A View From The Top

Why Sweet Chick traded casual dining for fast casual model

Sweet Chick founder John Seymour explains what he learned when transforming his casual dining model to a fast casual experience.

Sweet Chick founder John Seymour, provided

August 18, 2022

At Sweet Chick, outside of our food of course, we've always prided ourselves on hospitality. Our five locations in New York City and Los Angeles have become cultural communities — places where guests can count on a welcoming atmosphere, high-quality service, a tight-knit community of regulars and an amazing playlist.

In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to shift to takeout-only, we were no longer able to offer Sweet Chick customers that feel good, sit-down dining experience, but that didn't mean we couldn't provide them with the same level of comfort and hospitality they had become accustomed to.

Sweet Chick's transition from dine-in to takeout, which included a shift away from our seasonal and specials menus and allowed us to focus on our core menu items while adding our fare we had previously only served and tested at festivals and stadiums, was a hit. In other words, we shut up and played our hits. With this new found success, we decided to convert all of our locations and operational model into fast casual restaurants, while still maintaining an emphasis on community and personalized service that attracted our loyal customer base to begin with.

Our success has proven that fast casual restaurants can thrive under a hospitality-driven model and taught us some valuable lessons along the way. Here are four of them:

1. Hire the right people, and put personality first

When building the staff for your fast casual restaurant, it's important to hire the right people. These people will be the face of your restaurant and provide first impressions for your customers – so don't be afraid to prioritize personality. After all, it's easier to train a new hire how to perform tasks than it is to train a new hire how to be a genuinely nice person and a good team player.

2. Make your staff feel valued

Whether you run a large chain or a small local restaurant, get creative in finding ways to incentivize your employees. Your staff are the building block of your company – and when they feel appreciated, they're more likely to feel personally invested in the success of your restaurant. A positive company culture starts with the people who work there – so listen to your employees and prioritize their needs, hold them accountable as needed, and promote those who enjoy and take pride in their work to allow them to grow in their careers.

3. Pay attention to customer reviews and feedback

There's only one true way to measure the quality of your restaurant's hospitality: your customers. Pay attention and respond to customer feedback, whether it comes through online reviews or through a conversation with a customer at the register, and address issues as they're reported. You can also utilize more unorthodox tools for collecting customer reviews – such as mystery shopper programs or apps that incentivize customers to provide feedback. Whatever the channel, clear and honest communication with customers is key.

4. Go the extra mile

When it comes to hospitality, I like to ask ourselves, what can we do to give our guests the best version of Sweet Chick, and a better experience in general. It all starts from the time they enter the restaurant till they are smiling on the way out, and we have every minute in between to give them our best.

In many cases, an elevated experience is in the small details. At Sweet Chick, for instance, now operating as a fast casual, it was imperative for us to provide our sit-down customers with plates and silverware to ensure the best service. From Fresh Daily Lemonades to a curated array of condiments, or limited-time food collaborations that align with your brand to finding any small way to make the guest feel special. We've paid close attention to the language and messaging we use in our staff training and guest messaging. We want to consistently improve on every touch point of the guest experience, and that is hospitality.

More and more, the success of restaurants like Sweet Chick are proving that fast casual doesn't have to mean cheap, low-quality ingredients, impersonal, or limited options and that something as simple as a smile, a conversation, a free treat for kids - and, of course, that playlist, can be the difference between ordinary and extraordinary.

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