FSR March 2023

N E X TG EN CASUA L

Investing in and implementing the latest technology—or not doing so—is one of the key differences separating NextGen Casual restau rants from competitors. Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill, an aff iliate of Sun Capital Partners with more than 60 locations across 16 states, is one such example. Since 2020, the casual-dining chain more than doubled its off-premises business, launched two virtual brands, opened two ghost kitchens, and added its first drive-thru in 2022. “We made a lot of tech investments to drive business and be an innovator and category leader,” says James O’Reilly, a former Long John Silver’s and Sonic Drive-In executive, who joined Flor ida-based Smokey Bones in May 2019. Among an array of benefits, those investments importantly led to an improved guest experience. The guest experience was the driving factor for Smokey Bones when first considering imple menting a drive-thru, O’Reilly says, as it asked itself how the majority of restaurant guests want to access off-premises. “Nobody ever said casual dining can’t [have drive-thrus],” he says, “so obsessively focusing on the guest and taking more of an outside-in view leads you to thinking, from a guest point of view, why wouldn’t a drive-thru be a good idea?” In addition to increasing digital orders, a pur posefully designed off-premises operation also improves the on-premises experience, since it leads to less interruptions from delivery drivers walking in when a guest is inside trying to enjoy their meal, O’Reilly notes. The virtual brand world emerged as another large growth opportunity for Smokey Bones to explore. In October 2022, it launched BiteHall, a virtual food hall concept that took five brands— Smokey Bones, The Wing Experience, Burger Experience, plus two new virtual brands, Bowl Market and Tender Box—and combined them under one umbrella and website. The idea stemmed from thinking about the guest experience (sound familiar? ) , and in this case, multiple guests who may not want to eat the same thing for dinner or have multiple deliv ery charges. BiteHall has one ticket, one delivery fee, and one service fee. “We’re designing it to be an Amazon-like experience, where you can cross shop from dif ferent brands with different menus,” O’Reilly says. “It’s really exciting, and I believe it’s in its absolute infancy.” BiteHall took a year to develop, and O’Reilly’s

team started by look ing at what menu categories could drive growth from a guest facing standpoint while being relatively easy to execute in restaurants—without over compl icat i ng operat ions , importantly. For example, Bite Hall would not add a virtual pizza brand at this point, since they don’t have pizza ovens at Smokey Bones restaurants, O’Reilly says. “But restaurant operators are experts at preparing pro tein-based entrees, which is the majority of our business. Meat is what we do,” he says, which led to Burger Experience and The Wing Experience. “There’s no other restaurant chain that has 50 f lavors for wings.” Chicken-centric Tender Box, meanwhile, offers crowd-pleas ing combos such as chicken and waff les, chicken and donuts, and Carolina dipped tenders.

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ALL THE BITES IN ONE SITE ONE CHECK · ONE ORDER · ONE DELIVERY

FEATURED BITES

COLOSSAL RIBFEAST Giant spare rib slab, four sides, two slices of garlic bread and two drinks-we hope you’re hungry!

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ABOUT US

All the bites in one site. Welcome to Bite Hall, where you can get all of your favorites under one “digital roof.” Why are we doing this? Well we know that sometimes not everyone wants to order from the same menu. We get it! On Bite Hall, everyone can choose what they want and BOOM it all comes in one easy order.

OUR BRANDS One check. One order. One Delivery.

Finding something for everyone is our mission. From fall-off-the-bone ribs, to wings to classic burgers (and everything in between) we invite you to take your pick of our featured brands.

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 VIRTUAL BRANDS REMAIN A

“The way we’re managing it from the back of house and BiteHall standpoint allows us to eff iciently execute all these items without com promising,” O’Reilly adds. That meant investing in back-of-house technology to essentially create a mini kitchen line with a dedicated f low for vir tual brands, separate from dine-in entrees. Changing off-premises packaging to Bite Hall branding was an easy simplifying solution, and also allows for cross-promotion by featuring the logos and brief descriptions of all BiteHall brands. DoorDash Drive is the company’s fulfill ment partner for all off-premises orders, though Smokey Bones does some in-house delivery for its catering business. While on-premises orders comprised 80 to 90 percent of business in 2019 when O’Reilly joined, the brand has now grown its off-premises plat form to nearly 50 percent over three years. And based on the early consumer response to Bite Hall, O’Reilly plans on investing more into the platform in 2023. “The blurring of the lines has been more of an outcome than a goal in and of itself,” O’Reilly says. “If trying to make a virtual brand experience less complicated for restaurants and for guests,

POWERFUL TOOL FOR FULL-SERVICE OPERATORS TO REACH OFF-PREMISES FOCUSED GUESTS.

SMOKEY BONES BAR & FIRE GRILL / BITEHALL (2)

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INDUSTRY-WIDE ISSUE

MARCH 2023

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