A couple of years ago, one of Durham’s ethnic gems opened a Raleigh store and it has been a big success. Mami Nora’s, located across from Bali Hai (near Costco) serves a Peruvian take on rotisserie chicken that is unmatched in Raleigh.

The menu is simple: Quarter, Half, and Whole rotisserie chickens with a few sides such as rice, beans, plantains, slaw, salad, fries, and chicken soup. An individual’s meal comes with two sides. Drinks are extra. The sides are fantastic; all of them, especially the black beans. The soup is excellent, though a bit greasy and not quite as good as Zoey’s. The chicken, however is the star. Cooked over charcoal Mami Nora’s chicken has a smokey taste you don’t get in other grilled or baked chickens in the area. The eye-catching heavy smoke output from the restaurant’s exhaust system gives drivers a hint of the delicious product inside.

Mami Nora’s has a great core product, but it fails to have that killer instinct that could make it famous across neighboring states. Here are 5 ways Mami Nora’s could knock them dead:

1. Change the price point

My two-piece white meat meal that came with two sides, plus a Coke totaled $9.49. This is a point that is a dollar too high for a fast-food lunch. I could have backed down to a dark meat meal, but that would have only gotten the price down to an even $9. In addition, the meal was actually too much food. I ordered rice and beans, and the portions were way too big, about a 6 oz cup of each. While rice and beans are not expensive items for a restaurant to make, perhaps backing down to a 4oz serving would allow the restaurant to back the price of two pieces of chicken a dollar. Perhaps offering a breast-only (no wing) option for $5 would also be a big hit.

2. Add color

Everything in the restaurant is either brown or highlighter yellow, but mostly brown. When I arrived at my seat, I realized that the floor, the chairs, the table, the tray, my Coke, my chicken, and my beans were all…brown. My styrofoam cup and the rice were white. The plastic plates at Mami Nora’s are thankfully red, blue, and yellow, however it isn’t enough to get past the visual weight of the food.

Mami Nora’s should dump the styrofoam cups (for many reasons), and go with a  branded, colored paper cup. The restaurant should post gorgeous photos of their food on the walls, as Guasaca has done. Also ditch the brown lunchroom trays. They never look clean anyway. Perhaps offer stainless steel trays like Sandwich (in Chapel Hill) and Chipotle have. Finally, the bright yellow menus with brown writing are a big turnoff. That was the signage color scheme at RDU when Terminal A originally opened. It was bad then and it’s bad now. Maybe a chalkboard menu with yellow chalk and drawings of chicken parts, like you would see in Whole Foods, would be more appealing.

3. Offer a taco pack

For my order on Friday, I paid an additional $1 for 4 hot, soft, corn tortillas and they were delicious. I made rice, bean, chicken, and hot sauce tacos and they stand as one of the best taco orders in Raleigh. I pine for the days of El Pollo Asado, however Mami Nora’s chicken product is actually better. A $6.50 “Taco Pack” lunch featuring one breast, 4 tortillas, a small order of beans, salsa (like Armadillo’s), and shredded cheese would have people lined up out the door and talking about it.

4. Offer a sandwich

One of Mami Nora’s shortcomings is the difficulty of eating rotisserie chicken, as one is apt to get both hands involved and make a big mess. This is where a great chicken sandwich would be a big hit. One of my favorite lunches is a grilled chicken sandwich, but Cook-Out is the only place that makes a decent one since Mutter’s in North Hills Mall closed. Mami Nora’s ought to offer a lightly toasted bun with some chicken from a breast, and it would easily be the best chicken sandwich in Raleigh.

5. Add sauces and salsas

Without sauces, the brown and white meal can be dry. Thankfully Mami Nora’s has two sauces, but they are hidden near the condiments and are unlabeled. When I asked the employee at the counter where the “dipping sauces” mentioned on the menu are, she said,”We don’t have salsa”. One is a mild mustard sauce and the other is a green hot pepper sauce. Both are mayonnaise based sauces, and while they may be true to the Peruvian experience, they are far from adequate in an American restaurant in 2013. The above-mentioned tomato-based salsa is a natural addition to the selection, however some other interesting sauces like those at Guasaca (especially the hot, orange sauce) would greatly improve the experience and liven up the oh-so-drab meal expeirence at Mami Nora’s.

Mami Nora’s business is apparently going well, considering the number of cars that are in the parking lot upon occasional inspection. The core product is outstanding, and with a little bit of fine tuning to their presentation, they can be an runaway success.