11 replies to this topic

[vjackson]

Any place with super cold beer is worth checking out!!!

Plano firm has high hopes for 29 Degree Tavern

10:19 AM CST on Wednesday, February 7, 2007
By KAREN ROBINSON-JACOBS / The Dallas Morning News
krobinson@dallanews.com

With its two flagship chains, Bennigan's and Steak and Ale, each decades old, Metromedia Restaurant Group was looking for a lively way to heat up growth.

Officials with the Plano-based company hope they've found it in a new family of tavern restaurants.


Metromedia Restaurant Group
The 29 Degree Tavern, described as a blend of “steakhouse refinement with a sports bar twist,” opened Tuesday in Fort Worth. The menu features steak, seafood, pasta — and beer chilled to 29 degrees.
The concept is designed to attract aficionados of ice-cold beer as well as diners who appreciate items cooked from scratch.

The 29 Degree Tavern – the company uses a special refrigeration system to maintain the temperature of the tap beer – is an offshoot of Metromedia's Taverns in Plano and Southlake.

With the experience learned at the three taverns, Metromedia hopes to expand the concept outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

"Yes, we did need something new that would be easily adaptable to the current marketplace," said Flynn Dekker, vice president of marketing for Metromedia. "We're looking at the Tavern as the new growth vehicle."

Technically, the Tavern began in Plano as a Steak and Ale – part of a brand launched by industry icon Norman Brinker in the 1960s. Bennigan's launched in 1976.

With its dimly lit dining rooms and focus on steak, Steak and Ale appeals largely to a loyal clientele that remembers going there for dates years ago.

To boost sales, the company decided to give the Plano store a facelift and broaden the menu. That led to the Tavern name change.

The new Taverns are about the same size as Steak and Ale, between 5,000 and 7,000 square feet, Mr. Dekker said. But they are brighter, with a more up-tempo decor.

The Fort Worth prototype features reproductions of vintage Fort Worth photographs from the late 1800s and early 1900s.

And they tweaked the menu, though both concepts offer steak, seafood and pasta. Tavern entree prices range from $6.99 to $22.99.

"It took us a long time to re-concept that business," Mr. Dekker said of the Plano Tavern, "but then it started going gangbusters. That's why we opened Southlake."

Those successes convinced company executives this might be the growth vehicle they were seeking.

"We were growing internationally with Bennigan's. We plateaued with Steak and Ale," he said.

Rod Downey, a Dallas-based restaurant consultant who worked for Mr. Brinker at Steak and Ale from 1976 to 1982, was part of the early effort to convert the Plano store. It launched as a Tavern in November 2000.

Often, restaurant companies find it more efficient to launch new ideas from scratch, Mr. Downey said.

"You're able to take your latest and greatest thought processes and inject them into a new format," he said. "Often, it's more difficult to retrofit some elements of a new concept into an existing building than it is to just find a building that works with the new concept."

Mr. Dekker said that over the past eight to 10 years, Metromedia has been closing Steak and Ale units to "right size" that brand.

There are now 60 Steak and Ales and 320 Bennigan's, he said.

He said Metromedia still is franchising those brands and may develop a derivative of Bennigan's to help spur growth.

But for now, the company is trying to settle on a name for the Tavern brand (it may stick with 29 Degree) and to determine how many corporate and franchised outlets there should be.

"If this works, it might be something where we go back and rebrand Plano and Southlake," he said. "We want to move forward with this. This is a new direction for us."

[texastrill]

I read several times and didnt see an address.ICE COLD BREWSKI'S.....gotta check'm out!

[vjackson]

I read several times and didnt see an address.ICE COLD BREWSKI'S.....gotta check'm out!

Chapel Hill Shopping Center (I30 & Hulen)

[cbellomy]

In the old Big Bowl space? Seems like Big Bowl is/was a Brinker chain as well.

[John T Roberts]

Yes, it is in the old Big Bowl space. When it operated at Chapel Hill, Big Bowl was a Brinker chain. I think the chain was sold around the time of closing of the Hulen restaurant.

[jefffwd]

In the old Big Bowl space? Seems like Big Bowl is/was a Brinker chain as well.

29 Degree Tavern is not a Brinker chain is is a prototype of Metromedia (Bennigan's, Steak & Ale). Hopefully this will work out - can't wait to try it out!

[Keller Pirate]

The Southlake Tavern is in a former Big Bowl space as well.

[angie013]

We went there on Friday. It was very nice on the inside. It was around 8PM and we had about a 20 minute wait. Not too bad. The bar was packed and they had a good selection of beers on draft, including some Rahr. The food was good, prices were good, but the service was a little slow.
Overall we had a good time and will be back.

[grow_smart]

Although this was just my experience...

...service was slooow at both the bar and our table. Orders were not filled correctly. Food was average for the price.

...Beer actually seemed warmer than what you get elsewhere. Perhaps it's typically 28 degrees elsewhere. Or perhaps they serve it faster and don't let it get warm.

[Buck]

Very boring.

Same as Southlake Tavern.

How can anybody get excited about a glorified Bennigan's?

[Dr Quest]

Very boring.

Same as Southlake Tavern.

How can anybody get excited about a glorified Bennigan's?

I was very excited in mid December when I found out the name was 29 Degree Tavern, I was also excited when I couldn't find any information on the internet about them - thought maybe it was an independent. How disappointed I was when I found out it was owned by Bennigans.

I went to the bar the first week it opened, maybe 12 beers on tap but when over half are a Coors, Bud or Miller brand that leaves two Rahrs, Shiner, Fat Tire, maybe a Guinness....that certainly isn't very exciting....especially for a restaurant/bar thats name suggest a heavy influence towards beer.

[John T Roberts]

Welcome to the forum, Dr. Quest.