Restaurant chains tend to cycle through their superstars. If one of the brands uncorks a hot ad campaign, the whole pack is soon howling for a marketing Moses to lead them out of a sales slump. Six months later, a headquarters mob is chasing that hero out the door, and the wistful speak of a tall, dashing CFO on horseback to turn the battle.
And so it goes, through ops wizards, menu-development masters, even high-charisma CEOs.
These days, the plea to X-Men headquarters is for a definite type of restaurant mastermind. The dude or dudette most in demand has nothing to do with food, service, training or finance. Typically they won’t even be part of the company, and their weapons of choice included cloth swaths, artist renderings and schematics.
Welcome to the age of the caped designer.
We don’t even know who these restaurant heroes are. But we’ll soon see their work. With few exceptions, the major fast-food chains are set to undergo what once-heralded marketers call a design upgrade.
Here’s just a partial list of who’s taking the plunge: McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Chick-fil-A, Jack in the Box, Burger King (though some questions have been raised on that one), Subway, Pizza Inn, Fazoli’s, Starbucks.
The stated goal of each is to add some sophistication to the brand and to encourage customers to feel more comfortable. Several go a step further and profess that they want patrons to linger for awhile, perhaps while sipping a high-margin beverage (ca-ching!) or watching a new entertainment network for which they’re compensated.
Observes say it’s part of an overall effort to capture customers from a higher demographic, as once-exalted CFOs might’ve put it.
Cynics are more pointed: The chains want to draw people who have a job and can afford to spend a little more. No surprisingly, those targets prefer nicer appointments than retina-singing fluorescents, industrial flooring, and garish-colored seats that might’ve been designed by the folks who gave us water boarding.
A warmer, comfier setting might not only be worth a few more cents per transaction, but might prompt them to linger longer and keep buying beverages or snacks.
So let us pay homage to that nameless hero behind a major trend remaking the quick-service sector, cape-wearing designer. He or she is literally changing the face—and possibly the fortunes—of the grab-and-go world.
Showing posts with label new restaurant design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new restaurant design. Show all posts
Friday, June 24, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
This just in from the courts
Chipotle’s design draws fire…
Chipotle may have to reconsider its standard design after the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court’s ruling that customers in wheelchairs can’t be denied the experience of seeing their meals prepared.
Customers who walk through the serving line interact with the prep staffers on the other side of a glass partition, specifying what they want in their burrito and watching as the elements are added. The experience was cited in court actions as an essential part of the Chipotle experience.
But a barrier by the serving line prevents wheelchair-bound patrons from being able to see their meals being assembled.
In 2005, a California resident in a wheelchair sued Chipotle, asserting that he was the victim of discrimination because of his disability.
Chipotle had countered that the plaintiff, Maurizio Antoninetti, had sued a number of businesses because of alleged inaccessibility. Antoninetti is described in an online bio as a teaching associate at San Diego State University and a former “accessibility consultant,” with a degree in architecture.
The chain had also argued that it accommodated patrons who couldn’t walk the line. Staffers would in effect bring the assembly process to them, holding spoonfuls of ingredients and assembling the burrito so they could watch.
The lower court had decided that the remedy wasn’t fair to Antoninetti. The Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal, letting that ruling stand.
Chipotle has yet to issue any public statement about how it intends to respond to the action.
…while McD’s argues parents are the bosses
Meanwhile, McDonald’s is arguing that a lawsuit challenging its use of toys as kids-meal giveaways should be dismissed because the plaintiff acknowledges she wasn’t conned by the offer.
Monet Parham, a California mother of two, has admitted she knew exactly what was offered in the Happy Meals her children desired, and often refused their pleas to buy the bundled meals. McDonald’s asserted in court that the advertising was straightforward, and that a purchase wasn’t based on any misleading information from the chain.
Parham is represented in the suit by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
An attorney for the plaintiff countered that McDonald’s was making Parham the victim because she couldn’t always counter the brainwashing that McDonald’s does with its advertising.
McDonald’s was still awaiting a reaction from the federal court as of this writing.
Chipotle may have to reconsider its standard design after the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court’s ruling that customers in wheelchairs can’t be denied the experience of seeing their meals prepared.
Customers who walk through the serving line interact with the prep staffers on the other side of a glass partition, specifying what they want in their burrito and watching as the elements are added. The experience was cited in court actions as an essential part of the Chipotle experience.
But a barrier by the serving line prevents wheelchair-bound patrons from being able to see their meals being assembled.
In 2005, a California resident in a wheelchair sued Chipotle, asserting that he was the victim of discrimination because of his disability.
