Wingstop’s just-launched virtual brand, Thighstop, may not be around for long—but not for lack of popularity.
Since it launched Monday, Thighstop has been “wildly successful,” Wingstop COO Mahesh Sadarangani told Restaurant Business.
But, Sadarangani said its menu will eventually be folded into Wingstop’s offerings.
“It could be a month, it could be three months,” he said. “We’re just going to have fun with it. The initial feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.”
He declined to provide any early sales metrics for the thighs.
Last November, Wingstop announced a test of bone-in chicken thighs in seven cities—a move designed to fight back against the notoriously volatile wing market that has seen supply shortages and high prices.
“At the end of the test, we came back with great learnings and new ways of thinking,” he said.
Adding bone-in thighs as well as breaded, boneless thighs at more than 1,400 restaurants has had minimal impact on kitchen operations, he said. The chain only had to add one bit of smallware—a new container to differentiate between white meat and dark meat pieces.
“The back-of-house procedures are extremely simple,” he said. “It’s really simple in terms of operating.”
Thighs are cooked in the same manner as wings before being tossed in Wingstop’s current 11 sauce options.
“It makes it super easy for the team members,” Sadarangani said.
He was quick to add that Wingstop has not experienced any wing shortages, but there have been historically high prices.
“This will drive us toward moving to that whole bird strategy and will allow us to buy chicken wings at a lower price,” he said.
It’s early, but Wingstop is already seeing new customers experience the brand via Thighstop, he added.
“It’s something we’ve seen on DoorDash,” he said, noting that the platform is offering 20% off to new brand customers. “It’s definitely bringing in new customers.”
Perhaps new customers are intrigued by the virtual brand’s creative moniker. So, who came up with that one?
“Thighstop was a collective effort by senior leadership,” Sadarangani said.