Shoney's... or Lone Star Steak House? You decide.

[CoolBreeze]

David Davoudpour bought Shoney's worldwide several years ago and is in the process of trying to turn it around. His story in today's Daily Mail is spot-on: Stop with the frozen crap and serve fresh: Take Shoney's back to it's golden era.

Davoudpour also established the Lone Star Steakhouse chain. He's coming to Charleston to help start a brand new Shoneys. It will look like a Lone Star Steakhouse in my opinion. (all new Shoney's will look like this) It will also serve beer and wine. Serving booze was discussed years ago if you recall, and it never flew due to public opinion. Will it work today?


http://www.dailymail.com/Business/201201010063

[Hoosier Daddy]

If Shoney's wants to clean up their image, they've got a lot of scrubbing to do. Here are my suggestions (in no particular order):

* Follow the path of Bob Evans. Become a Bob Evans restaurant with a full dinner bar. Your target demographics are the same.
* A total makeover of physical facilities is probably in order at most locations. The emphasis should be on CLEAN and BRIGHT.
* Drive-up and carry-out service should be mandatory. Make sure anything you serve can be packaged for take home.
* Be conscious of the image your employees project. I vividly recall a Shoney's waitress in her mid 30s with rotten teeth, prison tattoos on both forearms, rail thin, with that lovely pock-marked Oxycontin Face. She was also slow, rude, and indifferent to her customers. While its commendable that someone like that wants to work and someone is willing to hire them, I really didn't want to eat anything she touched. And I never went back to eat at ANY Shoney's restaurant after that incident.
* The alcohol thing will be an epic fail, unless Shoney's becomes a Lone Star Steakhouse under a different name.

Just my $0.02.

[Lester]

* The alcohol thing will be an epic fail, unless Shoney's becomes a Lone Star Steakhouse under a different name.

AMEN! That is a massive, brand-altering, change. Period. You're violating the promise of your (remaining) core, and it will be nothing more than a passing joke for late-night T.V. It will fix NOTHING and destroy what little you have left.

[CoolBreeze]

Here's a big problem as I see it: Bob Evans is 100% company owned. Shoney's is a franchise and has many owners. Other than say... McDonalds, companies that involve franchise's are fragile in that they have to really stay on top of the individual owners. But when the Brand itself is going into the toilet, even the best owners go with it. As long as for instance Bob Evans stays company owned, they have no one to blame for any failures.

[Waveguide]

Oh GREAT!!!
And just where will we get our strawberry pies and ice tea.

Oh wait.... I live near a Friches. I can still get my strawberry pies and Tea........
These could use a make-over too.
Shoney's pulled out of the Cincinnati Area several years ago. Like around 10 years ago.
And Lone Star Steak House in the bottom of the list of Steak Houses.
Logan's is second to last.

Now high on the list is Long Horn Steakhouse. Good meat and reasonable prices....
And ya CAN'T throw the peanut shells on the floor.

Moving On.......

[The Interpreter]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjP5Cfk1 ... ata_player

Compare and contrast:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnDM_p-Q ... ata_player

Ugh. From the music to the mixing to the VERY unappetizing food photography.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Here's a big problem as I see it: Bob Evans is 100% company owned. Shoney's is a franchise and has many owners. Other than say... McDonalds, companies that involve franchise's are fragile in that they have to really stay on top of the individual owners. But when the Brand itself is going into the toilet, even the best owners go with it. As long as for instance Bob Evans stays company owned, they have no one to blame for any failures.

Respectfully disagree. Most franchise agreements are very strict. If you want to carry the Shoney's name and enjoy the national or regional advertising they do then you must agree to do a lot of things their way. The corporate office people police franchised operations, and repeat violations usually result in the franchisee losing his meal ticket. This happened where I live with a group of Dairy Queen restaurants. I would think that individual owners are hurting under the old Shoney's image and way of doing business and would either welcome and embrace the changes or sell and get out.

From the YouTube commercials The Interpreter posted, it looks like Shoney's will be a sports bar. Lots of finger foods that go with beer while watching the game on a big screen TV.

There's an idea no one else ever tried.

