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The 30-unit True Food Kitchen, which books an average unit volume of about $7 million, has seen some strong success with delivery, said CEO Christine Barone, with at least one location of the Phoenix, Ariz.-based casual-dining brand finding it is a substantial part of sales:
“People are changing their habits. … Mobile ordering and delivery are more important. We actually have one location that we started a partnership with one of the delivery firms, and with one delivery firm we are doing a million dollars in this location. One firm, one restaurant.”
For some restaurant concepts, catering programs were weighing more heavily on their agenda than individual delivery.
Barry McGowan, CEO of Plano, Texas-based Fogo de Chão Inc., which was taken private in 2018 by Rhône Capital, told ICR attendees:
“Off-premise is an extension of large group sales for us. We focus on experiential big-ticket [sales]. This year, we are testing catering. Again, that’s large ticket. … Just like everybody else, we have demand for us to deliver and do more for our guests.”
Food-cost management was also a concern of ICR presenters.
With more than 1,200 locations and same-store sales that increased 6 percent in the fourth-quarter ended Dec. 29, Wingstop Inc. CEO Charlie Morrison said one focus of the Dallas-based company is to insulate the brand from the volatility of chicken wing commodity prices.
“They make up 65 percent of the products we require each and every year. Our goal is to continue to work on strategies to mitigate the impact of food-cost inflation for our brand.”
The company announced a partnership with Performance Food Group late in the fourth quarter to accommodate distribution and help ease food-cost swings.
Scott Colosi, president of Louisville, Ky.-based Texas Roadhouse Inc., said the 515-unit casual-dining brand has several best practices for labor retention.
Colosi, who presented at ICR with Tonya Robinson, the company’s chief financial officer, said Texas Roadhouse recently had a meeting of top operators.
“Most of our turnover is in the first 90 days,” Colosi said, “I’m talking hourly level. Most of it is we hired someone who didn’t fit. Maybe we didn’t communicate to them how hard the job was, especially in the kitchen.”
He said the dishwasher position is a difficult one for the brand. “You are sweating,” he said, “You are getting soaked. It’s just tough sledding all around.”
Operators said they no are longer hiring dishwashers for full-time position but instead are hiring multi-functional hourlies “who might do dishes a couple of days a week and make salads a couple of days a week and work fry a couple of days a week.”
“They are not just stuck in the dish pit for five straight days,” he said. “That’s the difference from sticking around for a long time and not.”
Gene Lee, president and CEO of Orlando, Fla.-based Darden Restaurant Inc., has expressed his caution about third-party delivery platforms before, but he reiterated at ICR that data ownership was a concern for his company.
Lee, who oversees the 1,700-unit casual dining company with such brands as Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, said Darden’s brands were focused on hospitality in the restaurants and is only testing it in select locations.
“We think that’s the right call for our business,” Lee said, “because we believe the data is so valuable, and why give a third party our data when we can keep it ourselves.”
Lee added that Darden’s long-term insights indicate people still want to go out to eat.
“They still want that social experience,” he said, despite technology and delivery.
“You have to make your dining experience compelling enough to get people to want to get out of the house and have it,” Lee said. “The onus is on us as restaurateurs to continue to find ways to make the dining experience interesting and make sure the value is there.”
Darden also owns and operates Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze and Eddie V's.
