The BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse casual-dining chain posted its highest same-store sales gains in more than seven years for the third quarter, with a 2.6% rise in traffic driving a 6.9% jump in comparable sales.
Management attributed the strong performance in part to increased orders from its Slow Roasted menu, a lineup of homestyle roasted meats such as pork chops and prime ribs. The number of customers opting for the premium-priced meats jumped 16% over the tally for the year-ago quarter, and orders for double bone-in pork chops and prime ribs doubled, according to BJ’s CEO Greg Trojan.
The popularity of the Slow Roasted line resulted in “healthy check growth” as well as increased traffic, Trojan noted.
Executives also cited the sales and traffic contributions of lowered happy hour prices and a new line of weekday specials.
The 201-unit chain also saw an increase in large delivery and takeout orders, another result of the menu tweaks, deletions and additions that have been made over the last two years, management stressed.
Net income for the quarter more than tripled from a year ago, to $8.5 million. Factored into that total were a $1.7 million tax benefit and $1.3 million in expenses to cover damages from hurricanes Irma and Harvey and a reorganization of BJ’s centralized restaurant-support center.
Revenues rose 9.4%, to $270.3 million.
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