Full-Service Fights to Take Back Breakfast
Fresh, local ingredients and updated versions of the classics entice diners to sit down and savor the first meal of the day.
By Scott Hume -- Restaurants & Institutions, September 29, 2009
The impact of McDonald's franchisee Herb Peterson's invention of the Egg McMuffin still is being felt nearly 40 years later. The hand-held morning meal has been a huge financial boon to quick-service restaurants, allowing most of them to become three-daypart operations.
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| For fall, IHOP is featuring NFL-themed breakfasts such as AFC or NFC Stuffed French Toast and an MVP Quarterback Scramble starting at $4.99. |
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| Mimi's Café constantly updates its breakfast menu with freshly prepared, seasonal dishes. |
Breakfast sandwiches have become so ingrained in American dining habits that a 2007 study by Chicago-based researcher Technomic Inc. found that 73% of consumers had ordered a biscuit-and-egg sandwich (or a variation) as a weekday, away- from-home meal during the previous week.
But as a result, breakfast now is widely perceived as a grab-and-go rather than a relax-and-savor meal. For mid-price, full-service restaurants with breakfast menus, the continuing challenge is to convince consumers that a more leisurely, sit-down breakfast is a viable option for weekdays as well as weekends.
Updating the Classics
Technomic's report criticized breakfast menus as “often lacking in innovation.” If so, it's because restaurants wrestle with finding a balance between being creative and being mindful of breakfast diners' tendencies to order traditional foods they know and love. It's possible to do both, says Adam Baird, executive chef of the 144-unit Mimi's Cafe chain, based in Irvine, Calif.
“I'm constantly updating our menu to offer freshly prepared, seasonal dishes that meet guests' many tastes and needs,” he says. Recent seasonal features at Mimi's include Fresh Asparagus and Potato Cake Benedict, a dish customers aren't likely to make at home or to find at a drive-thru window. Also new is a Pacific Breakfast Croissant that combines scrambled eggs, garlic spinach, bacon, tomatoes, Jack cheese, avocado and sun-dried tomato pesto in a buttery croissant.
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| Mimi's leverages the advantage of its ovens: Its stores feature an array of freshly baked muffins that quick-service operations can't match. |
Providing variety in service as well as food is important to keeping loyal customers and attracting new ones, according to Baird. “We open our doors at 7 a.m. and offer plenty of menu items for a quick get-in-get-out meal for guests in a rush,” he says. That includes a $5.99 Ciabatta Breakfast Sandwich, a posh version of the quick-service favorite that includes a fried egg, griddled ham, garlic, spinach, tomato, Cheddar cheese and citrus rémoulade. Mimi's, like many other broad-menu operations, also leverages the advantage of its ovens: Its stores feature an array of freshly baked muffins that quick-service operations can't match.
Following the Seasons
Appealing to guests' desire for creative dishes built around fresh, in-season foods is a key culinary strategy for Carlsbad, Calif.-based Catalina Restaurant Group's two mid-price chains, Coco's and Carrows. “At Coco's we focus on the season. During the spring, we are well known for our fresh strawberry breakfast offerings,” says Penny Poorman, Catalina director of food and beverage. “In summer we featured fresh peaches and blueberries. My favorite was the multigrain pancakes with fresh peaches and blueberries served with egg substitute and watermelon for less than 500 calories.”
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| Emphasizing seasonal fruit, Carrows menus this Strawberry Blintzes Combo with three cheese-filled blintzes. |
Offering “something traditional but with a twist” is another proven strategy with breakfast menus, Poorman says. As an example, she points to Coco's Deviled Benedict, English muffin halves topped with fresh tomatoes, applewood-smoked bacon and egg salad with seasoned breakfast potatoes on the side. It's different yet familiar, and as part of Coco's $4.99 “Big Meals Big Deals” menu, it's priced competitively with quick-service offerings.
“I think serving traditional, recognizable food with a unique or creative twist will always be our niche,” Poorman says.
Competing on Price
Quick-service chains' “dollar menu” breakfasts coupled with consumers' continuing cautiousness about dining-out spending keep the pressure on mid-price chains. Glendale, Calif.-based IHOP's summer specials included $5.99 Hawaiian-themed pancakes such as Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes topped with rum-butter-flavored glaze.
For fall, IHOP has gone even lower—to a $4.99 starting price—for NFL-themed breakfasts such as AFC or NFC Stuffed French Toast and an MVP Quarterback Scramble (eggs, diced pork sausage links, chopped bacon, diced ham, hash browns, diced jalapeños, Cheddar cheese and a splash of pancake batter). Spartanburg, S.C.-based Denny's this summer introduced a line of scrambled-egg-filled burritos priced from $3.99.
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| Denny's introduced a line of scrambled-egg-filled burritos priced from $3.99. |
Mimi's Cafe tries to bring that combination of unique and familiar to foods across its breakfast menu, which is divided into segments featuring seasonal, smaller dishes, house specialties, Gourmet Francais and others. “I create breakfast menus that appeal to various target audiences,” says Baird. “At the same time, we also see guests' selections vary according to time and day. One section that continued to increase in popularity across the board is the Just Enough menu, which offers breakfast entrées in smaller portions at a great value.” Mimi's “Just Enough” concept is offered on lunch and dinner menus, too.
Value-pricing and seasonal ingredients will continue to be important to consumers, Baird says. Another trend he sees growing in popularity is breakfast-all-day menus. And that is one that benefits full-service concepts such as Mimi's, Coco's or Denny's more than quick-service chains, most of which don't sell those popular breakfast sandwiches past the morning.
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