{"id":5452,"date":"2019-11-13T10:27:54","date_gmt":"2019-11-13T15:27:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/responseblog.wpengine.com\/?p=5452"},"modified":"2019-11-13T18:33:09","modified_gmt":"2019-11-13T23:33:09","slug":"challenging-polished-casual-dining-concepts-to-look-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/responseblog.wpengine.com\/2019\/11\/challenging-polished-casual-dining-concepts-to-look-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenging Polished Casual Dining Concepts to Look Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Polished casual dining is a relatively new term for restaurants. It defines those that have higher quality food, service, and atmosphere than typical casual dining, as well as higher prices.\u00a0 These restaurants fill the gap between casual and fine dining, similar to how \u201cfast casual\u201d squeezed between fast food and casual dining. Foodable\u2019s article How Polished Casual Brands Blur the Lines Between Segments, explains it this way, \u201cThese polished casual restaurants are elevating the culinary experience for guests, so much so that they are blurring the lines between casual dining and fine dining. They offer a refined atmosphere, superior food offerings, and especially attentive service. When a diner enters these restaurants, they can easily see that they are in a category above a Chili\u2019s or Applebee\u2019s.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Here\u2019s the high-level spectrum of restaurants, with a few examples:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Fast<\/p>\n

Our client, <\/span>Uncle Julio\u2019s<\/span><\/a>, sits squarely in the polished casual dining category.\u00a0 Their incredible Mexican food is made from scratch, they provide remarkable service, and many of their restaurants are new with \u201crustic-modern\u201d interiors that make for an aspirational atmosphere.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Uncle<\/p>\n

While the polished casual dining restaurants have carved out this \u201cin-between\u201d space, the competition for diners is intense.\u00a0 The pressure to lure guests away from casual dining is real. As a result, it is tempting to study the practices of casual dining restaurants and simply mimic them in polished casual dining, like \u201cplate at a price.\u201d\u00a0 The problem with succumbing to the temptation is that it slides the brand towards casual, losing traction on the more upscale, polished positioning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We think there is more potential for brands in this in-between segment to look to fine dining for ways to add value to their guests and make their experience feel even more \u201cpolished.\u201d \u00a0 Here are just a few examples across food, service and atmosphere.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

FOOD:<\/strong>\u00a0 A la carte.\u00a0<\/strong> Many fine dining restaurants offer their entrees and sides as individual items for guest to chose from.\u00a0 Unlike most casual or polished casual where the entrees come with specific sides.\u00a0 For example, Season’s 52’s <\/span>WOOD-GRILLED HANDLINE TUNA comes with mint tabouli, tomato salad, preserved lemon hummus.\u00a0 Whereas, fine dining, typically offers the entree proteins alone, then guests choose individual sides that they would like to accompany their meal and\/or share with the table.<\/p>\n