Centerbridge Partners L.P., the New York-based private equity firm, said it planned to complete its $1.1 billion going-private purchase of P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc. on Monday.

Centerbridge and its subsidiary, Wok Parent LLC, and Wok Acquisition Corp. had successfully completed a $51.50-per-share offer for outstanding shares of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based P.F. Chang’s. About 17.8 million, or about 83.7 percent, of outstanding shares were tendered, Centerbridge said.

A spokesman for Centerbridge said that P.F. Chang’s intent, revealed in February, to speed up the purchase of a majority position in the five-unit True Food Kitchen, created by Fox Restaurant Concepts of Scottsdale, had reverted back to the terms of the original 2009 $10 million credit facility. P.F. Chang’s retains the option to convert that to a majority equity interest after True Food opens its sixth restaurant, the spokesman said.

“Centerbridge intends to promptly move forward with a ‘short-form’ merger under Delaware law after exercising its top-up option under the merger agreement, and P.F. Chang’s will become an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Wok Parent,” Centerbridge said in a statement. P.F. Chang’s shares would cease trading on the Nasdaq exchange.

Centerbridge already owns the Rock Bottom Restaurants and Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant Group, which it bought in November 2010.

P.F. Chang’s owns and operates 204 casual-dining P.F. Chang’s Bistros and the 170-unit Pei Wei Asian Diner and Asian Market.

Contact Ron Ruggless at ronald.ruggless@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @RonRuggless

From food trucks to chains to chef-driven restaurants, hot dogs are experiencing a renaissance. And while well-done classics continue to thrive, many of the crowd-pleasers on menus across the U.S. are surpassing tradition to include inventive toppings and ingredients.

Nancy Kruse, menu trend analyst and president of The Kruse Company consultancy in Atlanta, says these haute dogs owe a debt to the burger upgrades that have occurred during past five years.

“The answer can be neatly summed up in three words: better-burger tailwind,” she said. “I think the extraordinary success of the new-age burger chain has caused chains and chefs to reconsider the hot dog and treat it the same way they do the burger, namely, as a carrier for a range of creative, premium toppings.”

For example, Richard Blais, winner of Bravo's television cooking competition “Top Chef All-Stars,” has created HD1, a restaurant focused on serving high-quality hot dogs. The menu at his Atlanta-based restaurant includes offerings such as a chicken-apple sausage with crème fraiche, walnuts and grape relish.

“I think it's instructive that Richard Blais has jumped in,” noted Kruse, “and I suspect we'll see more migration from fine-dining chefs — just as we've seen with the burger phenomenon.”

In time for National Hot Dog Month, Nation's Restaurant News surveyed 25 leading vendors across the country, from chains to independents, to see what goes into their popular hot dogs. Take a look at the 10 top dogs that made the cut.

First: Ben’s Chili Bowl

Ben’s Chili Bowl
All-Meat Chili Dog
This independent Washington, D.C.-based restaurant uses its secret chili recipe to top this best-selling hot dog. The dogs at this single-unit restaurant are grilled and topped with yellow mustard, onions and the eatery’s proprietary, spicy chili, which is handmade daily. The concoction is served in a steamed bun. The base of the chili recipe, which only three family members know, is a special chili powder blend from a spice company in Maryland. Price: $4.20.

Next: Frank

Frank
Carolina Pork It
This single-unit restaurant in Austin, Texas, uses a 100-percent Vienna Beef dog in a natural casing for what it said has become a "buzz item" on its menu. The hot dog is split and filled with white American cheese, then wrapped in bacon. Next, it's flash-fried and served on a steamed bun with housemade pimento cheese and grilled horseradish slaw. Price: $6.35.

Next: Puka Dog
Previous: Ben's Chili Bowl

Puka Dog
Puka Dog
This single-unit restaurant on the Hawaiian island of Kauai is known for its unusual hot dog bun and proprietary condiments made from local ingredients. Customers can choose from a Polish sausage made of chicken, pork and beef, or a veggie dog. Toppings include a garlic-lemon sauce made from a secret recipe; lilikoi mustard; and fresh fruit relishes made of mango, pineapple, papaya, coconut, banana or star fruit. The item is served in French bread with a hole, or puka, in the center, instead of a traditional hot dog bun. Price: Starts at $6.75.

Next: HD1
Previous: Frank

HD1
Kenturkey Dog
This single-unit independent operator based in Atlanta puts a twist on the classic Kentucky hot brown sandwich with this hot dog. An Italian sausage link made of turkey is topped with Mornay sauce, tomato-pimento marmalade, bacon and Parmesan crumbles. The sausage comes from a local producer, and the specialty toppings are made in-house. The hot dog is one of the restaurant’s most popular items. Price: $5.50.

Next: Monster Dog
Previous: Puka Dog

Monster Dog
Seattle Style Hot Dog
Cream cheese is the star topping on hot dogs from this five-unit, Seattle-based chain. The dog itself can be either a nine-inch all-beef link, all-beef spicy hotlink or a veggie dog that is steamed. The hot dog is grilled and split down the middle, then topped with cream cheese and grilled onions. Diners can add an array of other condiments, including Sriracha sauce, spicy brown mustard, jalapenos or dill relish. Price: $5.

Next: Senate Pub
Previous: HD1

Senate Pub
Korean Hot Dog
This single-unit Cincinnati-based independent eatery blends Korean and American cuisines with this hot dog. A wood-grilled, all-beef hot dog is topped with red chile mayonnaise, braised beef short ribs, housemade kimchee, pickled cucumbers and sesame seeds, and is served on a brioche bun. The item is part of a line of hot dogs that the restaurant says has added style and variety to its menu. Price: $9.

Next: Smashburger
Previous: Monster Dog

Smashburger
Colorado Dog
While this 157-unit chain with headquarters in Denver is known for its regionally inspired burgers, it also sells a hot dog inspired by its home state. The 100-percent Angus beef hot dog is topped with grilled mild green chiles, grilled onions, melted Cheddar cheese, pepper Jack cheese, spicy chipotle sauce and sliced tomatoes, and is served on a sesame seed bun. Officials say the green chiles and chipotle make for a distinctly Coloradan flavor. Price: $4.29

Next: Sonic
Previous: Senate Pub

Sonic Drive-In
Chicago Dog
This 3,500-unit quick-service chain has become known for its inventive hot dogs. The Chicago Dog, part of its Premium All-Beef Hot Dog lineup, is a rendition of the classic item. A grilled beef hot dog is topped with pickles, relish, tomatoes, sport peppers, chopped onions, celery salt and mustard, and is served in a poppy seed bun. Officials said the launch of the hot dog line, touted as a snack or a meal, drove sales across four dayparts. Suggested price: $1.99 to $2.49.

Next: Super Duper Weenie
Previous: Smashburger

Super Duper Weenie
New Englander
This Fairfield, Conn.-based, single-unit hot dog specialist uses only local and seasonal ingredients for its housemade condiments, which include different varieties of relish, chili and sauce. The New Englander features sauerkraut, bacon, mustard, sweet relish and raw onion. Ingredients are sourced locally, when possible, from small vendors, and the dog itself is a blend of beef and pork in a light casing. Price: $3.75.

Next: Wienerschnitzel
Previous: Sonic

Wienerschnitzel
Angus Pastrami Dog
The 350-plus-unit hot dog chain based in Irvine, Calif., said its Angus Pastrami Dog, served in a pretzel bun, has been popular since day one. The item starts with a 100-percent Angus beef hot dog that's topped with pastrami, Swiss cheese, mustard and a pickle spear, and served in a pretzel bun. Officials said: “Our pastrami menu items have always done well, so when we combined it with our 100-percent Angus beef hot dog and our popular pretzel bun, it [made] for an unbeatable combination.” Price: $3.59.

Previous: Super Duper Weenie
 

Applebee’s launched Monday a new advertising campaign designed to highlight a new-and-improved, food-focused brand, along with a “Fresh Flavors of Summer” menu with seasonal ingredients.

The campaign is the first produced by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the Boulder, Colo.-based agency that the 2,000-unit chain hired in March. It features a new tagline: “See You Tomorrow.” The message: Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar is a place for every day, not just for special occasions.

