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Hurricane Grill & Wings revamps menuHurricane Grill & Wings revamps menu

Three new sections respond to consumer trends for customizable, healthful items

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

June 4, 2014

3 Min Read
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Hurricane Grill & Wings has revamped its menu with new graphics, a new design and three new sections that respond to customers’ requests for customizable and healthful items.

The 60-unit West Palm Beach, Fla.-based casual-dining chain has introduced a build-your-own-burger section and a lower-calorie section. A menu for people with gluten sensitivities is now also available upon request.

“We’re just reacting to what our guests are asking for,” chief operating officer Mark Snyder said.

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In the new Build-A-Burger section, guests choose between an Angus beef burger or vegetable burger, starting at $7.99 at most locations. Guests then select as many 89-cent toppings as they want, including applewood smoked bacon, sautéed mushrooms, sautéed onions, jalapeños, jumbo onion rings, guacamole, sautéed peppers, coleslaw, fried pickles, chili and salsa, as well as six cheese choices, also 89 cents each, and freebies such as lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickle and mayonnaise.

They also can choose from among three spice rubs: habanero lime, blackened Cajun and smoky mesquite.

Snyder said that when testing the new burger menu in three locations, sales of burgers rose 20 percent, although it didn’t produce higher overall sales.

“It just moved our product mix around,” he said.

Guest satisfaction was high, however.

“Execution-wise it was great, repurchase intent was great and the guests loved it,” he said.

The new Favorites under 575 Calories section includes:

• Caribbean Grilled Chicken: Grilled chicken breast with a choice of Hurricane Grill’s more than 30 rubs and sauces, served with steamed broccoli and Caribbean yellow rice, $9.99

• Citrus-Marinated Churrasco Steak: Mesquite-seasoned and grilled steak topped with diced tomatoes and red onion, served with broccoli and Fresh Cilantro Tomatoes (tomato wedges marinated in balsamic dressing with red onions and cilantro), $12.99

• Mahi Tacos: Grilled Cajun-seasoned mahi fillet diced and topped with Cheddar and Jack cheeses, shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes, served in two flour tortillas and drizzled with Gold Rush sauce, served with broccoli, sour cream and salsa, $11.99

• Hurricane Grilled Chicken Salad: Grilled chicken breast served warm over mixed greens, topped with blue cheese, bacon, Cheddar and Jack cheeses, red onion and diced tomatoes, topped with crisp tortilla strips and served with low-fat Zinfandel vinaigrette, $10.99

• Island Grilled Shrimp: Two skewers of grilled shrimp seasoned with a choice of Hurricane rub and served with steamed broccoli and Caribbean yellow rice, $12.99

• Hurricane Salmon: Salmon fillet with a choice of rub and served with steamed broccoli and Caribbean yellow rice, $13.99

Appetizers on the gluten-sensitive menu include a chicken salad lettuce wrap and a variety of soups and salads. Entrées include churrasco steak, grilled chicken, mahi, salmon and shrimp. Hurricane Grill also now has a gluten-free hamburger bun available upon request.

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary

About the Author

Bret Thorn

Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Senior Food & Beverage Editor

Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality.

Hi is responsible for spotting and reporting on F&B trends across the country for both publications. 

He is the co-host of a podcast, Menu Talk with Pat and Bret, which features interviews with chefs, food & beverage authorities, and other experts in foodservice operations.

From 2005 to 2008 he also wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun, covering restaurant openings and chefs’ career moves in New York City.

He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand, where he wrote articles about business, banking and finance as well as restaurant reviews and food columns for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He joined Restaurant Hospitality’s staff in 2016 while retaining his position at NRN. 

A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in history, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Thorn also studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University. While in Beijing, he also worked for ABC News during the protests and ultimate crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.

He served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, in 2005.

Thorn wrote the entry on comfort food in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2nd edition, published in 2012. He also wrote a history of plated desserts for the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015.

He was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.

A Colorado native originally from Denver, Thorn lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Bret Thorn’s areas of expertise include food and beverage trends in restaurants, French cuisine, the cuisines of Asia in general and Thailand in particular, restaurant operations and service trends. 

Bret Thorn’s Experience: 

Nation’s Restaurant News, food & beverage editor, 1999-Present
New York Sun, columnist, 2005-2008 
Asia Times, sub editor, 1995-1997
Manager magazine, senior editor and restaurant critic, 1992-1997
ABC News, runner, May-July, 1989

Education:
Tufts University, BA in history, 1990
Peking University, studied Chinese language, spring, 1989
Nanjing University, studied Chinese language and culture, fall, 1988 
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, Cértificat Elémentaire, 1986

Email: [email protected]

Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bret-thorn-468b663/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bret.thorn.52
Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
Instagram: @foodwriterdiary

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