When Shaw’s Crab House started serving brunch a decade ago at its Chicago flagship restaurant, it quickly evolved into a weekend destination. Families and friends welcomed the opportunity to celebrate when conventioneers were not crowding the popular seafood restaurant, and the grand, old-style hotel buffet provided a lavish, celebratory spread.
“It was more than a meal, it was an event,” said Bill Nevruz, executive partner and divisional president for parent company Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. In addition to Saturdays and Sundays, locals booked Shaw’s for brunch on Mother’s Day, Easter, Valentine’s Day and other holidays.
Then COVID-19 hit. Brunch was canceled and buffet-style service lost its appeal. “The pause during the pandemic gave us the opportunity to rethink and reconfigure brunch for the future,” said Nevruz.
Re-imagining brunch
When indoor dining resumed earlier this year, brunch saw a resurgence. Reservations platform OpenTable reports that online bookings for brunch were up 8% compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019. The meal occasion has always been about socializing, day drinking and indulging in delivery-unfriendly foods like eggs Benedict. All those activities are better served in a restaurant, and anecdotal evidence shows that consumers—especially younger ones—missed brunch more than other restaurant meals during lockdown.
Brunch returned to Shaw’s this spring, taking on a new format to better fit with the post-pandemic world. Gone is the all-you-can-eat buffet for $60 per person and, in its place, is a four-course menu priced at $55 per guest. Alcohol is extra.
“It still feels over the top, but now the food is cooked a la minute and it is served to guests,” said Nevruz. “The quality is improved and customers are appreciating the fact that they can all sit down together and enjoy a meal, instead of jumping up to fill their plates.”
Photo courtesy of Shaw's Crab House, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises
The menu includes the greatest hits from Shaw’s buffet. The first course is more like breakfast, consisting of bread pudding flambeed tableside, scrambled eggs, hash browns and bacon. Course 2 includes oysters on the half shell, lobster bisque, Caesar salad, shrimp cocktail and Parker House rolls—comparable to lunch. That’s followed by dinner-like food, such as crab, roasted broccoli and mac & cheese, and for the last course, guests get a mini dessert selection, choosing from crème brulee, key lime pie, chocolate cake and more.
“Another cornerstone of a successful brunch is value,” said Nevruz. “We offer a lot for the money. Even though it’s no longer ‘all you can eat,’ there’s plenty of food and customers can take leftovers home.” So far, the response has been very positive from both old timers and new guests, he added.
But that doesn’t mean this will be the final iteration of brunch at Shaw’s. At the end of the month, the meal occasion is set to go through another update, according to a Lettuce Entertain You spokesperson, with an a la carte menu a possibility.
On the fast-casual side
Akash Kapoor, co-founder and CEO of Curry Up Now, a 14-unit Indian fast casual, is a big brunch fan. “I’ve been wanting to offer brunch for several years, and the timing is finally right,” he said.
In July, he launched weekend brunch at three California locations: San Francisco, San Mateo and San Jose. “We are serving brunch only in locations that have an appetite for it,” said Kapoor. “I talked to the managers and staff at those restaurants to gauge interest. All three also have a bar program.”
Photo courtesy of Curry Up Now
Curry Up Now’s menu reinvents brunch favorites with an Indian spin. Desi Donuts, for example, are the concept’s take on beignets, while the Breakfast Pizza features smashed avocado, eggs, nigella, sesame seeds and hot honey on naan, kind of an Indian version of avocado toast. There’s also paratha stuffed with hash browns and breakfast burritos enclosing a masala omelet, mozzarella and cilantro chutney.
“We are able to cross-utilize all the ingredients from our regular menu,” said Kapoor. “The only two products I brought in are an Indian-style trail mix and crispy onions to use as garnishes.”
The chain’s full bar, Mortar & Pestle, is located in two of the restaurants with brunch menus, while the third is licensed to serve low-proof cocktails only. These include a bloody Mary variation made with lower-proof fermented vodka, as well as mimosas, sangria and micheladas. “We also do an old-fashioned made with sherry instead of whiskey,” said Kapoor.
Photo courtesy of Curry Up Now
Brunch service is more fine-casual than fast-casual, he added. “For first-time customers, a server will go over the menu to help them order before they sit down. Regulars can go right to the table and order from there.”
Kapoor believes if you can conquer brunch, it opens the door for instant incremental revenue.
“Financially, it’s a great daypart, as we’re paying rent anyway and have most of the ingredients on hand,” he said. After this test in the local market, “brunch will be going to more locations,” Kapoor predicted. “Not this year, but by spring 2022.”
Brunching all day, every day
The experiential elements of brunch are the driving force behind Sunday’s Best, a new all-day brunch restaurant in Sandy, Utah, from the McHenry Group.
“Breakfast is ‘grab a quick bite and coffee and be on your way,’ but brunch encompasses so much more. It’s fashion, ambience and celebration,” said restaurateur Michael McHenry, the co-founder of Sunday’s Best. “We nailed the details to make it very experiential.”
He and his partner, Chef Tyler Stokes, opened in Sandy, a suburb of Salt Lake City, because McHenry feels brunch is underserved in that location. “There is nothing more important after the year we’ve all had than connecting at the table,” said McHenry. “Brunch is the way casual dining can re-engage with the community.”
Monkey bread to share; photo courtesy of Sunday's Best
Sunday’s Best serves brunch every day from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays and until 4 p.m. on weekends. Although the restaurant is 30% busier on Saturdays and Sundays, weekday traffic is robust. “We give people permission to come in and day drink on a Wednesday. They no longer have to wait until the weekend,” McHenry said.
On Monday through Friday, mornings start with the “diner crowd” stopping in for breakfast, where the menu offers everything from juice, coffee and pastries to heartier fare like the Truck Stop Breakfast (three eggs, buttered biscuit, seasonal jam, bacon and hash browns.) After 11:30 a.m., when Utah permits alcohol to be served, groups start gathering for events such as bachelorette parties and baby showers.
Chef Stokes’ menu offers something for every taste, with brunch staples such as eggs Benedict and Chicken and Waffles the most popular items. There are also more unusual items, including breakfast fried rice with a poached egg, almond flour pancakes and a hamachi tostada, as well as shareables like beignets and monkey bread. The food is plated fine-dining style.
Photo courtesy of Sunday's Best
Sunday’s Best offers wine on tap, a wide selection of bubblies and handcrafted cocktails and mocktails.
In a recent Behind the Bar Insights survey conducted by Restaurant Business’ sister company, Technomic, half of operators said brunch has caused a positive impact on their operation, including increasing sales and traffic. McHenry has seen immediate results in just a few months.
“Revenue has exceeded expectations by 25%,” he said.
He and Stokes are already planning a second location and are looking to expand into more suburban areas. “We believe that there is an immediate opportunity for restaurants in the suburbs, as many people are spending more time in their own neighborhoods,” said McHenry.