The campaign includes a series of television, radio and outdoor ads, along with in-store elements. Applebee’s has also reworked its website and created a more mobile-phone friendly web page.

Mike Archer, Applebee’s president, said the campaign also highlights overall changes at the Kansas City, Mo.-based chain designed to deliver an experience that brings guests back.

“‘See You Tomorrow’ isn’t just a line in a commercial. It’s our commitment to build on the strengths that made Applebee’s a foundation in the neighborhood and to do what it takes going forward to earn our guests’ business every day,” he said in a statement. “‘See You Tomorrow’ is how we will tell our story, literally every day, in every booth and on every plate, in a new and welcoming environment that invites guests to focus on our high-quality ingredients, prepared perfectly for them.”

Since the Glendale, Calif.-based company that became DineEquity Inc. acquired Applebee’s in 2007, the brand has been going through a revitalization effort that has included remodels and a menu overhaul.

By the end of this year, more than half of Applebee’s restaurants will have a new look, including a new logo on signage and awnings, redesigned interiors, and a revamp of the bar.

The Tiffany-style stained-glass lamps and 3-D pop art that once defined Applebee’s are gone, and each restaurant’s décor attempts to better reflect the neighborhood where it is located.

Company officials say the changes appear to be working.

Restaurants that have completed the upgrade are seeing mid-single-digit increases in sales, the company said in May after reporting first-quarter results. Applebee’s domestic systemwide same-store sales for the quarter were up 1.2 percent. However, that increase was driven mostly by a higher average check that was offset by a decline in traffic.

With the new look has also come a new focus on food. More than 85 percent of Applebee’s menu is new or has been upgraded.

The new ad campaign attempts to communicate Applebee’s’ “culinary credibility,” said Becky Johnson, Applebee’s senior vice president of culinary and marketing. And the new "we obssess" commercials appear to poke a little fun at recent foodie-focused ads by chains from McDonald’s to Red Lobster that highlight quality ingredients.

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Johnson, however, said they are not meant to poke fun at other brands. “We wanted to be able to say we take food seriously, but we didn’t want to do it in a serious way,” she said.

In one of Applebee’s new commercials for the new Florentine House Sirloin, for example, a chef walks through a sunny tomato field, launching into a passionate explanation of the lycopene content before he is stopped by a voice-over that urges him to stop boring viewers by “talking about tomatoes like they’re your children.”

The ad then cuts to glamour shots of the dish being prepared and notes the recommended starting price of the new summer menu items of $9.99, followed by the tagline, “See you tomorrow.”

The campaign has also incorporated elements of training, said Johnson. Front-of-the-house staff are now encouraged to watch dishes being prepared and to taste them all, so when guests ask, “they’ll be able to say they have a favorite,” said Johnson.

The “Flavors of Summer” menu includes fresh ingredients new to Applebee’s, such as artichoke hearts, grilled asparagus and fresh blueberries, as well as an emphasis on more in-house preparations.

New limited-time dishes include:

• Lemon Shrimp Fettuccine: The pasta dish includes seared shrimp, artichokes, tomatoes, sautéed spinach, basil and a roasted garlic cream sauce topped with Parmesan cheese and a gremolata of garlic, parsley and lemon zest, which is made in-house daily.

• Garlic Rosemary Chicken Pasta: For this dish, a “scratch-made-daily” bruschetta is cooked down to a light sauce, topped with a grilled chicken breast and artichokes, oven-roasted tomatoes, grilled asparagus and sautéed Portobello mushrooms. The dish is garnished with chopped fresh rosemary and fresh-squeezed lemon and butter.

• Seasonal Berry & Spinach Salad: This salad brings strawberries to the savory side of Applebee’s menu for the first time along with blueberries, an ingredient that's new to the chain. The berries top a spinach salad with a strawberry vinaigrette along with grilled chicken breast, blue cheese crumbles and honey-glazed pecans.

• Florentine House Sirloin: A seven-ounce grilled sirloin is topped with fresh spinach, sliced mushrooms, onions and bruschetta over red potatoes that have been steamed, fried and seasoned in house.

Because Applebee’s is a mostly franchised brand, franchisees set their own pricing. But the summer lineup starts at a recommended $9.99 for the Garlic Rosemary Chicken pasta, Johnson said.

Contact Lisa Jennings at lisa.jennings@penton.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout

Don Thompson became chief executive of McDonald’s Corp. Sunday, and while he currently faces significant headwinds in all three of the company’s major regions of business for the rest of the year, McDonald’s sees a long-term path to recovery, according to a Barclays Capital analyst’s summary of recent meetings with management.

In a research note, Jeffrey Bernstein of Barclays reiterated that McDonald’s would fight off several challenges the rest of the year, including increased competition in the United States, plummeting consumer confidence in Europe, and a slowdown in growth in its Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa, or APMEA, division. He said, however, that initiatives in place to combat those pressures may risk comparable-sales growth in the near term but should set McDonald’s up to recover nicely in 2013 and beyond.

“The headwinds are large, though priced-in at current levels,” Bernstein wrote. “McDonald’s is not a 2012 outperformer, though we expect stabilization in the second half of 2012 and 2013.”

Taking rivals’ best shot in U.S.

The chain’s domestic same-store sales grew at slower rates of 3.3 percent in April and 4.4 percent in May, and executives indicated to Bernstein that timing and advertising of certain promotions were mostly to blame. They also acknowledged that other quick-service chains were targeting McDonald’s market share aggressively.

The most obvious example would be Burger King’s rollout of a new menu, which includes several items that have been successful for McDonald’s recently, such as fruit smoothies and snack wraps. However, McDonald’s management also conceded that recent sales lifts at Wendy’s and Taco Bell — the latter driven by extremely robust sales of the Doritos Locos Taco — would threaten its market share if the Golden Arches stood still.

However, Bernstein noted that McDonald’s likely would withstand Burger King due to the size of its marketing fund, which is an estimated five times the size of Burger King’s. Even though Burger King increased its ad spending in April and May to reach the same dollar amount as the McDonald’s marketing budget, neither Bernstein nor McDonald’s executives expect that onslaught to last.

“Management was flattered that Burger King was ‘copying its playbook,’ emphasizing that it could ‘out-gun’ and execute better than any of its peers,” Bernstein wrote, “thanks to a strong franchisee base, a believed better product, a more current asset base and faster speed of service.”

In addition to its perceived marketing advantages, McDonald’s also cited its ongoing reimaging program and product pipeline as ways to re-energize its sales growth in the United States, Bernstein noted.

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He wrote that franchisee interest in the remodeling program remains high and is working for McDonald’s at the current pace of about 1,000 restaurants per year. About 40 percent of the brand’s 14,000-plus restaurants in the United States have updated interiors, while about 25 percent have refreshed exteriors, at an average cost of about $600,000 — with McDonald’s Corp. contributing about $200,000 to franchisees for reimaging.

Overall, remodeled restaurants generate a 6-percent to 7-percent lift in comparable sales over time, off a base average unit volume of $2.7 million, Bernstein noted.

“Outside of reimaging, management noted that beverage equipment was the last major product platform investment that the franchisees had made,” he wrote. “Another large investment would not be needed for at least a few years.”

As such, McDonald’s menu focus would not include launching entirely new platforms, like the successful introduction a few years ago of McCafe beverages, but rather would aim for incrementally improving current offerings. “Management remains ‘very confident’ about its product pipeline, though the focus has shifted in recent times to extending existing menu platforms and changing customer perceptions of products,” Bernstein wrote.

An upcoming promotion would be a “Favorites Under 400 Calories” menu, similar to an earlier “Wholesome Choices” promotion at breakfast.

“Interestingly,” Bernstein wrote, “management noted no impact from menu- and calorie-labeling laws passed in certain cities and local regions. In some cases, the effect has been positive, as customers realize that certain items on the menu aren’t as unhealthy as initially believed.”

Breakfast remains strong and lunch sales are picking up, management said, and getting more of the system up to 24-hour service would be a priority.

Europe austere, but strategy clear

McDonald’s four major markets in Europe — the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Russia — drive 75 percent of the continent’s operating profits and have produced a mixed bag lately. The United Kingdom and Russia have shown resilient sales, while Germany and France have slowed their growth and the rest of Europe shows severe challenges ahead, particularly Spain and Italy.

