BJ’s Restaurants Inc. pushed protein to the center of the plate earlier this month, a move that is both uncharted and familiar to the casual-dining chain.
“This is very much in keeping with what we’ve been doing for a number of years,” BJ’s president and CEO Greg Trojan told Nation’s Restaurant News.
The new Brewhouse Slow-Roasted Menu lineup features a hearty selection of protein entrees, including prime rib, pork ribs, pork shoulder and a double bone-in pork chop. Meats are roasted for up to eight hours before being carved to order.
Prime rib is only available on peak weekend evening hours and all day on Sundays. The pork chop is served exclusively after 4 p.m., every day.
“I don’t view this as a change in strategy at all,” Trojan said of the menu.
“[BJ’s is] not a bar-and-grill,” he added of the Huntington Beach, Calif.-based chain.
Last year, Applebee’s, which is a bar-and-grill chain, sought to energize its menu with new items centered around hand-cut steaks cooked in wood-fired grills at each restaurant.
But the new platform could not save Applebee’s from stumbling. After launching the new menu in May, Applebee’s same-store sales fell 4.2 percent by the close of the second quarter ended June 30. As a result, Julia Stewart, then chairman and CEO of parent company DineEquity Inc., eventually resigned.
When asked if BJ’s new menu could face a similar fate, Trojan did not express concern with Applebee’s results.
“These are the products that people have shown that they want,” he said.
There were no qualms about the price points of the new items, Trojan said, and BJ’s goal to “deliver a surprising level of quality at an amazing value” has not shifted.
BJ’s has successfully executed center-of-the-plate protein entrees before, he noted, saying that customers complained after the chain removed a previous incarnation of the pork chop dish in the past.
The new menu items range from $11.75 to $26.95, and require new ovens to be installed in BJ’s 192 restaurants across 24 states.
In addition to the new meat-centric menu, BJ’s is not shying away from its bar program.
BJ’s has been brewing its own beer for over 20 years. On the menu, beers are paired with mainstream brands that are similar to the in-house selection, so customers can make more informed choices before trying a new pint.
The restaurant’s bar areas and sports-friendly atmosphere tend to draw a Millennial crowd looking to watch games in a social environment, Trojan said.
BJ’s same-store sales in the first quarter ended April 4 fell 1.3 percent. The company reported net income of $9.3 million, or 42 cents per share, compared with $11.6 million, or 47 cents per share the previous year. Revenue rose 5.9 percent, to $257.8 million.
Jefferies said it continues “to model flattish same-store sales for the year, as we believe BJ’s will need at least some modest improvement in the overall full-service operating environment to see same-store sales turn more meaningfully positive.”
Trojan admitted that the casual-dining segment faces challenges. He cited oversaturation of competition and the declining state of retail as two obstacles.
With retail stores failing, there are less opportunities for customers to stop in while out and about on shopping trips. And developers and property owners turn to restaurants to fill vacant storefronts when retail options can no longer pay the rent.
Despite the roadblocks, Trojan was bullish about the new menu.
“What we love about [the new menu] is the chance to do this segment of product in a way that sets a standard in our segment,” he said.
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