Can lightning strike twice for Brinker International?
The full-service restaurant company is riding high after completing an astounding turnaround at Chili’s Grill and Bar, which has driven its stock up nearly 200% over the past year.
Now it is applying the same playbook it used at Chili’s to its smaller holding, Maggiano’s Little Italy.
The plan includes simpler operations and a focus on core menu items. Maggiano’s has eliminated some prep work, for instance, and has upgraded its pastas and meatballs with finer ingredients.
The 53-unit, upscale Italian brand has not necessarily been doing badly. It has reported positive same-store sales in every quarter since the beginning of 2021. But that growth has come largely from higher prices. Traffic has been falling for nearly two years, including a 5% decline in the most recent quarter.
Chili’s was in a similar boat when it hired former Yum Brands executive Kevin Hochman as CEO in 2022. Hochman developed a turnaround strategy that included simplification, fewer discounts and a bigger emphasis on Chili’s best-selling menu items like burgers and chicken tenders. The chain then introduced value meals and began promoting them with ads touting Chili’s as a better deal than fast food.
The plan has paid off in impressive fashion: Chili’s same-store sales soared more than 30% last quarter on a nearly 20% traffic increase.
Initial changes at Maggiano’s are following a similar pattern. It has removed eight menu items, including the $6 take-home pastas that were available with the purchase of any entree. It has also dropped 17 prep steps that didn’t improve the customer experience, such as pounding chicken and pre-portioning pasta, Hochman said during Brinker’s earnings call with analysts in January.
Those cuts have saved about 80 hours of kitchen work every week that employees are now using to execute Maggiano’s new, elevated menu.
Unveiled this week, it features chicken parmesan, Wagyu beef meatballs and three pastas—Wagyu stuffed shells, lasagna and fettuccine alfredo.
All have been reformulated with higher-quality ingredients that evoke indulgence and luxury, particularly the Wagyu beef, which is joining Maggiano’s menu for the first time. Pecorino Romano cheese is “crafted from sheep’s milk” and imported from Italy, chicken breast is hand-breaded, and parmesan is freshly grated.
Wagyu meatballs can be ordered as an appetizer or atop spaghetti. | Photo courtesy of Maggiano's
Prices range from $15.50 for a Wagyu meatball appetizer to $27.50 for the Wagyu stuffed shells. Lasagna sells for $23 and “The Grand” chicken parmesan clocks in at $25.
The idea is to offer customers the type of fare they’d find at a fine-dining restaurant but at polished-casual prices.
"By incorporating the highest quality ingredients – like Wagyu beef and aged, imported Italian cheese – we're proving that high-end dining doesn't have to be out of reach,” said Maggiano’s President Dominique Bertolone in a press release announcing the new menu.
These core menu items, Hochman added during the earnings call, account for about a third of Maggiano’s sales.
The turnaround is being orchestrated by a revamped leadership team at Maggiano’s. Bertolone was hired in late 2023, bringing more than 20 years of experience in food and beverage at MGM Resorts.
Menu architect Anthony Amoroso was named to the new role of VP of innovation and growth in September. The Michelin-starred chef also came from MGM.
In January, Hochman announced two other additions. Ernest Perez was promoted to VP of operations, and Mike Wesley was hired as VP of marketing. Perez joined Maggiano’s in 2020 after spending 13 years in operations at Chili’s. Wesley, meanwhile, worked alongside Hochman at Yum for 14 years.
“I'm excited about the brand's plans and the progress the team is already making,” Hochman told analysts.
Maggiano’s was founded in 1991 by Chicago-based restaurant group Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. Brinker acquired it four years later and took it national. It now has locations in more than 20 states.
It is a different sort of concept than Chili’s. Its restaurants are much larger and more upscale, and it appeals to a different occasion. Maggiano’s average check is more than $32, compared to about $19 at Chili’s, according to Technomic data.
Chili’s comeback has been fueled largely by its ability to tap into the mainstream consumer mindset. Its $10.99 combo meals and value-focused advertising struck a chord with price-conscious customers, and then its Triple Dipper appetizer went viral on TikTok. All of that helped attract new customers and make Chili’s cool again.
Whether Maggiano’s can capture that same magic remains to be seen. And Hochman cautioned that the transformation will take time, just as it did at Chili’s.
“While we started growing sales immediately during the Chili's turnaround, it did take five quarters to start turning traffic trends, and it took seven quarters to turn positive on traffic,” he said. “That should give you some type of guide on what we're expecting from Maggiano's.”
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