The company will focus on consistent value offerings to maintain customer counts during a time of austerity and strained consumer confidence, knowing it would have to sacrifice its margins and average check in the near term, Bernstein wrote.

Currently, the core European quick-service consumer in the 18-to-34-year-old demographic is shopping around many restaurant chains and is more loyal to a low price point than to one brand, management indicated. If McDonald’s could drive traffic now with compelling value offers and maintain it, executives noted, its European restaurants would benefit in the long run when confidence and stability return across the continent.

“Over time, the consumer recognizes that the value platform is a permanent menu addition and reverts back to their more traditional (and often higher-priced) menu favorites, while using the value platform for add-ons to the order,” Bernstein wrote, summarizing McDonald’s strategy. “The question remains how long does it last before that reversion occurs. The best guess is at least one to two quarters.”

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Thus far, owner-operators in France have voted to increase their marketing spending and Spain has initiated some new value programs, Bernstein noted.

Stemming a slowdown in APMEA

Similarly to Europe, the APMEA division faces a period of slow growth due to softness in two crucial markets: Japan and China.

Japan in particular will be a drag on APMEA’s fortunes in the near future, as lowered consumer confidence and restrictions on energy usage resulting from the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami will continue to pressure consumer spending. Same-store sales fell 3.6 percent in April and 11 percent in May, Bernstein noted.

However, he added, McDonald’s guest counts and profit margins remain resilient, even if the necessary discounting and value focus are causing declines to the average check. Like other markets, Japan will keep the focus on consistent, everyday value, even as it opens an expected 120 new restaurants in 2012.

Chinese consumers also are spending less due to concerns about slower economic growth. That dynamic, combined with difficult double-digit comparisons from a year earlier, has led to same-store sales growth falling on a sequential basis every month of 2012, with May’s number coming in slightly negative.

“Importantly,” Bernstein wrote, “management believes that consumer strength has flattened rather than falling into a deep decline.”

McDonald’s 1,500 restaurants in China will meet the demand for value in the near term with a summer promotion focused on beverages, including a teatime promotion and an offering with special glassware commemorating the Olympics.

“Longer-term, management believes the business in China remains very strong and remains committed to pursuing steady development rather than reacting to cyclical economic conditions,” Bernstein wrote.

McDonald’s China will open between 225 and 250 restaurants in 2012 and will look to accelerate that pace through franchising over time. Opportunities there include bolstering breakfast, which accounts for only 10 percent of sales; building more drive-thrus, which account for about 40 percent of future openings; rolling out the McCafe program to more than the current 500 stores; and expanding delivery.

Contact Mark Brandau at mark.brandau@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @Mark_from_NRN

Bold and exotic flavors are major themes for this summer’s seafood promotions at restaurant chains across the country, with wasabi, chiles, miso and coconut combining with classic citrus.

Sweeter combinations are appearing on menus, too, such as perennially popular tropical fruit salsas and temperate-climate fruits such as apples and raisins.

Bruegger’s Bagels is offering a sandwich based on the California roll, a popular sushi item featuring crab, avocado, cucumber and wasabi wrapped in white rice and seaweed. The California Roll Smoked Salmon Sandwich is made with cucumber, smoked salmon, avocado and wasabi cream cheese and served on a sesame bagel.

“We tested the California Roll Smoked Salmon Sandwich in two of our markets and our guests raved about it,” Bruegger’s executive chef Philip Smith said in a press release. “They loved the fresh taste combination and unexpected Asian flavor of our wasabi cream cheese that makes this sandwich unique.”

The new item is available at a suggested price of $7.49 at Bruegger’s 305 locations through Sept. 18.

Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant’s summertime limited-time offers, available through Aug. 5, focus on Caribbean flavors, including a Caribbean Combo of coconut shrimp, shrimp and lobster spring rolls, and jerk chicken sliders for $19.95. The coconut shrimp is also available with a churrasco steak for $22.95.

The 32-unit chain also is offering a citrus-marinated lobster, crab and shrimp salad, which is served over mixed lettuce and topped with mango, tomatoes and cucumbers and tossed in balsamic-orange dressing for $15.95. Blackened mahi mahi with tropical fruit salsa, jasmine rice, vegetables and black beans is also on the menu, for $18.95.

Tossed, a seven-unit chain based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., that specializes in made-to-order salads, is serving an award-winning salad that features the unusual pairing of canned tuna and fruit for three months, starting July 1. Tangy Sweet Tuna Salad, which sells for $8.99, won the chain’s annual national salad competition. It was submitted by Greg Heller, an investment professional in Boston, and is made with Romaine hearts, cucumbers, bell peppers, egg whites, golden raisins, fat free raspberry vinaigrette and a tuna salad made of canned tuna mixed with dried cranberries, apples and mayonnaise.

Z’Tejas Southwestern Grill, an 11-unit chain based in Phoenix, is living up to its Southwestern heritage with its Southwestern Crab Salad. The lunchtime salad has crabmeat, cucumbers, grape tomatoes and avocados, and is served with marinated romaine hearts, asparagus and a crispy hardboiled egg for $15.95.

On its dinner menu, the chain is using a farm-raised Australian fish, barramundi. The fish is prepared with a citrus glaze, served with roasted summer succotash and topped with grilled pineapple salsa for $21.95. Also on the dinner menu is lobster ravioli striped with squid ink and served with roasted green chile sauce and red bell pepper purée for $18.95.

Ocean Prime, the nine-unit member of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, based in Columbus, Ohio, is rolling out some summertime staples. They include oysters on the half shell for $16 and a market-priced shellfish tower. Both are now served with horseradish instead of mignonette, signaling consumer demand for more pungent flavors.

New to the menu is miso cod with shrimp dumplings, edamame and a shiitake mushroom broth for $26 and shrimp linguine with spinach, tomato, garlic butter and goat cheese for $27. Alaskan halibut is being paired with sautéed summer vegetables and a plum tomato compote for $36. And for an unusual surf and turf, yellowfin tuna is being served alongside foie gras with carrots, asparagus and mushroom ragout for $39.

Contact Bret Thorn at bret.thorn@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary

After the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision last week to uphold President Barack Obama’s highly controversial health care law, Nation's Restaurant News polled its readers to find out what they thought about the ruling — and their responses were divided.

While the poll was informal and represents a very small portion of NRN readers, it still suggests that the restaurant industry's stance on the health care ruling isn't as unified as official reactions would suggest.

Since last week, restaurant industry organizations such as the National Restaurant Association, the International Franchise Association and the National Council of Chain Restaurants were harmonious in expressing their concern and disappointment over the ruling on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

“The law will particularly damage the chain restaurant industry, which operates on thin margins and cannot support costly government-imposed mandates," Rob Green, executive director of the National Council of Chain Restaurants, told NRN after the ruling was announced. "Many chains have indicated they will have no choice but to cut back on workers’ hours or close restaurants in order to avoid penalties.”

However, when NRN polled its readers last week through Twitter and Facebook, reactions to the ruling were much more diverse.

When asked if they agreed with the Supreme Court health care ruling, a combined 51 readers responded via the two social media websites. Slightly less than half of those respondents, or 49 percent, indicated that they did not agree with the decision. One third of them, or 33 percent, said that yes, they agree with decision, while 18 percent said they were unsure.

Beyond participating in social media polls, readers voiced their opinions by commenting on NRN online coverage of the Supreme Court health care ruling — and surprisingly, most of them were in favor of the ruling. Take a look at some of their responses:

"If the owners cannot afford to provide healthcare insurance, it is high time that they paid a wage that would allow their employees to buy their own coverage. In the end, it is less expensive for the employer to provide the coverage. They will catch on eventually."
— Guycooking

"Shame on you. This article reads like a Republican talking point. The ability to offer affordable insurance to my employees will put me on a more even keel with my bigger competition, even if I'm not required to do so by the law."
— Cheftonyw

"All employees having health coverage is a good thing for all... Singapore, one of the most capitalistic places in the world, has mandated health insurance for all and it's controlled by the government far more extreme than Obamacare."
— Stevenghill.nyc

"As an outsider looking in I understand why the restaurant industry would oppose a law requiring health insurance be provided to their full-time employees. Anything that costs is a negative.

