Casual-dining executives say “stand out and lower prices”.
by TedReducing the glut. With way too many restaurants serving far too few customers, at least 1,000 casual dining units will close over the next 12 months — helping to lessen the glut of casual dining spots, says Ron Paul, president at researcher Technomic. “In the eyes of consumers, these restaurants are the same. There are too many. They are too similar. And their prices got out of whack.”
Stand out. Casual dining’s long-term problem is one that vexes all companies as they age: how to stay fresh, while offering a unique draw to which no one else in the category can lay claim. Such as Cheesecake Factory’s giant portions. Outback’s high-quality steaks. Olive Garden’s Tuscan-like ambience. And Seasons 52’s bite-size desserts. “Each concept must stand for something unique to survive,” says Christopher Muller, an industry consultant.
Lower prices. More than anything, high prices are what rile USA TODAY readers. “The prices used to be reasonable, so you could go out more often,” says Marcia Lafferman of Paradise, Calif. Now, she says, casual dining prices have crept so high, she’s stopped going. To save money, Brace Cain, an events planner from Atlanta, stopped going to casual dining spots for dinner but goes at lunch, when prices are lower.
Fix the food. Casual dining’s takeoff 20 years ago was driven a lot by the fact that the food quality far exceeded fast-food offerings — but the prices did not. Fast food’s quality has gone way up, but the prices have risen relatively slowly. At the same time, casual dining’s food quality and innovation stagnated, even as its prices kept creeping up, he says.
Improve service. Slow service and discourteous staff have given casual dining a black eye. Lengthy waits for meals “don’t reflect how Americans eat,”
Spiff up stores. “We have an entire industry of 20-year-old locations,” says Marc Buehler, CEO of Lone Star Steakhouse. “They need more than a coat of paint.”
Get kid-friendly. Families are a big part of casual dining’s business, and for many parents, what matters most is how happy their hungry kids are. Looking for casual dining spots to be more kid-friendly, she wonders if they could install kid playgrounds. Or maybe they could lend kids handheld video games at the same time parents are handed those electronic pagers.
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