Concept: 29 Degree Tavern
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Opened: February 2007
Footprint: 6,500 square feet
Average Check: $14.50 at lunch; $28.50 at dinner
Beers on Tap: 12 (6 domestics; 6 premiums)
Staff: 80
Seating: 170 dining room, 50 bar
Key Equipment: Custom back-of-the-house beverage-cooling system keeps beers properly chilled as they travel from kegs to taps.
Key Design Elements: Prohibition-era photos and murals reflect the market; flatscreen televisions in bars and dining rooms.

Name game: The restaurant’s name reflects what Plano, Texas-based Metromedia Restaurant Group (MRG) says is the ideal temperature for refreshing tap brews. Large thermometers posted above the main entrance and over the bar keep customers posted on the beer’s ice-cold status—and double as design elements.

Beverage boon: So far, alcoholic-beverage sales are strong, comprising 37% of total food-and-beverage sales. Beer has its share of devotees, but a strong lineup of flavored martinis and other specialty drinks plays a key role in the concept as well.

Modern makeover: 29 Degree Tavern actually is a modern-day incarnation of MRG’s 40-year-old flagship brand, Steak and Ale, which helped define the casual-dining chain segment. The new concept, first refined at the company’s Plano Tavern and Southlake Tavern restaurants, will serve as a prototype for national franchise development. MRG also operates the Bennigan’s Grill & Tavern chain.