"But, in the end, once the dust settles and everyone is in the same boat this is good for the millions who choose to work in the restaurant industry. If their employer was not providing insurance before and now will, then this employee will have a higher quality of life, and that is good. I suspect many do not have insurance at all and live under the continual fear of disaster when a health issue arises they can't pay for or properly address.

"If restaurants end up earning a bit less or have to raise their prices a bit to cover the new costs, so be it. Sometimes we are forced to make a change that is good for us, or in this case, their employees."
— Al

Contact Olivia LaBarre at olivia.labarre@penton.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @Olivia_NRN

The hospitality industry has grown beyond being the man’s world of the last century, with women now mentoring and motivating the next generation of leaders.

The number of women-owned restaurants has increased 28 percent over the past five years, moderator Robin Lee Allen, executive editor of Nation’s Restaurant News, told a panel at the 2012 Southwest Foodservice Expo in Dallas. She added that 58 percent of the first-line supervisors and managers are women.

“Now those are wonderful statistics,” Allen said. “They show progress. But if you look higher up into the management ranks, you find that is not the case. In fact, only 35 women are CEOs in the Fortune 1000 companies.”

The Expo panel, titled “Providing Leadership and Inspiration to the Next Generation,” featured Estella Martinez, an owner and co-founder of Matt’s Rancho Martinez restaurants in Austin and Dallas; Gina Puente, president, chief executive and chief operating officer of Puente Enterprises Inc.; and Sharon Van Meter, president of SVM Productions of Dallas.

Allen cited statistics that show the success of women in business in general. “In a 2011 report by Catalyst [a non-profit organization aimed at expanding opportunities for women], companies with women on the board out-performed other companies in return on sales by 16 percent and return on invested capital by 26 percent,” she said. “Boards that had three or more women for four out of the past five years did even better, outperforming other companies by 84 percent in terms of return on sales, 60 percent in terms of return on invested capital and 46 percent in terms of return on equity.”

Women now own 35 percent of start-up businesses, Allen added, and by the end of the decade, they are projected to open more businesses than men. However, women still only earn 77 cents for every dollar that men earn, she noted.

Puente, whose company includes a collection of retail, food and beverage and travel companies, said she grew up in “an entrepreneur boot camp” with her family business. She created La Bodega Winery for airport locations in 1996 and joined her father in number of quick-service restaurants.

“The common denominator among all the business is customer service,” she said. “That’s what my dad taught me.” Puente is currently working with Dallas chef Stephan Pyles on a Sky King wine bar for the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, which is to open in the fall and another planed for Dallas’ Love Field.

“Twenty years ago, there seemed to be fewer opportunities for females,” she noted. “There was a competitive nature that didn’t foster a lot of support. That’s changed a lot over the past seven or eight years. Women understand that all ships rise.”

Networking among women has increased as well, according to Puente. “We try to encourage and foster innovative thinking,” she said. “Innovation and change is something you have to make people feel comfortable with.”

Van Meter, president of SVM Productions of Dallas, a television and radio culinary production company, recalled that when she started at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris in 1974, she was the only female among 573 students. “That was really, really an obstacle,” she said. “I just stood my ground, and said, ‘I’ll excel at this program.’”

Now she relies on encouraging others in her company. “You encourage the person who’s in charge of a part of your company to do their very best,” Van Meter said. “It really is all about team building. It’s not male or female.”

The hospitality industry is “a good career to be in as a woman,” Van Meter said. “It’s very flexible. You can be working days. You can work nights. You can switch with your husband so you both can take care of your family.”

Estella Martinez, an owner and co-founder of Matt’s Rancho Martinez restaurants in Austin and Dallas, said the board of her restaurant company is made up of four women. “We are a good example of women working together for continued success,” Martinez said. “Women are a lot more confident that they used and to be. I think the opportunities are more available. I hope our company is one that doesn’t base a position on gender.”

Contact Ron Ruggless at ronald.ruggless@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @RonRuggless

Restaurant franchisees don’t often have the chance to moonlight as tech entrepreneurs, but for John Carlew, a Houston-based operator of three Bullritos fast-casual restaurants, his second job as co-founder of mobile survey platform Live Feedback Now has him working overtime to improve his restaurants’ operations.

Dissatisfied with the comment cards, mystery shopper services and online-feedback functions he had used during his 33 years franchising Chick-fil-A, Quiznos Sub and Cici’s Pizza units, Carlew was motivated to develop his own method to solicit customer feedback in a way that was easier and more immediate. He worked with mobile technology executives to develop a system that allows customers use simple text-message functionality on their mobile phones to answer a short survey specific to the restaurant in which they're dining.

Any responses that indicate a problem with a meal or service immediately alert the manager on duty or the owner, who is able to instantly call the cell phone that gave the survey answers. That way, the restaurant can straighten out issues before the customer leaves angry, either to never return again or to blast the establishment on Facebook or Yelp.

“It’s the definition of insanity to take $1.5 million to build a location of McDonald’s or whatever, and then turn it over to a guy making $40,000 a year,” Carlew said. “You should turn your restaurant over to the people eating there on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis.”

More than 80 percent of responses thus far have been positive, according to Carlew, and the negative feedback mostly has been constructive criticism or mixed comments such as, “This part of the order was wrong, but thank you for helping me correct it quickly.”

La Porte, Texas-based Bullritos has 18 locations in Texas, Louisiana and Georgia. Carlew, who opened his first Bullritos location in 2009 and is in the process of building several more, spoke with Nation’s Restaurant News about how more instant customer feedback has helped him optimize operations at his business.

What drove you to develop a new customer survey platform in what little free time you get as a franchise operator?

I’ve opened more than 100 restaurants in my career, and I’ve always been frustrated to know that, as you as you become a multiunit owner, you lose touch with your guests. So this is meant to duplicate me in all my stores. I have a great management staff, and I explained to them that this [technology] wouldn't be me standing over them but the guest standing over them. It turns the customer into the person driving the vehicle, which is how it should be at all times.

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As a multiunit owner or a franchisor, you can take the core guest for granted after a little while. They like your product and you’ve gained their loyalty, but every now and then you mess up, even with them. I had one lady who visits me four times a week, and we messed up her order once. She used this system to say that this one thing was wrong and that everything was just average this time. I had my operations manager call her, and she was blown away. She appreciated that there was a process in place where she could voice her opinion and see something corrected immediately.

From my standpoint, it’s just about making sure I give my guests every single opportunity to get exactly what they want.

Were you surprised that much of the feedback is positive? Usually, in social-media interactions and Yelp reviews, posts tend to skew negative because bad service usually spurs more action than satisfactory service.

It’s instantaneous and via text — and everybody texts. That’s probably why people are giving so much good feedback. With other methods, for somebody to take all that time to go home, log on to their computer and pull up your website, or to use a QR code on their phone, you’re going to get somebody who’s really had a poor experience.

It’s a beautiful thing to take the negative off of social media. Now I can funnel the negative feedback directly to the people who really matter and can do something about it, be it the owner or the regional manager. Once the customer is heard and her needs are addressed, there’s no reason for her to go to the Yelps of the world, and this is private. The guests then become loyal because you take care of them.

What have been the most important lessons you’ve learned from this kind of feedback, and what sort of changes have you made in your restaurants?

Guests aren’t looking for things to be wrong, but they expect a certain amount of courtesy, professionalism and respect in your restaurant. This setup lets me know when that doesn’t happen, and it’s showing us that a lot of the hard work we put into training is paying off. It helps tremendously on the employee side, because when I can capture some good, positive data for them and show them, it’s smiles across the board with them. When you show them that the actions they take with their work habits get noticed by the customer it reinforces training for beyond anything I could ever do.

We’ve changed so many little things recently. I learned we weren’t getting our windows clean enough. Another big one was — I’m a fanatic about the atmosphere in a restaurant, and the most negative comments I’ve received, equal to something being inaccurate, were complaints about our music.

I had given the autonomy to my managers to play whatever music they liked and at whatever volume level they liked. It turned out to be a big deal and something that I never would have thought guests would notice. So we started playing ’80s music in every store, because it’s fun but not too loud or explicit. I got so many positive comments on our atmosphere just because we changed the music.

