FSR October 2022

OntheRise

As Hawkers looks toward the future, the chain is reimagining store designs to meet changing consumer needs. The brand’s latest opening in Virginia includes the its first takeout window, to satisfy an off-premises channel that mixes 25 percent, an increase from12-15 percent before Covid. Previously, carv ing out takeout/delivery inside the res taurant was more of an “operations will figure it out later,” approach, but now the brand will be more intentional, Harrell says. In fact, Hawkers went through all its locations to see how it could rework floor plans for the sake of convenience. Throughout the pandemic, the casual dining chain has attempted to transfer its experiential offering into off-prem ises packaging, including interactive QR codes with a playlist. “What we’ve seen as guests come back in is that on-premises has come back to where it was pre-pandemic, and off-premises has stayed there,” Harrell says. “What that tells me is, people have decided they’re not making a choice of either/or. They’re saying, ‘Yes/and.’” Lo says Americans’ growing inter est in travel has elevated the consumer appetite for international flavors. In the coming years, the goal is for Hawkers to leverage that attraction and become a household name in the Asian casual dining sector. “I’m excited because I’m always want ing to push the envelope and really show case a little bit more,” Lo says. “But we’ve got to walk that tight line to make sure we’re not wasting our efforts and throw ing something on the menu that’s just going in the trash because no one’s buy ing it or ordering it. I’m excited to really push the envelope and showcase some cool stuff.” “We’re really looking at redefining our category, andwe’re looking at changing the landscape of what casual Asian dining means for the country.”

LIKE THE MENU, HAWKERS LOCATIONS ARE BOLD WITH BRIGHT MURALS, NEON LIGHTS, AND PAN-ASIAN PARAPHERNALIA SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE SPACE. HAWKERS ASIAN STREET FARE

food in open-air markets. Lo says the brand’s opening coincided with a rise in popularity of travel TV stars like Andrew Zimmern, Anthony Bourdain, and Samantha Brown who visited these places and highlighted family recipes. The menu comprises dim sum, rolls, street skewers, wings, barbecue pork, housemade kimchi, salad, wraps, rice and curry, noodles, soups, and des serts. Best-sellers include Roti Canai (Malaysian f latbreads with a signa ture curry sauce), Korean Twice Fried Wings (smothered in garlic gochujang and topped with peanuts, sesame, and cilantro), and Chinese BBQ Pork Baos, which are wok-fired with hoisin sauce and caramelized onions. In addition to a selection of Japanese whisky and sake, the beverage menu features classic West ern cocktails with an Asian twist such as the Malaysian Mule, Margari-Thai, and Lemongrass Mojito. In the past dozen years, Hawkers has expanded to 13 locations in seven states, and now the objective is to reach 100 restaurants by 2030. The cofound ers wanted to look beyond their typi cal three-year strategic planning incre ments. With stability, sustainability, and scalability now in place, Harrell and his

partners felt Hawkers was ready to look 20, 30, or 40 years out. The company prides itself on keep ing infrastructure growth ahead of unit development. As of July, Hawkers had enough resources to support double the number of restaurants. That said, Har rell recognizes the company will have to ramp up swiftly in some areas—espe cially middle-management roles like area directors and regional chefs—for the chain to meet its 2030 goal. “We’re really looking at redefining our category, and we’re looking at changing the landscape of what casual Asian din ing means for the country,” Harrell says. All units are company-owned. Harrell won’t totally rule out Hawkers franchis ing in the future, but there are no such plans as of now. And as he points out, the brand has extremely high standards. “When you think about it, a 4.8 guest review score on a multiunit chain con cept is extremely high. So taking that maniacal approach—it’s already not easy; it’s already difficult given the tiers of management we have—but then add ing in a layer of franchisees … I don’t know, but I think it would be difficult to do that without seeing the guest suf fer,” Harrell says.

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