Getting the Spirit
A Very Good Year for Bennigan’s

For a chain fairly credited as one of the forefathers of the modern field of bar and restaurant chains, Bennigan’s has found that competing today meant going back to basics, for starters. Basics reestablished, the chain now has implemented the next phase of its bar-side rebirth.
    “Bennigan’s heritage is built on the bar,” says Clay Dover, Bennigan’s vice president of marketing. “Our restaurants are literally built around a bar. Back in the ‘70s, we were one of the earliest ones to be a restaurant concept with a big bar focus. It’s not an afterthought.”
    When Dover joined Bennigan’s, the chain’s alcohol beverage sales were in a funk — and not the good, party kind of funk.
    “What I found was that we really needed to take one step back and focus on the basics,” he says.
    Starting a year and half ago through April 2007, the organization began to implement the tools for bartending success, including bartending manuals, training, certification of bartenders and more.
    “Our alcohol beverage mix before we started (going back to the basics) was at an 18.3 percent — a pretty low point for a concept that at one time was in the mid-30s,” Dover says. “We did this program, and as of April, we’re at a 20.1, which is pretty big, considering what we’re working on.
    “But a lot of it was low-hanging fruit — doing the right drinks, making sure our guests are happy, putting in training steps, etc. — even the introduction of a dedicated beverage menu, which was something that we’d gotten away from.”

The Year of the Bar
    The foundation of basics brought Bennigan’s to date, priming it for its next phase, The Year of the Bar, which launched in April. The rationale behind this initiative is to take 12 months to make beverage the focus of everything Bennigan’s does.
    “I was in a culinary meeting, talking about an upcoming tasting with our franchisees,” Dover says. “We actually had a line item in there for beverage; what are we going to show (the guest) for beverage? Chefs always want to talk about food, but now their mindset is also beverage. And that is somewhat new.”
    The most critical mindset change, of course, has come, and will continue to come, in the bartenders themselves.
    “I want to make our bartenders rock stars,” Dover says. “I want our bartenders to be my No. 1 brand disciple and portray the attitude of our brand and be a focus of attention in our restaurants. We want that job behind the bar to be one that people aspire to. It’s a position that in the past may have gone to whoever’s been there the longest. We want people with personality and charisma to want to go there.”
    The first element of the plan was to create a whole new certification program. Bartenders take tests in the subjects of beer, wine and spirits — one area is tested every two months, and then another round of tests comes in the second half of the year. Staff must pass each with 85 percent; failure results in dismissal from the bartender position.
    But accountability is just one factor Bennigan’s is using to keep bar personnel on their toes and at the top of their game. The second piece of the puzzle is intended to involve bartenders and managers in the development process.
    “We have a Web site where you can submit recipes for drinks,” Dover says. “They get screened. We review them on a regular basis.”
    If Bennigan’s chooses any of the recipes for actual use, the server, bartender or manager who submitted it gets a cash prize as well as credit on drink menus.
    Additionally, monthly tastings allow bartenders and franchisees to sample cocktails and provide feedback.
    Training is the third element of The Year of the Bar. With the help of Patrick Henry Creative Promotions Inc., Bennigan’s has a team of bartenders it sends to bimonthly regional conferences of managers. In a 2-hour training session, those in
the field learn about pour accuracy, up-selling, product knowledge and other matters.
    A mystery shopping program solely for the bar also is part of the program. “Our bartenders know they are being watched,” Dover says. Another tool Bennigan’s uses to drive bartender excitement in the brand is bartender business cards. Implemented this year, the cards feature the bartender’s name with his or her shifts listed on the back — and the card is redeemable by the guest for a free appetizer. Dover says the cards allow bartenders to become Bennigan’s advocates, telling guests to come back to see them, and when.
    “I didn’t think that much of it, but bartenders and staff just love it,” Dover says. “They think it’s so cool that they get their own business cards. They’re different than the regular corporate template; they’re funky and fun.”
    The last piece of The Year of the Bar is a hotline bartenders can call for everything from recipe cards to questions about the price of a bottle of tequila.
    In 2008, Bennigan’s will add to its program a skills contest called Bennigan’s Bar Stars. Dover stresses that it’s not about flair or throwing bottles. “There’s a place for that, but this gives them a chance to compete with their skills. It’s pour accuracy and drink knowledge,” he says.

Back to Being Bennigan’s
    Bennigan’s at its birth found its identity in beverage, and Dover says the new initiatives are dusting off that identity and giving it the shine it deserves.
“It’s always more profitable than the food side,” he says. “It’s much more profitable being in the spirits business.”