Contact Mark Brandau at mark.brandau@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @Mark_from_NRN
 

Umami Burger founder Adam Fleischman said Monday he has acquired a stake in artisan ice cream maker L.A. Creamery, with plans to build a wholesale business that will tap into the growing demand for exotic flavors.

L.A. Creamery ice creams are also now available for sale online in pre-packaged six-packs, such as “The Boozy Package,” which features flavors like Chimay Beer and Tennessee Whiskey, along with less alcoholic signature flavors, like salted caramel and honeycomb or banana chocolate chunk.

Majority ownership in L.A. Creamery is still held “on paper” by founders Brad Saltzman, chief "guestologist," and Stephen Bikoff, chief creative officer. However, Saltzman said, “Adam is really running the show. We defer to him and his creativity and brilliance.”

Fleischman said he would work with the founders to grow the ice cream company’s distribution through a variety of retail channels — as well as creating new flavors. “I really see the potential for a new school of ice cream,” he said. “There are just not a lot of competitors out there doing things like this.”

Fleischman, for example, has created four new flavors for the brand:

• Porc Phat is made with Spanish Iberico lardo, sweet Asian pears, hazelnuts and pure mint gel.

• Moonshine and Caramel Corn is made with Original Moonshine, a corn whiskey, and caramel corn.

• Absinthe is made with real absinthe and was created for Umami Burger’s new Anaheim, Calif., location, which uses the ice cream in a root beer float.

• Mezcal is made with premium Mezcal and orange liqueur.

L.A. Creamery flavors have long been served at the Umami Burger chain, as well as Fleischman’s pizza concept 800 Degrees, and a host of other high-end hotels and restaurants across Los Angeles.

L.A. Creamery uses organic dairy from Straus Family Farms and has no artificial ingredients.

The ice cream maker had retail outlets in two Los Angeles-area malls that lasted less than a year — in part, Saltzman said, because the company was given misleading information about the shopping center traffic. He also noted that ice cream is also too seasonal to invest in retail locations, though he said the company is open to licensing, as well as retail partnerships that would allow a restaurant to bring in an L.A. Creamery-branded gelato bar, for example.

Fleischman, however, was more open to the idea of an L.A. Creamery outlet. “We might sneak one in somewhere,” he said. “Don’t be surprised.”

Contact Lisa Jennings at lisa.jennings@penton.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout

Umami, the so-called “fifth flavor,” is how our taste buds detect protein, that is, certain free-floating compounds associated with protein. One of those compounds, free glutamate, is found in abundance in foods such as mushrooms, oily fish, miso, seaweed and Parmesan cheese, as well as cooked meat.

Chris Gould, the chef at this sashimi bar attached to Ken Oringer’s fine-dining restaurant Clio, uses those ingredients in this dish.

He starts with chicken stock, which he simmers with pig feet to give it a thick, viscous texture, as well as an umami boost. The he adds mushroom scraps left over from Oringer’s other restaurants — from morels to trumpets to shiitakes — along with Parmesan cheese rinds. He strains the stock and adds some miso and caramelized onion to it.

He cooks ramen noodles in the broth and tops them with barbecued unagi, or freshwater eel. He garnishes the dish with grated ginger, daikon, scallion, roasted maitake mushrooms, shredded nori, Szechuan chile paste and fried garlic. He adds a “two-hour egg” that is cooked in an immersion circulator set at 62.5 degrees Celsius — the temperature between where egg yolk and egg white coagulates — resulting in a cooked white and liquid yolk.

The dish is $10.

Contact Bret Thorn at bret.thorn@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary

A number of chains this summer are using burgers to reinforce their brands, offering new items that range from spicy to sweet and indulgent to healthful.

Freddy’s, a 65-unit chain based in Wichita, Kan., is underscoring the fact that it specializes in hamburgers and hot dogs by combining the two this summer in its Freddy’s Burger Dog. For that item, a beef hot dog is sliced and placed on top of the restaurant’s signature steakburger.

“We first launched the Burger Dog LTO in 2010 and it was immediately a guest favorite,” chief operating officer Scott Redler said in a press release. This year it's available through Aug. 1.

The Burger Dog sells for $4.29 at company-owned restaurants, and franchisees set their own prices.

And with burger so much in play these days, longtime casual-dining burger specialist, Greenwood Village, Colo.-based Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, is trying to break new ground as the first chain to add super-hot ghost peppers to its nationwide menu with two spicy burger options.

The Fiery Ghost is made with a ghost pepper sauce, pepper Jack cheese and fried jalapeños. The Cry Baby is made with crispy onion straws tossed in a Sriracha dry seasoning, along with onions sautéed in Cholula Hot sauce, then topped with pepper Jack cheese and ghost pepper ketchup. Both hamburgers are $6.99 and served with the 445-unit chain's bottomless steak fries.

Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants, a 32-unit chain based in Chattanooga, Tenn., is also offering a spicier rendition of a burger this summer as part of its Caribbean-inspired summer menu. The new Jamaican Kobe Burger is made with American Kobe beef that's seasoned with jerk spices and topped with tropical fruit salsa and lemon aioli. The new burger is served with the chain’s signature garlic fries for $13.95 and is available through Aug. 5.

As a reminder that it serves more than ice cream, soft-serve specialist Dairy Queen is celebrating July, National Ice Cream Month, by offering the Sweet Apple BBQ Grillburger. The 4,488-unit chain's new burger includes bacon, onion slices, lettuce, a thick tomato slice and pepper Jack cheese. It’s topped with a sweet barbecue sauce that contains chunks of apple, and it’s served on a home-style bakery bun. Prices vary depending on location, but at a Dairy Queen in the chain’s hometown of Edina, Minn., the burger costs $4.19.

In the better-for-you burger category, Fresh to Order, which operates five restaurants in Atlanta and one in Chattanooga, Tenn., has introduced a new line of premium burgers. The brand bills itself as “fast fine,” a step up from fast casual, and argues in its promotional materials that wholesome, delicious food doesn’t need to be accompanied by high prices or long waits.

Fresh to Order's new black bean burger, which has fewer than 500 calories, is made with black beans, rice, avocado, house-pickled jalapeños, lettuce, tomatoes and corn relish and is served on wheat flatbread with horseradish honey and mustard sauce. Its tuna burger, studded with ginger and scallion, is served on whole wheat flatbread with horseradish aioli, Asian slaw and baby field greens.

The chain also is currently testing a bison burger served with dried cherries, baby field greens, horseradish aioli and caramelized onions. Both it and the tuna burger have fewer than 600 calories. The black bean burger is $9.49, and the tuna and bison burgers are $9.79.

Contact Bret Thorn at bret.thorn@penton.com.
Follow him on twitter: @foodwriterdiary

When it comes to unit growth, Wetzel’s Pretzels has been a bit of a tortoise compared with some of the metaphoric hares in the snack world, according to cofounders Bill Phelps, now chief executive, and Rick Wetzel, the chain’s president.

That tortoise, however, is picking up speed, said Phelps. Wetzel’s Pretzels currently has about 250 units in six countries, and he envisions it reaching about 400 locations over the next five years.

The pretzel chain, which has traditionally been mall-based, is now focusing on international growth and moving into nontraditional locations. In April, the first Wetzel’s Pretzels unit in Japan opened in Tokyo — one of 10 planned over the next two years by master franchisee Takafumi Kawasaki — and it has become the highest-volume location systemwide.

Phelps and Wetzel, who launched the pretzel concept in 1994, recently spoke with Nation’s Restaurant News about the snack chain’s growth.

Wetzel’s Pretzels was acquired by Los Angeles private-equity firm Levine Leichtman Capital Partners in 2007. Has that changed your respective roles?

Phelps: Levine Leichtman bought a majority interest in 2007, but we’re still investors and we run [the company] day to day.

What are your plans for international growth?

Phelps: We’ve been operating internationally since we first opened in Puerto Rico in 1997, so we started very early. Japan has always been our target market, though. It’s one of the more sophisticated [markets] and also very open to U.S.-based concepts. Consumers there have disposable income, and malls are very developed there.

How did you tweak the concept for an Asian market?