I'm with Lester on alcohol sales being an absolute epic fail. Shoney's may be betting on alcohol sales carrying the day when and if the food won't. Many of the existing Shoney's restaurants may be located in dry areas or in places where additional liquor licenses aren't available. That's a branding nightmare when some of your restaurants can serve alcohol and others cannot. As mentioned earlier, why would you even want to go there? Your legacy is in being a FAMILY RESTAURANT. According to the video, the "Master Chef" wants to see YOUNG FAMILIES sitting at tables, enjoying the Shoney's experience. There are a lot of mixed messages on the rebuilding of Shoney's. This will be interesting to watch!

[CoolBreeze]

Respectfully disagree. Most franchise agreements are very strict.

Disagree. I've been to far too many chain restaurants that appear to be complete outlaws. The stores are dirty, the food horrible.

For instance: Right here in Charleston on the West Side, there is an Arby's that should have had it's license revoked 15 years ago. The building is old and the place is dirty... and has been all this time. Meanwhile, 6 miles away is a Arby's that looks like new, with a different owner.

So yes, most companies do a pretty good job, but not enough of them.

[EZ103.3FM]

We had a Lone Star near the Huntington Mall. My niece worked there as a waitress and met her future husband (a cook) there. I didn't particularly care for the food and the only thing I remember about it was that the entire waitstaff had to stop what they were doing and dance whenever 'Boot Scootin' Boogie' played. It didn't last a long time....BTW my niece's husband was just named sous chef at Huntington Prime after being there only 6 months.

I haven't eaten at a Shoney's for years. Only 1 left in Huntington. Last time was in Lewisburg 2 years ago when we were there for a dog show. Food was bland, decor was old.

I didn't read the article so I don't know if this is in there or not, but does the Shoney's company still own Captain D's and Fifth Quarter?

I remember about 25 years ago while on a business trip to Nashville we ate at a seafood restaurant named Sailmaker's. It ended up it was a Shoney's owned place and was basically a Fifth Quarter for seafood instead of steak. It even had the exact same 'build your own Caesar salad bar' FIfth Quarter had. I looked for it a few years later and it had been torn down and replaced by a Pargo's which was Shoney's attempt at a Bennigan's/Friday's style place. It/They failed.

[Scott Reppert]

The stores are dirty, the food horrible.

My best female friend's sister works for the State Health Department in the "restaurant inspection" division. As of a few years ago (circa 2000), including just chain restaurants, Shoney's had more statewide violations than anyone...

[Big Media]

Shoney's used to be the pinnacle place for families to eat on a Friday night. They used to have a really good seafood bar and a popular breakfast bar. The death of the traditional, all you can eat salad bar should be reserved for a thread all its own.

I washed my hands with Shoney's when I last visited the old 29th Street location (now CVS pharmacy). They were infested with flies and the same waitress HD described above, with the prison tats and the rotten teeth, served us. May not have been the same chick, but she must have been her sister. The place was disgusting.

I was forced to eat at the Teays Valley location a few years ago (the boss insisted we eat there). It was a much nicer restaurant with a slightly updated look. The food was actually pretty good and I considered going back again but never made it. Well, it's gone, too. Closed a couple of months ago.

I am clearly in the minority when I say that I miss Lonestar. I used to eat there often. I guess I may have kept them running for a while.

Longhorn has very similar steaks, pricing, etc. as Lonestar. I have only had the opportunity to eat at Longhorn once, though.

And, hell. Since we're on the subject, anyone tried FireSide Grille in Teays Valley? I was thoroughly impressed. Perfectly cooked steak, great wings, and decent service. A little pricey. More on par with Outback, price wise.

[The Interpreter]

Captain D's is owned by a private equity firm and is no longer owned by or connected with Shoney's.

[Dr. Loomis]

I remember about 25 years ago while on a business trip to Nashville we ate at a seafood restaurant named Sailmaker's. It ended up it was a Shoney's owned place and was basically a Fifth Quarter for seafood instead of steak. It even had the exact same 'build your own Caesar salad bar' FIfth Quarter had. I looked for it a few years later and it had been torn down and replaced by a Pargo's which was Shoney's attempt at a Bennigan's/Friday's style place. It/They failed.

When Pargo's opened in Morgantown years ago, I thought it had pretty good food. But I guess it went downhill, and incidentally was torn down and replaced with a Chick-Fil-A.

[EZ103.3FM]

Shoney's info from the Gospel accroding to wikipedia......

