FSR June 2023

FIREBIRDS

and the smaller between 5,300–5,500. The difference is a private dining room, which holds about 24 people in the bigger model. Even that has changed, however. There are now full-glass walls that can be opened to the dining room and the store seats people a la carte if needed. The 8- to 10-foot opening makes guests feel like they’re part of the dining room. Or, the doors can close, shades pulled down, and customers can host an AV style meet ing. It’s really about choice and agility in development, Kislow says, especially when you consider delays, costs, and the bevy of external pressures facing res taurant growth. You have to get it right and be able to adjust. Another shift to emerge out of COVID is outdoor dining, which Loftis says remains a powerful draw. It was so robust at one point, Fire birds considered upgrading them to all weather and enclosing them with accor dion features. “But what we found out through the change in consumer behav ior over the last couple of years is they want an actual patio,” Kislow adds. So instead, Firebirds implemented hard lids and outfitted stores to fit the market. FIRING UP THE MENU Back when Chef Sturm joined Firebirds in its infancy, the polished casual space was hardly saturated. “It was maybe us and two other concepts,” he says. For two decades, that was enough. In more recent years, however, competitors have raced to catch up. You see this in quick service with fast casual just as you do in full, where a rising tide pushes every brand toward a center of quality. “We wanted to take a real good look at where we were headed and make sure our concept stayed relevant and was provid ing the kind of food and service, and, of course, bar, that our guest wants not only now, but into the future,” Sturm says. Rather than have an internal team direct that effort, Firebirds broadened the base. It created a “Menus of the Future” group made up of eight to 10 people, at any given time, across var ied demographics. This “board” of sorts acts as a steering committee. Sturm says

Firebirds picked foodies who are out in restaurants—Firebirds and otherwise— active on social media, and willing to see things and pass ideas along. Firebirds created internal boxes so the brand can look at everything. There’s a develop ment list and, once the chain gets to a point where it has enough data, it can present new concepts to that group monthly. Basically, “this is what you told us, and this is our response.” Firebirds makes the food and pres ents a specific taste panel sheet where it can judge everything from texture to visual to purchasing intent. All points get a score and tweak, if called for, and Sturm eventually presents the final product to senior management. Just how big a change this is from past practices can’t be understated, Sturm says. Firebirds is using this group for F&B deci sions as well as design choices. “I haven’t been this excited about where we’re headed with food since the beginning,” he says. “Not that we haven’t continually developed, but we used to look at things in year chunks. What are we doing this year? And then that’s how we scheduled. Now we’re looking three to five years.” The overarching goal aligns with everything discussed thus far: get fire and char in front of customers and be uniquely Firebirds at every turn. “We’re the largest wood-fired grill concept in the country,” Sturm says. “And we want to own that space.” Again, it flows from drinks (a recent Cozy Campfire cock tail featured Jack Daniels Rye, Fireball, Angostura cocoa bitters, and a torched marshmallow) to materials inside and outside the unit—trimmed, charred wood as an accent, for one. Sturm says Firebirds is trying to get a bit younger with its appeal without alien ating legacy consumers. It’s doing so by increasing “different dayparts they may gravitate to that you don’t currently have a huge guest count at that time,” he says. Specifically, Firebirds worked up more robust small plates to complement its FIREBAR and lounge area. Brunch, released in March 2022, is another example, with items like Shrimp & Grits and Skrewed Up Coffee (Skrewball Pea

nut Butter Whiskey, cinnamon elixir, coffee, and milk). Kislow says the trick for brunch is to keep getting the guest to the top of the funnel given they’re not necessarily Firebirds’ frequent user. The brand is readying to launch a mimosa carafe program to tap into the catego ry’s social nature. Broadly, though, Firebirds’ culinary approach is about connecting core traits, just as it is with development and mar keting. “The FIREBAR for us has always been a little bit of a business within its own business,” Loftis says. “And so, we want to introduce folks to the concept via [brunch] and so we’ve stepped back and really evaluated that whole platform, not only from a beverage perspective.” Catering is a work in progress as well. Pre-pandemic, Loftis says, it was a ser viceable arm of Firebirds’ business, but one that had ample runway. Behind the curtain, as demand came back, the brand worked on an enhanced lineup that’s now on the doorstep of expanding. It’s geared toward groups of 10, 20, 30 more than giant events, like a wedding. The same elevation awaits Firebirds’ virtual offerings. Fireburger launched in September 2020 and scaled quickly. It positioned on third-party apps as a higher-quality offering that placed a corner of Firebirds’ menu out in front of users searching for burgers over spe cific brands. Through the process, how ever, the chain came across “another interesting space,” Loftis says. And this is where Firebirds created Noodles & Greens, which required about seven or eight SKUs, to disrupt a pasta and entrée salad category that, unlike burg ers, wasn’t bursting at the seams. “It has been wildly successful,” Loftis says. Kislow adds that’s been the case despite the brand not throwing a ton of money behind it. Like brunch, it’s opened Firebirds to incremental visits. It skews more lunch and late night than dinner. Regardless of the occasion, how ever, success credits to Firebirds’ being what it’s always been, Kislow says, only for a new era. “We’re going to deliver an experience that surpasses expectations,” he says.

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