. Once a bag became half-full, we took it to the local recycling center and redeemed it for cash. The money was then used to buy Dairy Queen treats for the office.

   Next, it was paper and cardboard. We spoke with our waste collector and found that by choosing one day of the week to recycle paper and cardboard (Thursday worked best), we could reduce the quantity of pick-ups. In addition to helping the environment, this method of recycling actually saved the company money.

   Then, plastic recycling tubs were placed under our desks and a we put a large tub in the fax/copier area. We designated a 4’ x 8’ area in our file room to collect corrugated cardboard during the week. On Thursdays, we spend 15 minutes dumping our tubs into a large pick-up can where it’s then pulled to the outdoor trash area near our employee entrance. The corrugated cardboard is broken down, placed in saved corrugated cardboard boxes, and set out with the paper to await for pickup. It’s gone before the end of our work day.

   Next, we tackled the prospect of recycling plastic bottles. A garbage can was placed in our kitchen specifically for PET and polyethylene bottles. We began noticing that the employees who didn’t have recycling collection at home began bringing their used bottles too. This presented two more opportunities: batteries and plastic bags.

   We only needed three square feet of space to accomplish this. For batteries, we placed a basket next to our shredding area. For plastic bags, we placed a plastic laundry hamper in the same area. As we began recycling the batteries from various office tools, the plastic bags from our lunches, the used packing materials and mailing sleeves, we once again found that our employees were continuing the effort by bringing their own used batteries and plastic bags from home.

   The batteries are recycled at the Interstate Battery Store, located just a couple of blocks away from our office. Interstate has taken it upon themselves to collect and store used batteries until a recycling center in the area is identified. The laundry hamper full of plastic bags is taken to a local grocery store where they happily accept them.

   Finally, our IT coordinator began accepting copier and printer cartridges for his church to recycle. As a result of this, we’ve been able to divert 50% of our spent cartridges to support his efforts.

   We seem to be treating this process casually and consistently. The reality of recycling is that it doesn’t take much time or require huge amounts of extra space and, in the end, we save the company money. We enjoy this small group effort for a variety of reasons, and rewarding our employees with ice cream certainly adds to the enjoyment.

7. Welcome

   February 24, 2011 8:08 am 5 Comments

   Darkness is beginning to fall and there’s a slight chill in the air.  As the campfire is lit, campers are drawn to the warmth and the light.  They circle around the fire and begin to converse, tell stories, and sing camp songs. It’s one of those shared experiences you look forward to, tend to remember, and want to repeat.

   For Monical’s Pizza, our core menu items are our campfire. They attract people almost magically and make them want to come back again and again. And once attracted, they enjoy the social attributes of the experience. They converse, share stories and enjoy one another’s company.  This is the “song-sharing” aspect of the Monical’s experience. This is “We Bring People Together.”

   Our blog is intended to give our community an opportunity to hear and share the stories created around the shared experience of our beloved Pizza, Salad, Sweet & Tart Dressing and Breadsticks. Stories could include a first visit to Monical’s, a most memorable visit to Monical’s, or what a person misses most about Monical’s (for people who no longer live in the area). These same stories may also be told by our team members as they share the experience of their first day working at Monical’s, people they’ve met and served while working at Monical’s, or what working for the company has meant to them.

   Please grab your blankets and join us. We look forward to the many stories that are waiting to be told!