Denny's

Enhanced and Expanded Denny's Menu

If your eyes are bigger that your stomach, don't go near the new Denny's menu.

Because the menu has such a large number of mouth-watering food photos, it is difficult to select just one item. One perusal begs a return trip, which, according to Lowell Petrie, Denny's director of brand marketing, helps explain why the chain's systemwide sales hit a record $2.1 billion in 1999.

"Our new menu is a work in progress, and it's closely aligned with our strategic marketing goals," Petrie says of the photo-rich, greatly expanded menu that earned the MenuMasters Award for Best Menu Revamp.

More than two years ago, Denny's abandoned its popular $1.99 meal in an effort to attract new customers who might be willing to pay $2.99 and up. "We wanted people who didn't need that $1.99 hook to visit us," Petrie explains.

To compensate for customers who missed the lower-priced fare, Denny's upgraded many of its products, such as waffles, hash browns, bacon and skillet potatoes. "We also developed some unique entrees and offered them as limited-time promotions," Petrie says. "Many have stayed on the menu."

The enhancements coming out of headquarters were welcome news to the franchise community, which operates nearly half of Denny's 1,800 restaurants. Leighton Hull, who owns 10 stores throughout California and Hawaii, is a member of the Marketing Committee at Denny's that helped formulate the strategic direction.

"Our customers' desire for menu variety drove a lot of our thinking," he says. "For example, we wanted more for seniors, and we've expanded our kids' menu."

Hull is excited about the new menu. And why shouldn't he be? It's increasing his customer visits. "This menu is much richer looking," he says. "The photography is off the charts. When I hand it to customers, their eyes light up."

Also to Hull's liking was Advantica's decision this year to sell its other properties and focus on Denny's "That's our strength," he says. "I'm negotiating for a number of stores right now and expect to have 100 in a few years."

He's not alone in his enthusiasm for the brand. According to Petrie, "Our franchise community opened more restaurants in 1999 than in any other year in our history."

With restaurants in 49 states, Denny's feeds nearly 1 million people a day and has broad appeal. Founded in 1953, the chain also has 47 years of tradition behind it. That was something David Groll, Denny's director of product development, kept in mind as he thought about new products.

"When we looked to Denny's future, we also remembered our heritage as America's classic dinner," he says. "We wanted contemporary, regional classics with a spin to them."

Typical was the Denny's hamburger line, which the chain augmented with new offerings like the garlic-mushroom Swiss burger, the Buffalo chicken burger and the "big" Texas BBQ burger.

Groll joined Denny's in 1997 with an impressive resume. Previously, he had been director of product development for Triarc Restaurant Corp., the owner of Arby's as well as Steak and Ale and Bennigan's in the Metromedia Restaurant Group portfolio.

"Menu development is a fun job," he says. "We'd really like to shrink this Denny's menu down to make it easier to execute; but whenever we take something off, the guests comment on it."

When adding items, Groll says; "We put our thoughts together and present 18 to 20 ideas to marketing, which usually selects about six items. Then we head to the kitchen to start creating."

"We're looking for the 'Wow!' factor," Groll exclaims. "I hate people yawning in the kitchen when we test products."

To make sure new products are manageable in the restaurants, Groll sets up worst-case, full-dining-room, everybody-orders-something-different scenarios. "I always do disaster checks," he explains. "We don't want to get hit on a Saturday morning and bury a cook's area because [an item] is too difficult and time-consuming to execute."

Groll makes sure things will work during peak times for another reason. "Everyone at the restaurants knows my name, so a manager might call and say, "what were you thinking with that item?"

Although Denny's isn't fast food, Groll says people still don’t like to wait. Petrie agrees. "Nothing can slow ticket times and extend waits," he says. "And, like everyone else, we're fighting employee retention, so we keep preparation procedures as simple as possible."

As Denny's new products roll out, Groll points out that, "breakfast did really well, especially the chicken fajitas. That surprised us because we never thought people would order chicken for breakfast."

Research plays a major role in new-product decisions at Denny's. Consider the case of Cinnamon Swirl French Toast. "Research showed that sweet, decadent breakfast items were a trend on the move," Petrie notes. "Also, they were particularly popular with females, and we wanted to focus more on them because traditionally Denny's has had more appeal to men because of our big portions." Petrie says the new menu had significant changes compared with previous ones. "We made sure items that received ingredient upgrades were pictured with items we felt were unique and gave us a competitive advantage," he explains.

Denny's also enhances its menu three times a year with limited-time promotion inserts aimed for January, May and September.

Petrie concedes that the new Denny's menu is expensive to produce, but the array of photos is absolutely critical. "I read menus that say 'new and improved,' and I don't think customers put much stock in that," he says. "But a great photo showing a bigger piece of meat or fluffier eggs gives you a lot of credibility."