Date night at Applebee's

Restaurant Weekly - 1/26/24

Author

Andy Moore
February 03, 2024

Happy Friday!

3 Numbers

Image via Shutterstock

6.9%

Q3 same-store-sales growth for eatertainment concept Pinstripes, which released its first preliminary financial results as a public company last Friday. All in all, it was a solid quarter for the bowling, bocce and Italian food brand (what a combo!): revenue increased 14.1%, and the company announced plans to open four new venues by the end of May.

60

Units in chain Dirty Dough, a “super-stuffed” cookie concept acquired this week by portfolio company Craveworthy Brands. Dirty Dough recently agreed to a settlement with its Cookie War combatant Crumbl, which originally filed a trademark-infringement lawsuit against Dirty Dough in 2022. With the lawsuit in the rearview, Craveworthy plans on growing the cookie brand through franchising, co-branding with other Craveworthy concepts, and selling CPG products in retail grocers.

3

Feet of sandwich consumed by Lions fan John Robinson during Detroit’s 31-23 win over the Buccaneers on Sunday. After a photo went viral of Robinson holding a comically large sandwich stacked on a tiny plastic container, intrepid reporters tracked down the season ticket holder and learned that a.) he made the sandwich by buying six turkey clubs at the stadium for $68, and b.) he apparently does this every game. (Really feels like Detroiters need this Super Bowl.)

Idea: bring this drinking game to the U.S.

Image via Shutterstock

“In early December, Mark Hamlet took his elderly parents-in-law for a few festive drinks at his local pub in northern England. He opened his phone and posted a picture of the couple on Facebook along with a message: ‘brought nana and grandad out for their early night cap. explained to them about the game…Nothing crazy guys I’ve gotta put them to bed.’

"Within minutes, strangers across Britain were ordering the couple wine, beer and shots of liquor to their table at the George Inn near Stoke-on-Trent. ‘sent 2 half pints one for u and one for grandad and a wine for nan x have a great night,’ wrote one donor. ‘Incoming Wine, beer and a couple of shots for the young’uns,’ wrote another. So much booze was sent that Hamlet started handing it out around the pub. ‘Nana needs no sleep aide tonight guys. Thanks everyone xx,’ he wrote with a picture of his mother-in-law leaving the pub several hours later."

"Hamlet, 42 years old, was a winner in a drinking game that is sweeping Britain and may be one of the world’s more appealing national fixations to emerge in a while. Strangers across the country are buying each other drinks out of both kindness and in the hope of getting a free tipple when they themselves go to the pub.”

The game is called, simply, “Wetherspoons The Game.” It takes place every night at Britain’s largest chain of pubs, Wetherspoons (known also as “Spoons” to Brits and Americans who end their emails with “cheers”).

Wetherspoons has an app that allows customers to place mobile drink orders. Once the drinks are poured, a bartender delivers the beers and shots directly to customers’ tables.

Simple enough, but here’s the catch: the app allows you to “input your location manually rather than using the location services on your phone,” meaning, theoretically, that anyone anywhere can place a drink order if he or she knows the table number where the drink needs to go.

This feature has enabled the rise of a Facebook group where participants post a selfie, their Wetherspoons pub name, their table number, and a backstory explaining why they’re deserving of a free pint. Volunteer moderators pick a few dozen winners each night, and group members buy drinks for strangers. Sometimes it gets a little silly, and dozens of drinks will show up over the course of the night at a winner’s booth.

The group has over 500,00 members and is adding tens of thousands of people per month. It’s a phenomenon.

Which brings me to my point: I think this would work in the U.S.

The game’s success does rely on a few English-specific points. For one, the Brits really like their pubs. They’re ingrained in the culture at a level that’s deeper than bars are in the U.S.

Brits also really like buying rounds for each other while out at said pubs. The Wetherspoons game is a higher-tech version of a tradition that’s been around for a long time.

And there’s an argument that the game works because it’s a ground-up phenomenon, with no official or unofficial support from Wetherspoons (which doesn’t even have a social media account). This lends to it a charm that would be difficult to replicate.

But still:

The idea of sitting at a booth, sending a selfie out into the ether, and then all of a sudden, drinks start magically appearing in front of you, sent from strangers who are also wishing you well? This feels like it’d be widely popular! Regardless of wherever you are in the world.

In fact, there seems to be a sizable opportunity for an enterprising national chain (Buffalo Wild Wings, Dave & Busters, etc) to modify its app and allow anyone to buy a stranger (or faraway friend) a beer. If the game were quietly promoted in the brand’s app and social channels — and timed to an upcoming event like the Super Bowl or March Madness — it could go viral. Quickly.

I’m old enough to remember watching an entire bar pause on a winter night in 2017, as everyone pulled out their phones to play HQ Trivia. Or, for that matter, when everyone I knew wanted to tell me about something called Wordle. The game feels similar — like a communal event, tapping into the human need to connect whether out in a bar, or sitting at home on a couch.

Also, in case the "human connection" argument is a little fuzzy on the ROI: it’s estimated that the Game has generated about £1 million in extra business to Wetherspoons over the past few months (not counting the marketing value). So there's that.

Value on the menu

Applebee’s: meeting the moment, for America.

Citing the increased cost of a night out, on Monday the ‘Bee’s offered a limited number of $200 “date night” subscriptions, good for 52 weekly meals for two. The passes sold out in less than a minute. Lucky buyers will lay claim to $30 worth of food and beverages per date, Dollaritas (and other alcoholic drinks) excluded.

(It should be mentioned that a previously announced, similar Applebee’s promotion — all-you-can-eat boneless wings, riblets and shrimp for less than $15 — is covered by the Date Night Pass, meaning a couple could theoretically eat unlimited Applebee’s every week for a year … at roughly the cost of a trip to the grocery store.)

Anyway, the Applebee’s promo, while generous, has become increasingly common in what industry analysts are grandly calling “the year of value.” There is some variance in who chains are targeting — some are focusing on deals for loyalty members, like Dominos’ free “emergency pizza,” while others are targeting a general audience, like Buffalo Wild Wings’ BOGO campaigns held on slower weekdays.

But regardless of the approach, operators are looking for a bump in traffic, and that means deals. Via RestaurantDive:

“[Brokerage firm] BTIG expects value menu offerings at restaurants to increase this year as fast food chains seek to drive traffic, which has been down since 2022. Fast food chains also increased prices at a faster pace than full-service chains during this past year, and some, including McDonald’s, started to see a slip in low-income traffic in early 2023. 

“BTIG pointed to several national advertising campaigns — including Pizza Hut’s $7 Deal Lovers menu, Burger King’s $2.99 wraps and Popeyes’ $5.99 wings offering — as evidence of a push to promote more discounted offerings. In January, Taco Bell updated its Cravings Value menu with six new items. 

“The QSR segment isn’t the only restaurant increasing menu promotions. Nearly half of restaurant operators plan to provide more special offers this year, and 20% are adding more affordable menu options, per a Popmenu survey of 461 restaurant operators." 

Quick Hits

Name That Chain!

You get three guesses to name this week’s mystery chain:

  • Lent is this chain’s busiest season.

  • Its international locations are all situated on U.S. military bases.

  • Before getting its current moniker, this chain’s name was prefixed with “Mr.”

Stay tuned… the answer will be in next week’s email.

Last issue’s answer: Dave & Buster’s

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