Chipotle had countered that the plaintiff, Maurizio Antoninetti, had sued a number of businesses because of alleged inaccessibility. Antoninetti is described in an online bio as a teaching associate at San Diego State University and a former “accessibility consultant,” with a degree in architecture.
The chain had also argued that it accommodated patrons who couldn’t walk the line. Staffers would in effect bring the assembly process to them, holding spoonfuls of ingredients and assembling the burrito so they could watch.
The lower court had decided that the remedy wasn’t fair to Antoninetti. The Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal, letting that ruling stand.
Chipotle has yet to issue any public statement about how it intends to respond to the action.
…while McD’s argues parents are the bosses
Meanwhile, McDonald’s is arguing that a lawsuit challenging its use of toys as kids-meal giveaways should be dismissed because the plaintiff acknowledges she wasn’t conned by the offer.
Monet Parham, a California mother of two, has admitted she knew exactly what was offered in the Happy Meals her children desired, and often refused their pleas to buy the bundled meals. McDonald’s asserted in court that the advertising was straightforward, and that a purchase wasn’t based on any misleading information from the chain.
Parham is represented in the suit by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
An attorney for the plaintiff countered that McDonald’s was making Parham the victim because she couldn’t always counter the brainwashing that McDonald’s does with its advertising.
McDonald’s was still awaiting a reaction from the federal court as of this writing.
Service as a concept differentiator
Once upon a time, restaurant innovators focused on the menu as their means of differentiation. But look at today’s innovators and there’s no denying that modes of service are the way of standing out.
Consider, for instance, ZED451, one of the more upscale (and interesting) concepts in the portfolio of Tavistock Group, also the parent of Freebird World Burritos and the ethnic concepts formerly run by eBrands.
The company describes ZED as “a contemporary, internationally inspired steakhouse,” but it’s really a high-end, ultra-high-quality riff on the old Sizzler steak-and-buffet format. Guests help themselves to an extensive spread of fresh, seasonal sides, often with ethnic roots. Included in the spread are salads, vegetables, soups, breads and cheeses.
As you munch what you took, chefs roam the tables with platters of steak, seafood, poultry and game. They carve the proteins for you and explain how it was made, since they were the ones who prepared it.
Servers are still part of the mix. They take and serve drink orders, and presumably clear away empty dishes.
But clearly the concept takes the notion of a display kitchen one step further, bringing the kitchen out to the table to discuss what he or she made for you.
Vapiano, a German chain featuring Italian food, has a similar objective. Like Rich Melman’s FoodLife in Chicago, guests go from station to station for the elements of the meal, charging what they get to a card holding a smart chip. For instance, they can stop at a pasta station and have something made expressly for them. The food is prepared by a “cook-tainer” who converses with them as he or she whips up the serving. The guest brings the food to his or her table.
The U.S. arm of the company describes it as “somewhere between the nicest of fast casual and hippest of casual.”
Of course there’s no shortage of more-conventional entrants in the fast-casual sector, sometimes in decidedly unexpected pairings. Ruby Tuesday is moving away from full service with its development deal with Lime Fresh, a Mexican concept that some might label Chipotle 2.0.
But perhaps the winner in service uniqueness has to be the handful of avant garde places that Technomic has dubbed non-food restaurants. We at MonkeyDish.com prefer to think of them as B.Y.O.F. places, as in have getting the food from elsewhere.
As Technomic’s Darren Tristano explained at our Restaurant Leadership Conference, these new places are basically bars without a kitchen. They encourage you to have food delivered, maybe from a preferred nearby restaurant, or to bring it in from the restaurant trucks or carts outside. Then they sell you the accompanying drinks.
They don’t have to invest in a kitchen or devote space to ovens and the like. Nor do they need the usual venting and exhaust fixtures that render many urban spots unfeasible for a restaurant.
Restaurants without the food. Who’d have thought it? It’s the non-menu menu.
Consider, for instance, ZED451, one of the more upscale (and interesting) concepts in the portfolio of Tavistock Group, also the parent of Freebird World Burritos and the ethnic concepts formerly run by eBrands.
The company describes ZED as “a contemporary, internationally inspired steakhouse,” but it’s really a high-end, ultra-high-quality riff on the old Sizzler steak-and-buffet format. Guests help themselves to an extensive spread of fresh, seasonal sides, often with ethnic roots. Included in the spread are salads, vegetables, soups, breads and cheeses.
As you munch what you took, chefs roam the tables with platters of steak, seafood, poultry and game. They carve the proteins for you and explain how it was made, since they were the ones who prepared it.
Servers are still part of the mix. They take and serve drink orders, and presumably clear away empty dishes.
But clearly the concept takes the notion of a display kitchen one step further, bringing the kitchen out to the table to discuss what he or she made for you.