Phelps: We went with a smaller pretzel. Portion sizes are smaller outside the U.S., particularly in Japan. Another thing that’s different there is that, in the U.S., most people consume pretzels on the go while they’re walking around a mall. In Japan, a lot of pretzels are taken home. We quickly saw that in purchases, and we had to limit the number pretzels per person because they were buying so many at one time. Then we came out with a variety pack of pretzels, and that has really taken off.

Where else are you looking to bring the brand?

Phelps: We’re looking elsewhere in Asia, in Malaysia or Singapore, for example. We’ve talked with potential franchisees in China and, outside Asia, in Brunai.

We’re in six countries now and we are looking to double that number in 24 months.

How about in the U.S.?

Phelps: This is best year we’ve had in three years, in terms of our pipeline. We’ll probably see 27 locations open in 2012. The better news is our same-store sales are really strong. The concept is working better for franchisees and profitability has improved.

To what factors do you attribute that improvement?

Phelps: We have a new store design, a new point-of-sale system, new menu boards — all of which have made it more efficient for franchisees.

Wetzel: Also, pretzels are extremely relevant today. If you look at malls, pretzels are almost the only snack food left. Cinnabon and other things have cooled off. It’s not uncommon to see two or three or more pretzels in same mall. We’re very competitive with Auntie Anne’s, and that competition keeps causing the other to raise the bar. The outcome is that we stay relevant and well run.

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How do you see pretzels fitting into the health trend? Yours can be pretty indulgent.

Phelps: We’re not health food but we’re considered guilt free. It’s a better option than a cinnamon roll or a cookie, and it’s pretty filling for the amount of calories.

We added hot dogs five or six years ago, and they’re probably as good as any hot dog you’ve had because the bun is a handmade pretzel rope, baked fresh.

We’re also doing a lot of innovation on the drink side, with different flavors of lemonade and frozen lemonade. Our summer limited-time offers include watermelon lemonade and watermelon granita. Almost everyone who buys a pretzel also buys a drink. Now we’re looking at how we can make the sauces more interesting.

Are you looking at a gluten-free pretzel?

Wetzel: We’re exploring gluten free, but the flour is very difficult to work with. We’ve had inquiries from guests about it, so we’re working on it, but we don’t have a prototype yet.

Wetzel’s Pretzels is typically mall-based, but what other types of locations might be in your future?

Phelps: We are looking at alternate locations. We have units in Disneyland and Disney World, and we’re getting a few more locations there. We also have one in Walmart, and we’re also looking at street locations.

Wetzel: We’re also using satellite kiosks to supplement current stores. [The kiosk] has about a 10-by-10-square-foot footprint — it’s actually on wheels with no plumbing — and we can run fresh pretzels to the kiosk throughout the day. The kiosks are doing about 60 percent to 65 percent of what a standard store does, without cannibalization. It’s an amazing number.

Phelps: And we are actually financing those kiosks. If an existing franchisee wants to do one, we’ll finance it, and they lease it back and pay for it over time. We’ve got about 18 up and running, with another 12 or 13 in the pipeline.

Have you thought about putting units in airports?

Phelps: We want to be in airports. It’s a great target audience. Getting in is a challenge, and it takes a lot of time and a lot of work. We’ll have to work with a third party.

Wetzel: There’s room for expansion. When we first started, we didn’t know what we were doing. We were a couple of marketing guys. So we hired a guy to find us more real estate, and when we got to five units, we were told, ‘That’s it. There’s no more room for pretzels.’ We proved that wrong.

Contact Lisa Jennings at lisa.jennings@penton.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout

CEC Entertainment Inc., parent to the Chuck E. Cheese’s family eats and entertainment chain, has given its signature mouse mascot a major facelift as it tackles first-quarter slippage of same-store sales.

In advertising that debuted nationally on Thursday, the new Chuck E. Cheese has grown slimmer, gained a guitar and become more rock star-like, getting a new singing and speaking voice from Jaret Reddick, the front man for the pop-punk band Bowling For Soup.

“Chuck E. is the hero at the heart of our restaurants,” said Scott McDaniel, chief marketing officer at Irving, Texas-based CEC Entertainment. “For the first time in years, we’re changing the way we communicate with our key patrons — kids.” The mouse mascot got his start 35 years ago as a New Jersey-styled rat that sometimes carried a cigar.

The first “Chuck E. Rocks” television ads were released Thursday featuring the post-makeover mouse singing lyrics such as, “Just grab all your friends and come out and play,” and the chorus and tagline, “Say cheese it's funner.”

The new tagline, the company said in a statement, “is an easy-to-sing-along-with summer jam that describes the way kids feel about hanging out with their friends and playing games at Chuck E. Cheese's — it's better than fun!”

Mike Magusiak, CEC’s president and chief executive, foreshadowed the mouse makeover on May 3, when the company reported first-quarter same-store sales were down 4.2 percent, compared to a positive 1.1 percent in same quarter a year before. He said in an earnings call with analysts that same-store sales were down 3.6 percent in January, up 4.4 percent in February and down 8.5 percent in March. April same-store sales were slightly positive, up 0.6 percent.

Magusiak said CEC was focusing on “reinvigorating the brand,” as well as reinvesting in the existing store base and adding new corporate stores in United States and franchised units internationally.

The base for the new “comprehensive marketing and advertising campaign,” he said, was research from the company’s new ad agency, The Richards Group of Dallas. He noted that through an “incredibly revealing process,” the agency found many mothers had a positive view of Chuck E. Cheese’s but many others “were unaware or had misperceptions” about the chain as a family experience. CEC hired The Richards Group in January.

“Over the last 35 years, we’ve changed and grown up alongside the families and the children who are our guests, and as we start to entertain the next generation of families we wanted Chuck E. to be relatable to both today’s children and their parents who grew up enjoying fun and games with us.” Ambur Evans, a media relations representative for the company, said in an email. “Chuck E.’s new style centers around his love for music to reflect that music unites families just like the cool, fun experience they share together in our stores."

Magusiak said that in addition to a newer look for Chuck E. Cheese, which includes television, print and digital advertising in July, the chain plans a re-engineered website in the fourth quarter and a campaign targeted at mothers in the first half of 2013.

The initial campaign includes four TV spots — “Belonging,” “Fun,” “Power” and “Birthdays” — each named for a child experience at Chuck E. Cheese’s, the company said.

Rhonda Zahnen, principal at The Richards Group, said in a statement: “It’s the perfect evolution of the brand and one that will speak directly to kids.”

CEC Entertainment owns, operates and franchises 554 Chuck E. Cheese’s units in 48 states and seven other nations and territories.

Contact Ron Ruggless at ronald.ruggless@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @RonRuggless
 

This video post is part of Sullivision on NRN.com, a resource center for restaurants looking for service, leadership and sales-building techniques from industry expert and NRN columnist Jim Sullivan.

Delivering good service means the customer never has to ask for anything.

This short video (at left), The How of Wow, from the DVD 60 Second Lessons in Leadership, explains how restaurants are earning excellent reputations for customer service by focusing on eliminating customer dissatisfaction.

You’ll learn why the meaning of the customer service changes when the customer changes and how to ensure that your managers and crew are delivering what your customers actually want — not just what you think they want. You’ll also find out how clearly defining your top 5 customer complaints — and expectations — is key to building traffic and satisfaction.

Jim Sullivan is chief executive and founder of Sullivision.com, which designs leadership, service and sales-building products, programs and services for the Top 200 restaurant and retail brands worldwide. Clients include McDonald’s, American Express and Walt Disney Company. More information on Sullivision and its products and services can be found at Sullivision.com.

Follow Jim Sullivan on Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn: @Sullivision
 

As parents spend more time with their children during the summer, restaurants have the chance to help families grab dinner during vacation or celebrate a Little League victory, but recent trends show that eateries could capitalize on the opportunities if they respond to kids’ and parents’ evolving needs.

“Kids are different today than they were a decade ago,” said Bonnie Riggs, restaurant analyst for consumer market research firm The NPD Group, in a May report. “They want to grow up fast and don’t want to be thought of as kids. Moms are also more concerned with the foods that their kids are eating. Restaurant operators and foodservice manufacturers understand this and are offering more varied options on kids’ menus, downsized portions and healthy alternatives.”

