FSR January 2023

L IQUID INTELL IGENCE

in AUVs; IHOP was just slightly higher at $1.9 million.) Texas-based Toasted Yolk had beer and wine on the menu when its first store opened in 2010, but it took another five years before its offerings expanded to spirits. As owner and cofounder Chris Milton explains, liquor licenses were

“When we started, everybody was kind of a rooster-on-the-wall, country breakfast place, and we wanted to be something different,” he says. “That bar just makes up such a neat part of our atmosphere; it’s in the center of our res taurants. We start with the bar and then build out from there.”

roots. (Although the chain is now head quartered in Florida, it started in south ern Louisiana.) “We have a saying at Another Broken Egg that brunch without alcohol is just a sad breakfast,” Macaluso says. “Brunch is about amazing food and ‘spirited’ con nections, which includes both the rela

THE TOASTED YOLK’S JACK’S HOT CHOCOLATE PAIRS WELL WITH SWEET OR SAVORY DISHES, LIKE THE SOUTHERN FRIED ARNOLD (BELOW).

TOASTED YOLK (3)

“That bar just makes up such a neat part of our atmosphere; it’s in the center of our restaurants. We start with the bar and then build out from there.”

Over the past decade or so, Milton has observed a shift in consumer habits, starting with his wife and her friends,

tionships you foster and the beverages you enjoy together.” As interest in the more “spirited” side of things has grown, Another Broken Egg has expanded its beverage list in kind, with seasonally driven, limited time options. It also suggests drink pair ings for LTO dishes, such as the Tito’s & Watermelon Red Bull cocktail alongside the Brunch Short Ribs, which feature a watermelon reduction sauce. The Toasted Yolk also rolls out spe cials and pairings. Milton estimates that mimosa and BloodyMary orders account for 65 percent of all alcohol sales, but seasonal LTOs bring a fresh twist. In mid-November, the brand introduced​

hefty in the Lone Star State, and as a new entrant in the breakfast space, The Toasted Yolk didn’t realize what a draw those drinks could be. “A wine-based Bloody Mary just doesn’t get the job done. So we ended up making the change,” Milton says. Now, Bloody Mary sales are nearly as high as mimosa sales. Even though it took a few years for The Toasted Yolk to expand its beverage menu, Milton says the bar was always a central focus.

who now prefer weekend brunch for their social gatherings rather than din ner. Breakfast and brunch have become more of a destination, he says. Paul Macaluso, CEO of Another Bro ken Egg, has witnessed a similar evolu tion. In 2016, alcohol sales comprised just 6 percent of sales; today it’s more than double, at 15 percent. Like The Toasted Yolk, Another Bro ken Egg has focused on the bar element since day one—something Macaluso attributes to the brand’s New Orleans

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