Wow, can you believe January is almost over? I hope you are all as excited about this coming year as I am.  They say the New Year brings about new things and opportunities.  Here at Olga’s we’re pretty excited about some of the happenings that are going to help make the first year of the ‘twenty-tens’ historic!  I’m happy to announce that Olga’s family is growing again, and we’d like to introduce our newest team member: Executive Chef Quinn Adkins.
Chef Quinn (or just Quinn, as he prefers it) brings nearly 20 years of experience in a variety of different cuisines to our table. He is going to be leading the way to new and exciting menu offerings that are sure to please all of you Olgaholics.  He comes to us most recently from Texas where he worked for TGI Friday’s.  And while this is his first time in Michigan and we’re all concerned about his transition from the tropics to the tundra, he assures us he is quite at home here in the chilly North. “I’m really excited to be experiencing my first Michigan winter.  Call me crazy, but I’m excited about all the snow: it appeals to my inner child!” he explains. Hmmmmm……we’ll see how he feels come March.
Quinn has hit the ground running and is already hard at work coming up with some new ideas for this winter.  He has enthusiastically embraced Olga’s food and culture and promises some surprises featuring new flavors and textures but is totally in line with the quality and originality you always expect. We’re clutching feverishly to our keyboards and smartphones in anticipation…..we’ll keep you posted.

A while back we asked you, our loyal guests, what you thought about our Kids Deals. At the time we had two deals going each on a different day of the week. Many of you responded on this blog or through Facebook and Twitter. The overwhelming theme of most of the responses painted a very clear picture. You all seemed to favor one everyday low price over a few select days with a huge discounted price. We took that feed back to heart when re-thinking the way we approach kid’s meals at Olga’s Kitchen.

Thanks to your input Olga’s Kitchen now offers Kid’s meals for $1.99 everyday after 4PM and just $2.99 before 4PM! We have also added some great healthy choices to the menu including carrot sticks and apple slices! Of course the classic favorites are still available, so don’t worry your little ones will still leave with a smile on their faces! We have completely redesigned our kids menu to make it a ton of fun for your child to order off of. I am really excited about this new deal and hope all of you and your children enjoy it! I think the value is unbeatable. By offering your child one of our mouthwatering kids sized Olgas, a choice between 6 different sides and a beverage all for just $1.99 we’ve made dining out affordable and delicious for the whole family!

Be sure to stop by and check out the new Kids Deal then let us know what you think about it by posting a comment here or on Twitter or Facebook! Take care everyone and have a safe and fun winter!

Wow! I am truly blown away by the creativity and Holiday spirit of you our loyal Olgaholics! Our Holiday Sweater Contest has come to an end and soooooooo many of you have made it a smashing success! Can you believe that over the past month Olga’s Kitchen’s Facebook fan member count has grown by over 2,000 Olgaholics just like you? We had over 50 wild and festive Holiday Sweater Showdown entries that have kept us laughing, cringing and begging for more everyday. I want to personally thank everyone who took part in this contest I had a blast and hope all of you did as well! We have tallied the votes and after much discussion and debate we have chosen the one Olgaholic that will be able to satisfy their hunger for FREE all year long! And the winner is……..

Jason Williamson and his crazy Christmas tree sweater and hat!! It was a tough choice and there was some stiff competition but I think you will all agree that Jason’s sweater is in a class of its own! Congratulations Jason you have earned the right to call yourself the Olga’s Kitchen 2009 Holiday Sweater Showdown Champion and will be enjoying free Olga’s all year long.

You can check out all the entries in our Holiday Sweater Showdown Facebook Album and be sure to visit this blog regularly to keep up on the latest and greatest Olga’s Kitchen news!

Happy New Year everyone hope to see you at an Olga’s Kitchen near you soon!

Every year WYCD hosts a Radiothon to support St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. This year the Radiothon is being held at Macomb Mall in Roseville, MI. I am very excided to announce that this year Olga’s Kitchen has teamed up with WYCD to help raise as much money as possible for the hospital.

For two days only (December 10th and 11th) Olga’s Kitchen will give 15% of all proceeds generated from the St. Jude’s Radiothon.

All you have to do is go to our website and click on the “Support St. Jude’s” section, print the attached flyer and bring it to any one of our 34 locations today.

St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital is an amazing hospital that is recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Also, St. Jude’s is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance. No child is ever denied treatment because of the family’s inability to pay

We need your help to make this fundraiser a success for St. Jude’s. We have made it very easy; all you need to do is enjoy a great meal! It can be lunch with your co-workers or dinner with the family, either way please print the flyer and bring it to anyone of our locations to support this great cause!

Also listen to WYCD (99.5fm) and find out how to become a Partner in Hope. They are giving out great prizes. Olga’s Kitchen donated two “Eat Free for a Year” cards. Listen to find out how to win one!

Have a great weekend!
Kelly Wasmund
Olga’s Kitchen
Marketing Coordinator

Olga’s Kitchen and Hiller’s have a lot in common. We are both dedicated to serving our communities with excellence and value in everything we do. We both offer great service, great products and are comprised of hard working and passionate employees concerned with one thing – providing the best possible experience for our guests every time they walk through our doors.
For those reasons, everyone at Olga’s Kitchen is very excited about the roll-out of our Hiller’s sponsored Olga’s Kitchen Rewards Card. Our Rewards Card program currently helps around 100,000 of our guests save money every time they visit one of our restaurants. This year we are teaming up with Hiller’s to help extend those savings to their loyal customers.
The way it works is simple. All you have to do is visit one of Hiller’s 7 local stores and during the checkout process the cashier will hand you one of our Hiller’s sponsored rewards cards. After following the quick and easy online registration process we will give you $5 off your next visit to Olga’s Kitchen and continue to provide you with savings as long as you are a registered Olga’s Rewards Card user.
Help support two local businesses and save your hard earned cash in the process. Visit a Hiller’s near you and become a member of the best Rewards Program around while you’re at it!