Of the restaurants featured in the Top 75 Kid-Friendly Restaurants list published last month by OpenTable.com, chains featuring a varied American-fare menu as well as specialty cuisine garnered top ratings as a suitable choice for families. Japanese concept Benihana made the list, for example, and Italian chain Buca di Beppo did particularly well, with 25 of its 86 U.S. locations making the list. Not Your Average Joe’s had six of its 17 restaurants make the top 75 as well. The brand’s kids’ menu has standard choices like chicken fingers, pizza, and mac and cheese, but also more grown-up options like sirloin tips and balsamic-glazed salmon.

Take a look at some more chains that are successfully catering to kids with their menus, as well as chains that have retooled their marketing to become more family friendly.

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Raising the bar on the kids’ meal

In order to fit maturing tastes among young consumers and to push back against criticism from nutrition activists, McDonald’s has updated the contents of its Happy Meal. The standard offering in Happy Meals now includes apple slices, a smaller portion of French fries and low-fat milk.

Other chains have also worked toward more healthful versions of their kids’ meal items, such as Chick-fil-A and Uno Restaurant Group, which began offering children grilled chicken nuggets and applesauce and white whole-grain pizza, respectively, this year.

Chick-fil-A joined the National Restaurant Association’s Kids LiveWell initiative this past May during the NRA Show in Chicago, along with Applebee’s, Mimi’s Café, First Watch and Which Wich. Other restaurant brands like Au Bon Pain, Burger King, Chili’s, Cracker Barrel and Outback Steakhouse were among the first to join the NRA’s program.

Separately, Chuck E. Cheese’s and Domino’s Pizza have rolled out pizzas with gluten-free crust to address not only the need for more healthful items but also to accommodate young diners with gluten intolerance.

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Refreshing the marketing message

Chuck E. Cheese’s had advertised itself for years as the restaurant “where a kid can be a kid,” but the restaurant has made several changes to its marketing to appear fresher to children — and their parents. This spring the chain began shifting ad dollars away from TV and toward radio and digital campaigns, to capture kids’ attention on new platforms and pitch its food and experience to parents, rather than rely on the children to pester their folks to take them for pizza. In addition, the brand gave its eponymous and a hip makeover and featured him in new "Chuck E. rocks" commercials that launched in early July.

Last March, Rita’s Italian Ice represented a different type of cool in its first TV campaign ever. The commercials introduced kids and their parents to the Cool Treats Gang characters representing its products, from Italian ice and frozen custard to the Misto and Blendini beverages.

Unlike Chuck E. Cheese's and Rita's, McDonald’s is shying away from emphasizing a mascot in TV commercials these days. In March, McDonald’s said all marketing campaigns aimed at children would include active-lifestyle messaging. The brand’s current campaign toward kids is Champions of Play, which promotes active lifestyles and features swimmer Dara Torres as a tie-in to McDonald’s sponsorship of the Summer Olympics. The chain is adamant, however, that Ronald McDonald remains an “ambassador for good” and is central to the company’s Ronald McDonald House Charities for sick children.

And declaring itself the “Unofficial Sponsor of Summer,” Boston Market is also seeking to encourage active lifestyles among kids this month by offering a free dessert to any child visiting its restaurants wearing a uniform of a team sport.

Contact Mark Brandau at mark.brandau@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @Mark_from_NRN

Anita Jones-Mueller, M.P.H., president and founder of Healthy Dining, a nutrition-related marketing and consulting firm, interviews Paul Damico, president of Moe's Southwest Grill, on the progress of the chain's mission to improve the healthfulness of its food.

See Moe’s Southwest Grill’s Healthy Dining-approved menu choices on HealthyDiningFinder.com. This interview and others can be seen at Healthy Dining’s Restaurant Nutrition News & Insights.

Paul, I’m so impressed with Moe’s commitment to nutrition and wellness. I talked with your corporate chef, Dan Barash, about a year ago about your ‘Food Mission’ that had recently launched. Now that it has been a year or so, how has your commitment to nutrition and your 'Food Mission' evolved?

Yes, Dan probably told you that about two and a half years ago, we started putting together a solid strategy for our menu and our ‘Food Mission.’ We served great food back then so we didn’t feel the need to reformulate or change our food, but we wanted to improve upon the quality of our ingredients. Since Moe’s always strives to give our customers the highest-quality service we wanted to begin incorporating the highest-quality ingredients, too, so that we were treating our food like we treat our customers.

That’s a great way to explain why you created your 'Food Mission' — so that it is in line with the way you treat your guests. Tell us more about that.

We are all about our food and all about our environment. We want to be known as over the top in health and taste with an acceptable price point.

Our guests are 'sustainability champions,' 'conscientious parents,' 'calorie counters,' 'gluten evaders' and vegetarians. And we want to meet and exceed their expectations for quality and taste.

Our menu touts ingredients that are free of rBGH, steroids, preservatives or MSG. It took us about a year to research and source all of those products, but it was worth the time. We also evaluated all of our marinades and sauces and cut the sodium quite a bit without compromising any of the taste. And all of this is happening 100 percent of the time at all of our locations.

That’s great. So how have your guests responded?

The numbers speak for themselves. Our traffic is up 4.5 percent, and that includes a lot of new guests. Our sales are up 9 percent. And we are opening up a new restaurant every five days.

Something we’re proud of is that we’re currently in 19 universities. College students love Moe’s 'Food Mission.' All that is due to the quality of our food.

We are now at 450 locations and growing.

Wow! So what’s next?

We have started using only cage-free, skinless, white meat chicken breast with no hormones added. Toward the end of this year we will be securing the whole breast of the chicken — cage free and hormone free — which is even more flavorful and juicy than what we are serving now. It has a really great appearance, too.

Recently we announced that our salsas are made from all-natural ingredients. We have always offered a variety of salsas, but now we also rotate in new freshly prepared seasonal salsas on a quarterly basis. Again, these will all be made with all-natural ingredients and will contain no preservatives. We see this as a massive differentiator for us.

We are also looking at organic juice boxes and all-natural cookies for kids, which parents will like too.

Contact Anita Jones-Mueller, M.P.H., at anita@healthydiningfinder.com.

As Smashburger brings its “better burger” brand into the Los Angeles market for the first time this week, the chain’s private-equity owner Consumer Capital Partners is also expanding its restaurant concept portfolio in Colorado.

Tom Ryan, Smashburger’s founder and chief concept officer, was in the Los Angeles area Tuesday for the opening of a Smashburger in Thousand Oaks, Calif., in southeastern Ventura County. It is the chain’s 163rd location and the first of 40 to 60 planned for the greater L.A. area over the next five to seven years — about half of which will be company owned.

The Smashburger chain, which celebrated its fifth anniversary last month, is expected to reach 200 locations before the end of 2012, Ryan said. The chain has a pipeline of about 500 units over the next several years.

Meanwhile, back in Denver, where Consumer Capital Partners is based, the company is preparing to launch a new full-service concept called Tom’s Urban 24, a “modern diner” that will be open 24 hours and will offer contemporary comfort food, “but not blue plate specials,” said Ryan, a managing partner with the investment firm.

Scheduled to debut in September on Denver’s Larimer Square, Tom’s Urban 24 will have a full bar, and Ryan pledged that it will be “the first of its kind.” However, whether or not it’s a concept that will grow remains to be seen, he noted. “Right now, we’re focused on getting the concept right."

Tom’s Urban 24 will be the second new concept by Consumer Capital Partners to debut in the past year. Last October, the group founded Tossa Pizza in Boulder, Colo., a pizza, pasta, salad and wine concept that is fast casual by day and full service at night. The company is planning to open a second location of Tossa in Denver later this year, Ryan said. Growth beyond that has yet to be determined.

Consumer Capital Partners was founded by Richard Schaden and his son Rick Schaden, cofounders of Quiznos, which was sold in a debt-for-equity swap early this year that allowed the sandwich chain to avoid bankruptcy.

Smashburger, meanwhile, has become the growth vehicle for the investment and concept-development firm, expanding rapidly with both corporate and franchise restaurants despite an increasingly competitive “better burger” landscape.

Known for its burgers that are literally smashed onto a 400-degree flat-top grill, a process said to sear in juices, Smashburger has an average check of about $8 to $9, and sales are split fairly evenly between lunch and dinner, Ryan said.

