Casual-dining chain closes full-service unit and will focus on catering, delivery
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P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc. has closed its 20-year-old full-service location in Chicago and plans to open its first P.F. Chang’s To Go location in February to focus on delivery, catering and carryout, the company said this week.
The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based P.F. Chang’s, which has been full-service since debuting in 1993, plans three To Go locations in Chicago, with the first opening Feb. 3 in the city’s River North area.
“People want good quality food at their door, whether that’s their car door, house door or business door,” Chris Demery, P.F. Chang’s senior vice president of off-premises dining, told the Chicago Sun-Times. The company has four remaining full-service restaurants in suburban Chicago.
P.F. Chang’s closed its full-service location in Chicago on Tuesday, saying the lease was not renewable.
Tana Davila, P.F. Chang’s chief marketing officer, said in an email, “We still have four restaurants in the Chicago area and are excited that Chicago will be the home of our first ever P.F. Chang’s To Go.”
Davila added that the To Go is “a complementary business model that meets a growing customer demand for fast, accessible, elevated dining options. To be clear, we’re not replacing in-house dining, but ensuring our guests have a variety of ways to enjoy P.F. Chang’s.”
The To Go location at 213 W. Hubbard will open Feb. 3 and cover about 2,000 square feet. It “will have a stand up counter space where you could eat, if needed. But off premise dining is the focus,” Davila said.
The company plans to add To Go locations in Houston, New York and Washington, D.C.
The To Go locations will offer a menu that’s about 80% of the full-service bistro offerings, Demery said. Alcoholic beverages will not be sold.
Delivery will be available through the P.F. Chang’s app and website as well as major third-party delivery services.
P.F. Chang’s ranked No. 56 in U.S. systemwide sales in the most recent Nation’s Restaurant News Top 200, reporting $946.2 million in domestic sales for the 2018 fiscal year, up for $921.3 million in the preceding year.
Investment firms TriArtisan Capital Advisors LLC and Paulson & Co. Inc. completed the acquisition of P.F. Chang’s China Bistro from private-equity firm Centerbridge Partners L.P. in March 2019.
P.F. Chang's has 300 restaurants, including three airport locations, in 25 countries and territories. About 220 of those are in the United States.
Update Jan. 15, 2020: This story has been updated with details from the company.
Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected]
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