Houston-based Dish Society aims to provide an elevated, largely locally sourced meal at a reasonable price point in a flexible-service format.
“We really want to deliver a $30 experience for $20,” said Aaron Lyons, founder and CEO of the six-unit brand’s parent, Five 12 Restaurant Concepts. “That's our goal at Dish Society.”
The eight-year-old concept, which offers counter service at breakfast and lunch and table service at dinner, has grown a following for its all-day menu and best-selling items like the Farmers Plate, which features a choice of protein (chicken, steak, brisket, shrimp, salmon or beef links) and two sides for between $12.29 and $18.70.
Looking to fill a personal need in the foodservice market for something between fast-casual Chipotle and upper-scale Houston’s/Hillstone, Lyons created Dish Society in 2014 and in January added the higher-end Daily Gather concept to the mix.
Per-person check averages at Dish Society are about $20. The restaurants cover 3,000-4,000 square feet with 100 seats inside.
“The menu itself is locally sourced, seasonal, farm-to-table,” Lyons said. “About 75% of everything on our menu is sourced locally in and around Houston. … We partner with a lot of local suppliers, so it's kind of elevated fast-casual, chef-driven.” Four of the Dish Society locations serve liquor, beer and wine.
Daypart sales are about 40% each for lunch and dinner and 10% each for breakfast and “afternoon social hour.” Off-premises grew during the pandemic and ranges from 30-50% of sales, Lyons said.
All six restaurants are in the Houston area, with the most recent opening being the relocation and enlargement of the Katy, Texas, restaurant, which opened in March 2021.
Lyons, who wrote the business plan for Dish Society when he was getting his master’s degree, partnered with Trent Patterson, an undergraduate fraternity brother who had worked with Chick-fil-A, to head operations. The culinary director is Brandi Key.
Dish Society seeks to target the 25-55-year-old young professional, Lyons said.
“They are early in their family, starting their families,” he said. “They're moving into or buying their first home, having their first kids. And they are affluent and educated and care about what they eat and make conscious decisions about that. They value convenience, and they want to have a relationship with the brand that they're consuming from.”
The décor package has evolved in the past 10 years since Lyons was designing the first unit, he said, moving from a modern barn look with Edison bulbs and reclaimed wood to “a more modern, fresher, lighter, airier take on things, using a lot more whites, a lot more lighter woods, comfortable seating.” Lighting can be dimmed in the evening for the full-service ambience, he added.
Even before the pandemic, outdoor seating was important to the Houston brand, Lyons said. A 500-1,500-square-foot patio is “a deal breaker for us. We don't we don't even look at locations that don't have the ability to put 60-100 seats on the patio.”
As for future growth, which Lyons said will likely be mostly within Texas, most markets can accommodate several Dish Society units and perhaps one Daily Gather, which Lyons projects to do about 150% of the sales of a Dish Society.
“Dish Society is our growth vehicle,” he said, “and we're going to put most of our energy and effort into growing that. Daily Gather will be kind of the tagalong once we open a new market and we've identified where we want to be. Then we'll start to see where we want to put a Daily Gather.”
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