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An authority on high-end steakhouses, Ruth's Chris, is going down market.
And the 150-restaurant chain, based near Orlando, will start with a makeover of the menus in the Sarasota and Tampa locations. A spokesman calls the changes Ruth's Chris' first recession-era attempt to make the restaurant a “little more approachable.”
One key menu change includes the addition of appetizers, a first for the restaurant. Other changes include a sushi bar for the Tampa restaurant and a bistro menu, which features lighter fare such as petite prime burgers.
The Ruth's Chris Steak Houses on Westshore Boulevard in Tampa and Tamiami Trail in Sarasota will be a test case for the new menu and approach, a spokesman says. The Heathrow-based parent company of Ruth's Chris, publicly traded Ruth's Hospitality Group, will also make some changes to the menu in its Fort Lauderdale location.
“This effort was not about lowering prices, but rather expanding menu options and usage occasions,” Ruth's Chris director of brand marketing says in an email to the Business Review. “Our goal is to have people visit us more frequently.”
Adding down market options to an upscale menu or service is a risk heavily debated in the luxury marketplace. Some companies try to avoid the practice at all costs, no matter the state of the economy, for fear it will train customers to only pay the lower price. National retailer Neiman Marcus, for instance, has steadfastly refused to offer big price breaks the last few years.
Still, the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, is one upscale entity that found success with the concept. The hotel opened the Bayview Burger Bar in late 2009. Hotel executives say the spot, adjacent to the pool, is an uncomplicated and relaxed place to eat burgers and drink milkshakes, away from the ritzy restaurant inside the hotel.
The Ritz burger bar is open on weekends and sells burgers for under $10. “It has been going really well,” local Ritz-Carlton spokeswoman Suzanne Willis tells Coffee Talk. “The response, especially from hotel guests, has been terrific.”
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