Names may have held little importance to Shakespeare, but then he wasn’t running a restaurant. When Juliet said a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, the Bard made it clear that nomenclature was less important than essence. Burton “Skip” Sack, Peter Sarmanian and Bill Goodwin, all of Classic Restaurant Concepts LLC, have discovered otherwise. Essence is important, but names matter, too.
This summer they rebranded their steakhouse in Framingham, Mass., changing its menu and decor as well as its name. Their 3-year-old Metro 9 restaurant became Big Papi’s Grille, named after David Ortiz, a designated hitter with a passion for food and a perennial hero of Red Sox Nation.
Along with his financial backing, Ortiz helped bring some of the flavor of his native Dominican Republic to the restaurant, including such dishes as plantain-crusted cod and a Dominican Chimichurri Burger. He also promised to stop by regularly. No matter that a few days after Big Papi’s Grille opened in late July it was reported that Ortiz had allegedly used steroids in the past. The crowds were forgiving and, as they say, went wild.
Big Papi’s Grille has been a different sort of operation, said Sack, an industry veteran who as a franchisee helped grow the Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar chain throughout the Northeast. After a long career that included 250 restaurant openings, Sack said he had never experienced the fanfare associated with the debut of Big Papi’s Grille. Several members of the Red Sox turned out for the opening. Big Papi happily held court, signing autographs and posing for photos, as he has done whenever he has visited since, Sack said. Ortiz’s seat of choice is Table 34, Big Papi’s number.
In the nearly two months since the rebranded restaurant opened, the parking lot has been full and business has remained strong. While the setting is slightly upscale, diners of all ages can be found sporting Red Sox paraphernalia, big-screen TVs are tuned to Sox games, and memorabilia chronicling Big Papi’s career graces the wall.
Goodwin, vice president of Classic Restaurants, which also operates local Irish pubs The Asgard and The Kinsale, said business has been so good they have not needed to advertise.
Ortiz is not the first professional athlete to lend his name to a restaurant venture, but the folks at Classic Restaurant understood the fanaticism of their customer base when they put Big Papi into their lineup.
On Aug. 26, Ortiz hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth against the Chicago White Sox, further endearing himself to Red Sox Nation and no doubt boosting sales at Big Papi’s Grille.
What’s in a name? Maybe a grand slam.— [email protected]