Shoney’s is a privately held restaurant chain that operates primarily in the Southeast, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states and is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. It is named after Alex Schoenbaum, who was the owner of the original chain of Big Boy restaurants in the southeastern United States in the 1950s. The corporate entity is Shoney’s North America Corp., and David Davoudpour is chairman and chief executive officer. Davoudpour acquired Shoney’s in 2006 through Royal Hospitality Corp. in Atlanta. He is founder and chairman of Royal Hospitality. As of early 2011, there were approximately 230 company-owned and franchised Shoney’s restaurants in 18 states, stretching from Maryland to Florida in the east and from Missouri to New Mexico in the west.

[edit] HistoryThe Shoney’s brand history began in 1947 when Alex “Shoney” Schoenbaum opened the Parkette Drive-In next to his father’s bowling alley in Charleston, West Virginia. Schoenbaum later acquired a Big Boy franchise in 1951, and his first restaurant bearing the Shoney’s name came in 1953 - chosen through an employee/customer contest.

In 1969 Shoney’s created a fast-food seafood concept called Mr. D’s, named after Ray Danner, co-founder of Shoney’s, Inc. The name was later changed to Captain D's and grew to more than 100 restaurants. The company (Shoney’s, Inc.) went public in 1971 and was listed as “SHO” on the New York Stock Exchange. At various times, the corporate portfolio also included a lodging chain (Shoney’s Inns), four casual dining concepts (Fifth Quarter, The Sailmaker, Barbwire’s and Pargo’s), and Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken.

In 1984 a dispute arose between Big Boy and Shoney’s franchise holders about territory restrictions and Shoney’s ultimately gave up its rights to the Big Boy name. As a result, the Big Boy sandwich was renamed the “All-American Hamburger” and Shoney Bear was created as a corporate mascot.

At its peak in 1998, the restaurant chain operated or franchised over 1,300 restaurants in 34 states. None of those businesses remain a part of the Shoney’s restaurant enterprise today.

In 2000 the company went bankrupt and was acquired by Texas-based investment group Lone Star Funds two years later. On January 1, 2007, Lone Star announced that the Shoney's chain — at this point down to 282 restaurants — was being sold to David Davoudpour, founder and CEO of Atlanta, Georgia-based Royal Capital Corporation, the largest franchisee of Church's Chicken restaurants. Davoudpour set up a new company, Shoney's North America Corp., as a subsidiary of Royal, and currently serves as chairman and CEO. Lone Star had originally planned to sell the chain to Centrum Properties, a Brentwood, Tennessee investment group, but Centrum later sued to get out of the deal.

As part of his revitalization efforts, Davoudpour has established an aggressive quality improvement process that includes a new menu, new restaurant prototypes and rebuilds, and a new Executive and Operations team focused on adding unique twists to the Southern comfort food menu for which Shoney’s is known.

[EZ103.3FM]

And while we're talking about all things Shoney's, apparently the Fifth Quarter in Charleston is the last one left.

The history page at http://www.fifthquarterofcharleston.com/ lists the original location in Nashville and another one in Louisville. Web searching found that the Nashville location closed in 2011 and the Louisville location closed in 2008.

There are ofher places around the country with 'Fifth Quarter' or '5th Quarter' in their name, but they appear to be different....mostly sports bar-type places.

[AmpedNow]

Most Shoneys I've been to definitely need an updating. My local one hasn't been updated in 10 years, literally. The walls are a dank blue and the carpet worn out. Gnats are bad in summer and fall. It's a wonder they are still open.

I can agree on the alcohol, but I'm not totally against it, either. They might be better off going in the direction Golden Corrall: a mega buffet with fresh food. Maybe they are going for a GC/steakhouse hybrid.

The restaurant industry is very crowded now, and it's very difficult to find a niche that's big enough to make money. We'll see what happens.

As for steakhouses, the best one I've been to is Roadhouse in Texas. Food and atmosphere is excellent with hot waitresses in tshirts and black skirts and boots.

[CoolBreeze]

Alcohol in a restaurant is a last resort play. You can move a lot of crappy food if the customers are too buzzed to notice. ( Think Quaker Steak & Lube ) A restaurant who's food can stand on it's own without a Buzz is usually pretty good food.

Food and alcohol is like women and alcohol: Get enough in into the customer and the restaurant can have their way with them.