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In recent years, inflation and growing competition have blurred the lines separating more affordable options like QSR and fast casual from full-service casual dining.
But while price points may be converging, guest expectations are not. While grabbing food at a fast-casual spot might take 10 minutes, a meal at a full-service restaurant can last an hour or longer—and comes with comparatively high expectations for ambiance, service, and quality of food.
The high stakes present both a challenge and an opportunity for the casual dining category. We were recently joined by Tyler Shack, VP of Technology at Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux, for a discussion on how casual dining brands can differentiate themselves and stay resilient in today’s environment. Read the key takeaways from the conversation below.
Founded in 2003 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Walk-On’s is a sports bar that serves up Southern-inspired dishes in a friendly environment that draws football fans and families alike.
As Walk-On’s sought to be more data-driven, one of their earliest data initiatives was identifying the brand’s core guests. Through a brand study they identified two cohorts that made up their core audience, the first cohort—sports fans—was obvious. But the second was more surprising: Millennial moms, who tended to bring in their spouses and children for family dinners.
Through the brand study, which consisted of surveys and focus groups, Walk-On’s was able to understand how their brand was perceived and the people with whom it resonated most. By pairing these insights with guest data and demographics from Bikky, Walk-On’s confirmed that these learnings held true when looking at their entire guest base. They were able to apply these findings across the rebrand and menu revamp they launched in March, ensuring that their marketing, menu and operations are best suited to their most valuable guests.
New insights about the brand’s core guests, as well as menu performance data from Bikky, inspired Walk-On’s to undertake a major menu overhaul. The brand wanted to ensure their offerings reflected the preferences of their most valuable guests while staying true to the Louisiana flavors and elevated quality that set Walk-On’s apart from its peers.
After launching the new menu, the team took to Bikky to understand how guests were responding to the changes. A look at the granular item-level data revealed some surprising insights that challenged their assumptions about guest behavior and motivations.
For example, Walk-On’s had removed a blackened chicken dish from their menu, hypothesizing that guests who had previously ordered it would switch to another health-conscious option. While many did opt for a lemon butter chicken with a similar profile, a significant portion of guests made an unexpected choice. The third most popular substitution was a comparatively rich, indulgent option: the blackened chicken Alfredo.
This raised questions about what compelled diners to order the original chicken dish. Was it actually for health reasons, or did it have more to do with the component ingredients or preparation? Both dishes contained blackened chicken, so it wasn’t completely random, but it was contrary to how the Walk-On’s team had expected guests to behave.
Customer data also shifted Walk-On’s thinking when it came to LTOs. The team had historically relied primarily on topline sales to judge LTO performance. From this perspective, a previous summer LTO, a triple-slider sampler, was only a modest success.
But months later, while using Bikky to explore their highest-retention menu items, Walk-On’s made a surprising discovery: the LTO was near the top of the list. Guests who ordered that item were 30% more likely to return than those who ordered something else.
This insight showed that while an immediate increase to topline sales was a valuable indicator of LTO performance, it only told part of the story. Other useful metrics—like retention rate—might take months to emerge, but ultimately have a greater impact on the brand’s bottom line. This helped Walk-On’s adopt a more long-term, strategic approach to menu innovation.
It also spurred thinking about how these findings could be used to improve other dishes. For the slider LTO, they considered which characteristics of the item—variety, texture, ingredients—contributed to its high retention rate. Could those be replicated in future LTO offerings? And how could the brand build more shareable, sampler-style options into its menu to encourage similar behavior?
In an environment that’s proven challenging for many casual dining brands, Walk-On’s has built a lasting foundation for success by staying true to what makes them unique—from their focus on Southern flavors to their diverse customer base of sports fans and families alike.
Tyler’s advice for other casual dining brands navigating today’s market: “The brands that are really intentional about who they’re trying to serve—and build in a way that’s authentic to who they are—those are the brands that are going to rise to the top,” he said.
As they continue to grow beyond their Louisiana roots, Tyler and team are using data to ensure their commitment to their guests is reflected across every aspect of the dining experience.
The customer data platform built exclusively for multi-unit restaurants.