Some restaurant guy thoughts (yes I own restaurants too if you forgot) Second photo makes me think they’re trying to do a mashup with Maple Street Biscuit Co (fast casual concept) that they acquired some time ago to capture new zeitgeist. It’s not done well and it doesn’t work
@jasonc_nc Also, country music has exploded as the biggest selling genre, and southern colleges are seeing record enrollment. It's baffling as to why they would make CB less southern at a time like this.
@CompletedStreet It wasn’t broke so they broke it
@jasonc_nc They also blew their war chest of equity doing this https://x.com/chasesfish/statu...
@chasesfish Punch Bowl made no sense. Maple Street was a reasonable bolt on for growth in urban markets at smaller footprint and had a good business model. Can’t imagine that the PB fiasco helped them execute on that plan. Now they just need someone that lives and breathes ops to fix the
@jasonc_nc Very well done!
@DeerwoodRealty It’s bad man They gotta recalibrate and go back to basics. Poach someone at the top from Darden to start and get ops and cogs straight before they worry about decor changes and canned cocktails maybe.
@jasonc_nc I am not confident that hiring the head of International at Taco Bell as CEO is going to solve these issues
@digital_twinn Same. Not sure this translates. A top Darden person is probably the real answer
@jasonc_nc Perhaps the poor curbside service is a grassroots effort to get people out of their cars.
@Dakeup Nah they drop the ball when you come in just as hard
@jasonc_nc the positive about the restaurant biz is the feedback loop is fast the negative is a quick feedback loop combined with a stubborn mgt that does not adjust results in a rapid downward spiral of self-doubt, demoralized crews, and ultimately validation of customers' word-of-mouth
@Jk91185408 100% the path.
@jasonc_nc Did PE suck them up? How do you not understand your market share at all?
@ChambleOn Expansionism that made no sense and failing to keep their eyes on the things that made them money
@nmmi68 Lolll. What did you do?
@jasonc_nc There's a new prom queen every year. Sometimes businesses just forget that they were made for such a time as this, and that time has passed.
@jasonc_nc Resturaunt content always hits
@jasonc_nc I found myself at a Cracker Barrel for the first time in about a decade a few weeks ago. Aside from the fact the food is god awful now (how do you screw up country fried steak and gravy) the staff was low energy and rude, I couldn’t help but think if they followed in the —-
@jasonc_nc Almost as if keeping things simple and not trying to stray too far away from the businesses roots would have been a much better option for them. They should cut the losses and get back to what made them a fun place to go to in the first place.
@jasonc_nc I've only been to CB once and it was under duress. That said, I never got the feeling that people went there for the food. They went there for the faux nostalgia. Messing with that seems idiotic...
@jasonc_nc Where I am at, they don't clean the restaurant. The floors are a greasy mess and dangerous. The food is caked on the trellises beside the tables. The smell is very offsetting.
@jasonc_nc Yeah. This is all correct. Well done.
@jasonc_nc Should just throw some gravel over those brick floors. 🤔
@jasonc_nc First Watch is suddenly everywhere. It's our grandparent/grandkid Sunday morning date.