MenusNEPA |
     Jay Lefkoski was hungry. Life in a fast-paced office left no time to flip through the Yellow Pages looking for lunch—and the menu his favorite sandwich shop faxed him on Tuesday was buried under an avalanche of papers by Wednesday.     “Lunch was always an ordeal,“ said Jay.    So he founded a business website that posts the menus of more than 100 restaurants in NEPA at one convenient, online location. The site includes restaurant hours, addresses and driving directions, coupons, specials, and catering menus as well.     MenusNEPA.com has run more than a quarter of a million dollars’ worth of paid and contest-leveraged advertising in the first year alone, including aggressive radio media schedules, newspapers, magazines, and eight billboards. Through online drawings, MenusNEPA.com gives away about 400 free lunches a month and a cruise about twice a year.     “We give the locally owned restaurants a large advertising footprint in the local area,“ said Jay.     The idea for MenusNEPA.com was born through hunger pangs, but it’s fed by Jay’s preference for independently owned restaurants.     “I like real food made for real people that’s cooked by real people,“ he said, adding, “Lots of these chains claim their food is just like mom makes, even though it is mass-produced, frozen, shipped from California, and microwaved before serving it!“     When Jay heard that Arena-generated national chain restaurants have cost local restaurant owners about 10% in revenue, it spurred him to find a way to give them a huge voice in the advertising world without the huge cost. He drew on 24 years of marketing and sales experience to found MenusNEPA.com in October, 2006.     “Ten percent loss could be the difference of someone closing their doors,“ he said. “We’re taking back business by driving consumers to one site, promoting only locally owned restaurants and all they offer. It’s the kicker that was needed.“     Since opening, the site has experienced overwhelming success, with nearly 350,000 hits in NEPA alone. Jay also operates sites in two other locations, representing 270 restaurants overall. He has about 10 employees, six of them in sales.     “It’s nice to be able to do this for locally owned and operated restaurants. I have a heart for the local economy and a taste preference for the local food,“ he said. “There’s just one reason people go to our site: they’re hungry.“     Next lunch hour, let hunger drive you—not to the same old fast-food restaurant, the fridge, or the vending machine, but straight to MenusNEPA.com. |
