Small Chains, Big Ideas

We support health from the inside out!" boasts a promotion for Morgan Hill, Calif.-based Fresh Choice restaurants. When health clubs sign up for its Fresh & Fit discount program, members save 15% on meals at its buffet restaurants. Like Fresh Choice's Business Partner Saver Card for office

Innovative programs, entrepreneurial innovation or just plain hard work keep smaller chains competitive in an industry where staking out distinction is necessary for survival. And being smaller has benefits: Chains with fewer units can be nimble when it comes to marketing, as in Santa Ana, Calif.-based Wahoo's Fish Taco's grassroots approach, and streamlined when it comes to food, as in Alexandria, Va.-based Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries' limited menu of high-quality burgers and hot dogs. From remodeling interiors to publishing magazines, smaller chains use their heads to better capture the attention of hungry—and savvy—consumers.

1. Keep It Simple

Successful limited menus have developed cult-like followings. With 75 units throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries serves burgers and hot dogs with house-baked buns and fries cut on premise and fried in peanut oil. Evident in its mission statement, "We are in the business of selling burgers," this is not a chain that attempts to provide a global smorgasbord.

The short menu allows streamlined execution and marketability. In addition, it reflects brand identity and suggests the quality of few may be more valuable than the adequacy of many.

2. Be Food-Forward

Along with keeping food simple is keeping food as the focus. In these cases, cooked to order is the battle cry. Troy, Mich.-based Olga's Kitchen serves its signature sandwiches on griddled-to-order flatbread accompanied by fresh vegetables.

Like Five Guys, Santa Monica, Calif.-based Fatburger makes burgers with high-quality, lean beef. Milkshakes composed of real ice cream and onion rings battered and fried on location add authenticity to the food focus.

3. Cultivate New Regulars

Developing repeat customers in new markets doesn't require a media blitz. Baton Rouge, La.-based Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers built clientele for a new Texas location by working with local businesses. Employees of companies in the target demographic received coupons for free Raising Cane's meals with their paychecks.

When local high schools gear up for graduation, Olga's Kitchen places coupons for free signature sandwiches in graduation gift packages as a way to attract future regulars.

4. Merge With the Mainstream

By serving traditional Irish fare as well as pints of Guinness poured in two parts, Solon, Ohio-based Claddagh Irish Pub attracts Irish expats and makes sure to provide a section of the menu for traditional Irish fare. But to maintain a broader audience, it offers filet mignon. It also has fun with fusion, evident with its corned beef and cabbage egg rolls.

Vietnamese noodle chain Pho Hoa, based in Sacramento, Calif., wants to best its Vietnamese mom-and-pop competition by becoming accessible to non-Vietnamese palates, removing beef tendon from the menu in favor of grilled salmon. Its goal? To be a noodle shop first, a Vietnamese restaurant second.

5. Celebrate Local Markets

At Jupiter, Fla.-based R.J. Gator's, visitors encounter the Sunshine State at every turn, including the menu boasting blackened alligator tail. Décor aside, the family-friendly restaurant was built to cater not only to tourists but to locals who often are overlooked in tourist-heavy spots.

At Bloomington, Ill.-based Biaggi's Ristorante Italiano, regional differences are celebrated store by store. Each of the 18 locations has a chef-partner who oversees the menu and lends a personalized angle to fit with the community's needs.

6. Be Skilled in Grassroots Marketing

Since its inception in 1988, Santa Ana, Calif.-based Wahoo's Fish Taco has been involved with a number of youth-focused events. "You have to become part of the community fabric," says co-founder and Marketing Director Wing Lam.

Wahoo's is involved with two to three events per week, ranging from local surf camps to professional snowboarding events. Lam says the chain seeks goodwill, not sales: When a competition is over and participants are hungry, Wahoo's is there, treating everyone to fish tacos.

7. Make a Great First Impression

Your finance guy might be the next one to tell you that image matters. After Cary, N.C.-based Bear Rock Cafe redesigned several of its units, replacing rustic touches with sleeker trimmings, it saw per-square-foot sales averages jump 38%.

Looking to freshen its concept, Olga's Kitchen is remodeling several locations, including relocating stores from strip malls to more visible, standalone locations.

8. Listen to the Music

Along with good looks comes hip ambience. So it helps to know a band. Raising Cane's Vice President of Operations Roddy Smith befriended David Schools, bassist for jam band Widespread Panic. As a result, Schools created the chain's soundtrack.

Always looking for the next band to make it big, Wahoo's supports events that showcase up-and-coming musical talent. While not every group scores, some do, including pop band Blink 182.

9. Go Where Your Customers Are

Avoiding catering opportunities could mean lost business. With menu development and marketing, Bear Rock Cafe targeted businesses comprising more than 30 employees for its catering efforts and watched off-site sales grow to more than 12% of total sales in 2005.

Fatburger takes a fun, mobile approach to catering, bragging that its Fatmobile, a yellow-and-red bus outfitted with a kitchen, isn't ideal for supermodel conventions. But the bus can cook, allowing for fresh and memorable preparation.

10. Connect With Guests' Lives

Mirroring the slick gloss of a newsstand magazine, Ormond Beach, Fla.-based Stonewood Grill & Tavern's Casual Flavors quarterly provides insights into Director of Culinary Operations Mike Drury's inspiration.

Sent free to customers who request a copy, the magazine acts as a friendly reminder, encouraging guests to return. But it also allows Stonewood to offer value-added advertising opportunities to its wine-distributor partners.

Contact writer at kate.leahy@reedbusiness.com