Denny Marie Post is the executive vice president and chief concept officer at the 528-unit Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Brews. The Greenwood Village, Colo.-based casual-dining burger chain recently underwent a brand transformation that involved a significant expansion of its beer offerings and the addition of “and Brews” to its name. Post, whose broad role includes overseeing marketing and menu, recently shared the story behind the chain’s new moniker and some beverage trend observations.
Why did Red Robin change its name?
In the early advent of the brand, it was Red Robin Burgers and Spirits Emporium. Red Robin was known for mad mixology. Sales of alcohol were in the high teens, low twenties. The original Red is holding a beer, has bloodshot eyes and is holding a smoking item of dubious origins. We all kind of pulled back to a more conservative place. [Changing the name] was really a reflection of bringing the brand back to balance.
When and how did the brand transformation begin?
[Five years ago] we had a bar. It was on demand but wasn’t promoted. When we started the brand transformation the first thing we did was a simple drinks/dessert menu on the table. Second, we put in some traditional happy hours. We had managed [alcohol] down to five-and-a-quarter percent. Steve Carley, our CEO, set a goal of clawing back 50 basis points per year. Our goal is to get back to double digits, or low teens. We’re still well short of that.
What’s new on the bar menu?
In September 2012, we started a lot of innovation and tried to drive it around beer. We launched Can-Crafted Cocktails … served in a custom container that looks like a beer can. … Added a customizable beer menu so every restaurant can print out, customize that and update it. National brands are still the most popular in our restaurants. They still dominate. We started to carry specialty brews. We have significantly expanded the [draft] beer offerings. We had six to seven taps. We are moving to 12. Server education is our biggest challenge.
What’s challenging about server education?
If they cannot legally sample it’s hard for them to explain. That’s one barrier. The other is … trying to help guests buy alcohol, … sources, various categories. We want the guests to have the right beer with the right burger. We recommend beer pairings with burgers on the menu. Our culinary team did that. It helps provide an opportunity to suggest to the guest to think about it. If our team member doesn’t suggest it, then our menu does it.
What type of alcoholic beverages do your customers prefer?
Draft beer is our largest seller. When it comes to hard alcohol, margaritas sell really well.
Red Robin recently added Not Your Father's Root Beer, a new alcoholic root beer to its menu. How did that happen?
This bubbled up. We’ve always had bottomless root beer floats. They’ve done really well. In the Northeast we have a regional ops director who leads our brand up in the Boston area. They’ve had some of the highest alcohol sales in the company. He raised it. It started in the Northeast last spring/summer. [We] added it [systemwide] in November.
What alcoholic beverage trends do you see emerging?
Sizing. Sixteen-once and 22-ounce beer has been standard for a longtime. We’re seeing smaller pours associated with high alcohol content. I think we’ll see a greater range of sizes. … It’s definitely a growth area.
