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Johnny Rockets to debut fast casual concept

Although Johnny Rockets has dabbled in the fast casual space with counter-service prototypes of the brand, it’s now launching a separate fast casual concept called Johnny's Burger Factory.

September 25, 2015

Although Johnny Rockets has dabbled in the fast casual space with counter-service prototypes of the brand, it’s now launching a separate fast casual concept called Johnny's Burger Factory. The new concept, which was created to appeal Millennials, opens Saturday in the Walden Galleria in New York, according to a company press release.

"Every detail about the development of Johnny's Burger Factory, from the first design to construction, product development and marketing had a new kind of consumer in mind,” said CEO Charles Bruce. “It's not possible to ignore millennials and still be competitive in the better burger category.”

The design

Johnny's Burger Factory has an industrial look with colors and materials that include reclaimed wood siding and corrugated metal siding on the walls, with a bamboo-faced dining counter with a darker sleek counter top. Edison pendant lights surround the dining counter. New technology, including a video wall and digital menu board — designed to resemble a hand written chalk board — engages guests, Bruce said. A touch-screen kiosk will allow them to place their orders and customize their meals for a hands-on experience, and team members will sport a casual look wearing jeans, T-shirts and butcher-style aprons.

"Our goal with Johnny's Burger Factory is to broaden our appeal and foster an immediate connection and loyalty with a tech-savvy generation looking for a new kind of restaurant," said James Walker, president of Global Operations and Development for Johnny Rockets. "This restaurant is designed to serve the highest quality food in the highest quality environment. This, along with personal meal customization and self-ordering, will all contribute to differentiating Johnny's Burger Factory from other fast casual brands."

Experimentation and expansion
The creation of Johnny's Burger Factory took a great deal of time, passion and experimentation to create a concept that is flexible enough in its design to allow multiple opportunities for new tests and trials, Walker said.

"We've already seen a great deal of excitement around the new restaurant from current and prospective franchise partners," he said. "This concept design opens up development opportunities in a variety of venues globally. And as a result, we hope to expand at a faster pace and plan on adding new kitchen technology where we will bake our own buns and make ice cream from scratch as the brand evolves."

The menu

While burgers get top billing, the restaurant also offers a chicken menu and a veggie burger, said Joel Bulger, CMO for Johnny Rockets.

“Our core menu is all about using fresh, never frozen 100 percent domestic beef burgers and fresh hand-breaded chicken tenders," he said. "We've created four signature burgers as well as an option for our guests to build and customize their own personal Factory Burger using beef, hand-breaded chicken tenders or veggie patty. They are given a choice of cheeses and unlimited toppings. And to truly make it their own, we have a self-serve sauce bar for their sandwiches or to dip their chicken tenders."