LEXINGTON, Ky. — Fazoli's has taken a cue from an old game show called College Bowl and given it a new twist, calling it the Pasta Bowl.
"The Pasta Bowl tests our managers' and associates' knowledge of Fazoli's standard operating procedures," said Dennis Benson, vice president of Operations. "In the past, the competition has been open only to managers, but this year we formed teams consisting of associates and associate managers."
This year's winning team, the "Pasta Boilermakers" from West Lafayette, Ind., won the title during Fazoli's annual convention in Lexington.
The competition began with more than 300 teams, one from each restaurant. The first round of competition was local with the winning teams proceeding to a semi-divisional competition. Those winners progressed to the division finals, and winners there moved on to the championship round at the convention. Teams were quizzed in a game-show style set up using questions developed by Fazoli's Organizational Learning Department.
"Anyone who's worked in the restaurant business knows it's a challenge to implement standardized training methods," Benson said. "The Pasta Bowl makes the retention of training information fun, generates excitement, instills pride and, ultimately, improves guests' experiences at our restaurants."
The winning team and runners-up received a Taste of Kentucky gift bag and American Express Gift cards.