Vapiano, a German chain featuring Italian food, has a similar objective. Like Rich Melman’s FoodLife in Chicago, guests go from station to station for the elements of the meal, charging what they get to a card holding a smart chip. For instance, they can stop at a pasta station and have something made expressly for them. The food is prepared by a “cook-tainer” who converses with them as he or she whips up the serving. The guest brings the food to his or her table.
The U.S. arm of the company describes it as “somewhere between the nicest of fast casual and hippest of casual.”
Of course there’s no shortage of more-conventional entrants in the fast-casual sector, sometimes in decidedly unexpected pairings. Ruby Tuesday is moving away from full service with its development deal with Lime Fresh, a Mexican concept that some might label Chipotle 2.0.
But perhaps the winner in service uniqueness has to be the handful of avant garde places that Technomic has dubbed non-food restaurants. We at MonkeyDish.com prefer to think of them as B.Y.O.F. places, as in have getting the food from elsewhere.
As Technomic’s Darren Tristano explained at our Restaurant Leadership Conference, these new places are basically bars without a kitchen. They encourage you to have food delivered, maybe from a preferred nearby restaurant, or to bring it in from the restaurant trucks or carts outside. Then they sell you the accompanying drinks.
They don’t have to invest in a kitchen or devote space to ovens and the like. Nor do they need the usual venting and exhaust fixtures that render many urban spots unfeasible for a restaurant.
Restaurants without the food. Who’d have thought it? It’s the non-menu menu.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Inside McDonald's new design
I'm sitting in McDonald's new prototype restaurant in the Chelsea section of New York City, watching the arriving guests do a double take. This is the first U.S. outlet of the chain to get the new look, which has apparently been greenlighted already in Europe.
It's so different that it's eliciting a lot of pointing and head nodding as patrons comprehend the changes. But the points of departure actually started outside, with a banner that could be the biggest sacrilege of all to hardcore Mickie D's fans. The flag sports--brace yourself--a new color scheme for the logo.
The Arch in the design is still golden. But it's on a black background, with a bar of red underneath. For traditionalists, this is jarring stuff.
Inside, the most noticeable switch from a conventional store has to be the seating. It's actually padded.
I'll let that sink in for a moment.
No more rock-hard molded plastic. Now the booths have upholstery both on the seat and the back uprights. Stools at the long common tables are also padded.
The lighting is far more muted, a pleasant break from the operating-room brightness of conventional units. And the colors are more Yuppie Modern than the brash, almost cartoonish colors of older stores. Lots of deep oranges, rich greens, and off-whites.
Much has been reported about the incorporation of flat screen monitors throughout the unit. There are at least two in the sizable dining room where I'm sitting, but no one seems to be watching, no doubt because you can't hear them. And one's a mere table away from me.
If the more-comfortable seats and more inviting color pattern are intended to foster more hanging out, the new look is an obvious success. A number of youngsters, apparently from a nearby high school, have parked themselves behind beverages of one sort of another (lots of lattes and sodas). There's a lot of conversation going on, as well as considerable munching and sipping.
There's a computer screen downstairs that I couldn't get near. I can't tell if it's a computer portal or some type of ordering device.
More on that in a follow up. Now it's time to finish my sugar-free latte and snoop some more.
It's so different that it's eliciting a lot of pointing and head nodding as patrons comprehend the changes. But the points of departure actually started outside, with a banner that could be the biggest sacrilege of all to hardcore Mickie D's fans. The flag sports--brace yourself--a new color scheme for the logo.
The Arch in the design is still golden. But it's on a black background, with a bar of red underneath. For traditionalists, this is jarring stuff.
Inside, the most noticeable switch from a conventional store has to be the seating. It's actually padded.
I'll let that sink in for a moment.
No more rock-hard molded plastic. Now the booths have upholstery both on the seat and the back uprights. Stools at the long common tables are also padded.
The lighting is far more muted, a pleasant break from the operating-room brightness of conventional units. And the colors are more Yuppie Modern than the brash, almost cartoonish colors of older stores. Lots of deep oranges, rich greens, and off-whites.
Much has been reported about the incorporation of flat screen monitors throughout the unit. There are at least two in the sizable dining room where I'm sitting, but no one seems to be watching, no doubt because you can't hear them. And one's a mere table away from me.
If the more-comfortable seats and more inviting color pattern are intended to foster more hanging out, the new look is an obvious success. A number of youngsters, apparently from a nearby high school, have parked themselves behind beverages of one sort of another (lots of lattes and sodas). There's a lot of conversation going on, as well as considerable munching and sipping.
There's a computer screen downstairs that I couldn't get near. I can't tell if it's a computer portal or some type of ordering device.
More on that in a follow up. Now it's time to finish my sugar-free latte and snoop some more.
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