In our continued effort to provide our loyal “Olgaholics” with the best value on the best food in town we are happy to announce our Cyber Monday gift card deal! For a limited time you can buy $50 Olga’s Kitchen Cash Cards for only $39.99!

So, if you are like me and love to do your holiday shopping from the comfort of your home, office or mobile device click here and take advantage of this limited time offer! Olga’s Cash Cards are a great way to stuff stockings, or tell that special someone just how much you care. We will mail them to you free of cost in a special holiday card carrier that is perfect for gift giving.

Order as many as you would like and make sure you share the idea with your friends and family (maybe they’ll take the hint)! Thanks for being such great Olga’s Kitchen fans and have a safe and joyful holiday season!

It is definitely that time of year again. My radio is already ringing with the sound of “Jingle Bells” and the streets are slowly being decorated with ribbons of red and festive wreaths. The Holidays are upon us and my wallet is already feeling the strain.

I always seem to get myself stressed out this time of year trying to figure out whom I need to buy for and what that perfect gift is. Luckily my family is totally into gift cards. I use to worry that gift cards were to impersonal and made me seem lazy, but over the last few years I have learned that a gift card from the right place is a real crowd pleaser!

This year Olga’s Kitchen is making gift card giving easy on you and your wallet! For every $25 you spend we are giving you a $5 bonus card absolutely free. If you buy $100 worth of gift cards we are giving you $30 worth of $5 bonus cards! The $5 bonus cards are perfect stocking stuffers and any Olga’s Gift Card is a great way to show your loved ones how much you care. It also won’t hurt anyone if you keep those bonus cards for yourself…it will be our little secret ?

There are two easy ways to cash in on this great deal. You can stop by your local Olga’s Kitchen or simply order them from our online store. You will be hard pressed to find a better gift card deal out there this year, so take advantage of the savings and have a great holiday season this year!

Snackers™ have always been a fan favorite at Olga’s Kitchen. I can’t stop by one of our stores without grabbing a basket for myself. They are the perfect compliment to any of our Premium Sandwiches and I used to think you would be hard pressed to find a better “snack” anywhere on the planet. And then this happened…

This year we decided to take our Snackers™ to the next level and cover them with delicious cinnamon and sugar and provide an amazing cream cheese vanilla frosting for dipping! Cinnamon Sugar Snackers™ have arrived and my taste buds couldn’t be happier. I feel like these things are the best kept secret in town right now and really want to change that so here is the deal. Olga’s Kitchen is about 50 Twitter followers away from reaching the 1,000 mark! Once we are there I am going to tweet out a voucher good for one basket of Cinnamon Sugar Snackers™ absolutely FREE to all of our followers! No purchase necessary just bring in the voucher and we will give you a basket. I guarantee they will change your life….or at least put a very tasty smile on your face! So Re-Tweet this link, stand on the top of a mountain and scream, or do whatever you can to get us over the 1,000 Follower hump and we will reward you with a sweet and delicious basket of heaven. Happy Snacking!

Follow us on Twitter at - http://twitter.com/Olgas_Kitchen

When I was young my dad always told me that hard work paid off. A lot of people around these parts might be second guessing that statement lately. I am not one of those people.

Recently we welcomed a new member to our marketing staff at here Olga’s Kitchen. Her name is Kelly Wasmund and I think her story is a pretty special one. Kelly has been working in the restaurant business since she was 14. Her family owned a German Restaurant in Dearborn Michigan. Throughout her career she has held just about every position possible in a restaurant from table busser and host to server, bartender, and eventually general manager. Now she can add local restaurant marketing coordinator to the mix.

Kelly joined Olga’s Kitchen in 2007 as an Assistant Manager at our Dearborn Heights location. She rapidly moved up the ranks and became the General Manager at our Frenchtown Mall location in 2008. Most recently she was General Manager of our Briarwood Mall location in Ann Arbor a location that boasts a guest satisfaction score that is off the charts compared to industry norms. As if running a restaurant isn’t challenging enough Kelly was also attending Walsh College where she recently earned her Masters in Business Administration.

I’d say hard work paid of for Kelly. She exemplifies the Olga’s Kitchen philosophy. We work hard at everything we do. I’d like to extend a welcoming hand to Kelly and applaud all of those who have worked as hard as her to get where they are now! Well done Kelly and welcome to the team.

As I have written many times before; at Olga’s Kitchen we are dedicated to providing our guests with the best dining experience at the best price possible. We are committed to great value. This summer we created two great kids deals that have been a smashing success. Every Tuesday kids eat for just $1.99 and Kids eat for free on Sundays!

Both offers have been revered by our guests as evident on our Facebook Fan Page comment wall. The Tuesday night kids deal requires our guests to print off a voucher and present it to their server. The Sunday kids deal offers a free kids meal for every adult purchase.

We have been talking around here about replacing those deals with what we think is an even better one. How about Kids eat for $1.99 every night? No voucher needed, just one great price all the time. Since you are the people who really matter to us we thought we would open this idea up to you and see what you think. So leave us comment here on the blog, send us a tweet, or post to our Facebook wall and let us know how you feel about it. Hope to hear from you soon!