In addition to the core menu of burgers, grilled or crispy chicken sandwiches, garlic-and-rosemary seasoned fries and Häagen-Dazs shakes, Smashburger is also known for offering regionally specific menu items in each market. In Los Angeles, for example, units will feature an LA Burger reflecting pan-Asian flavors that appear across the city’s dining scene, from food trucks to white-tablecloth restaurants, Ryan said.

The LA Burger is topped with a fried egg, crispy wontons, lettuce and tomato, fresh cilantro and cucumber slices with a Japanese ginger dressing on a bun sprinkled with both black and white sesame seeds, which, Ryan said, “gives it a very cool, distinctive look.” Also unique to Los Angeles will be a chai-flavored milkshake, another nod to the city’s pan-Asian preferences, he said.

Los Angeles locations will also feature a Caribbean chicken sandwich, and a salad with mango, pineapple and papaya salsa that's also available in Miami; Ryan said the flavors would also work well in Southern California. In addition, LA units will also feature a Fresh Mex Burger developed for Smashburger in San Diego — a version served on a telera roll and topped with avocado, onions, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, fresh cilantro and chipotle mayo with a wedge of lime on the side.

Ryan predicted Smashburger will do well in Los Angeles, a city already stuffed with local better-burger brands, from the cult-worshipped In-N-Out Burger chain to Umami Burger, Habit Burger Grill, and Burger Lounge.

Smashburger’s archrival Five Guys Burgers and Fries, based in Lorton, Va., has also been growing in Southern California, but Ryan said he’s not worried. “We compete with those brands in more than just California,” he said.

“Burgers are America’s favorite food and Smashburger is a highly differentiated brand. We’re not just competing burger to burger, but also on service, atmosphere, menu variety and price points,” he said. “There’s enough room, I think, for a lot of growth in this whole category.”

Contact Lisa Jennings at lisa.jennings@penton.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout

What was reported as a hoax in a small town in Alaska has become a public relations opportunity for Taco Bell.

Earlier this year, someone started spreading rumors in Bethel, Alaska — population 6,000 — that a Taco Bell was coming to town. According to news reports, residents were deeply disappointed to learn it wasn’t true.

Opening a Taco Bell restaurant was not viable in a small town accessible only by boat or air, and hours away from the hub of Anchorage, company officials said. So Taco Bell did the next best thing: “Operation: Alaska.”

The Irvine, Calif.-based chain airlifted in a taco truck and gave away an estimated 10,000 of its new Doritos Locos Tacos to Bethel residents before returning the truck to California.

The “Operation: Alaska" event was turned into a short film and 30-second commercial (watch both videos at left). The latter aired for the first time Wednesday night during the Major League Baseball All-Star game.

Taco Bell officials said they never found out who was responsible for the initial prank.

Contact Lisa Jennings at lisa.jennings@penton.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout

Wahlburgers, the better burger brainchild of entertainers Donnie and Mark Wahlberg and their chef brother Paul, has hired a former Panera Bread official as chief executive, with the mission of refining and expanding the concept.

Rick Vanzura was Panera’s executive vice president and co-chief operating officer until he left the company last December. Shortly thereafter he began consulting with the Wahlbergs, who then hired him to head up their concept: a flex-casual burger restaurant in which guests on one side of a V-shaped counter order their food takeout style and on the other side get a full bar and table service.

“It’s an interesting model,” Vanzura said. “It has been good for customers in that it really satisfies whatever option they’re in the mood for. It makes the model more complicated to manage, but for customers I think it’s a good thing.”

Located near the shipyard of Hingham, Mass., in the seasonal vacation area of Massachusetts Bay’s South Shore, Wahlburgers is a 4,500-square-foot restaurant, with 60 seats inside and 40 on the patio, that specializes in hamburgers made from a proprietary blend of natural ground beef augmented with such culinary touches as house-made pickles and tomato salsa.

Chef Paul Wahlberg has 25 years cooking experience and is also the chef of the family’s fine dining waterfront restaurant, Alma Nove, which opened in June 2010, also in Hingham, and was recently named best restaurant in the southern Boston metropolitan area by Boston Magazine.

The restaurant doesn’t shy away from promoting its more famous owners, nor their humble origins in the working-class South Boston neighborhood of Dorchester.

The menu’s three specialty burgers are each tagged as being the choice of one of the three brothers. Chef Paul’s choice is the $6.25 signature burger topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, sweet pickles, "Wahl sauce" and "government cheese," which is what the menu calls American cheese.

Mark’s choice is the $7.50 Thanksgiving Burger — a turkey burger with stuffing, roasted butternut squash, orange cranberry sauce and mayonnaise. And Donnie’s choice is a $7.95 BBQ bacon burger with avocado, jalapeños and white Cheddar cheese.

The restaurant also offers hot dogs, and the kids' menu includes chicken fingers and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Beer and wine sales have been robust since the restaurant opened in October, Vanzura said, with hard liquor and mixed drinks being “the spice on top.” Vanzura said the most popular beer is the custom-made Wahlbrewski, an unfiltered pale ale.

Although Boston Magazine called Wahlburgers’ alcohol-spiked frappes the best milkshakes in Boston, Vanzura is considering eliminating hard alcohol from the concept to make it easier to expand without the expense and red tape of full liquor licenses.

Vanzura said he’ll concentrate on refining the concept over the course of the summer and then expanding in the Boston area.

“We’re much more concerned with getting it right than getting a lot of units open quickly,” he said, adding that he'll open a second unit, if all goes well, in the first half of next year.

“Eventually franchising is an interesting option, but for now our main focus is on having good brand control, initially in Boston,” Vanzura said, noting that chains run into trouble if they haven’t nailed down their brand identity before trying to expand.

“For the next few years the primary focus is going to be on company-owned [restaurants] in the Boston area,” he said. “But very interesting opportunities come up with the Wahlbergs, so never say never.”

Contact Bret Thorn at bret.thorn@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary

Restaurant association officials praised members of the U.S. House of Representatives for voting to repeal President Barack Obama’s 2-year-old health care law.

Lawmakers passed the “Repeal of ObamaCare Act,” H.R. 6079, by a vote of 244 to 185, largely along party lines although five Democrats broke ranks to side with the Republican majority.

This marks the 33rd time members of the House have voted to repeal all or part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. The measure is not expected to advance in the Senate, where Democrats hold the majority.

The vote comes soon after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the law in a narrow 5-4 ruling.

President Obama has said the law would seek to close gaps in health care insurance by expanding coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans.

And while the president’s health care law has its supporters within the foodservice community, opponents believe it will have a damaging impact on business and force some operators that are still struggling in the fragile economic recovery to close their doors.

“On behalf of our members, we are pleased the House of Representatives has taken this step, which is in line with our view that given the unique issues that face the industry from a workforce standpoint, the economic impact of the employer mandate and the fines associated with it will impose insurmountable costs and administrative burdens for many in the industry,” said Dawn Sweeney, president and chief executive of the National Restaurant Association.

“Our industry wants health care reform and we will continue to actively participate in the health care reform debate, but we believe Congress must seek comprehensive health care reform that focuses first on lowering health care coverage costs and not on reform that hampers the ability of employers to create jobs,” Sweeney added.

Earlier this week, the NRA sent a letter to all House members informing them the association would consider votes on, or related to, H.R. 6079 in an annual “how they voted” scorecard.

On July 10, the National Council of Chain Restaurants also sent letters to members of the House expressing support for repeal. “Reform to our nation’s health care system is desperately needed, and NCCR has long advocated for changes that will bring about greater affordability for employers who provide and who wish to provide health benefits to their employees and improved access to affordable health insurance coverage,” wrote Robert Green, executive director of the NCCR. “Unfortunately, the ACA is not a realistic solution for the chain restaurant industry.”

Steve Caldeira, president and chief executive of the International Franchise Association, said that while the association was pleased the House voted to repeal the law, “the reality is until the make-up of Congress changes, franchise businesses are left with an unworkable and unaffordable employer mandate that will stifle franchisors and franchisees looking to expand by forcing them to choose between rising health care premiums or paying mandated penalties by not providing health insurance to their full-time workers.”

Contact Paul Frumkin at paul.frumkin@penton.com.