Applebee's (Dine Brands)

Q2 comparable sales: -49.4%
Q3 comparable sales: -13.3%

Top three strategies:

• Off-premise innovations, including tamper-evident delivery packaging and offering its Mucho Cocktail to go, available digitally in about 30 states
• Piloting a virtual brand, Neighborhood Wings by Applebee's, in 700 restaurants through a partnership with Grubhub
• Returning to a national marketing campaign in mid-June after a self-imposed 90-day hiatus at the peak of the pandemic

Applebee's has about 1,600 U.S. restaurants open as of late October, averaging between $44,000 to $45,000 weekly sales, John Cywinski, Applebee's president, said during an October earnings call. Of that mix, 70% of sales was dine-in, 20% was carside to-go and 10% was delivery. Comparable sales have also sequentially improved month-over-month, rising from negative 18.4% in July to negative 7.4% in September, and comp sales were tracking at negative 1.9% during the first four weeks of October, Cywinski said. 

Even with a return to dine-in, off-premise remains a strong area for Applebee's, making up almost 35% of sales in Q3 2020 compared to 60.5% in Q2 2020, according to an earnings release. Takeout made up a bulk of these orders, accounting for 23.1% of the mix, while delivery made up 11.5% and online sales made up 12.2%.

Applebee's delivery mix could change slightly next year, as well. Its virtual brand concept is expected to be meaningfully repositioned as of Q1 2021 for greater relevance and visibility and then expanded across its entire system, Cywinski said.

BJ's Restaurant

Q2 comparable sales: -57.2%
Q3 comparable sales: -30.2%

Top three strategies: 

• Expansion of its outdoor dining capabilities with patio spaces at about half of its restaurants and investments in heaters to extend its outdoor dining season in areas like California, Texas, Florida and Arizona
• Installing glass partitions inside its dining rooms to expand its dine-in capacity with plans to complete installation in 170 restaurants by mid-November
• Improving off-premise channels by using technology platforms for easier ordering, providing text-based updates and arrival notifications

The big picture:

BJ's focus on expanding its indoor dining and outdoor dining capacities paid off, with the company reaching a pandemic-era weekly sales record in late September, CEO Greg Trojan said during an October call with investors. 

A focus on off-premise also helped off-premise weekly sales hold steady at between $23,000 to $25,000 even after dining rooms began to reopen in May. These sales are 2.5 times higher than pre-pandemic numbers, Trojan said. Digital orders now make up about 80% of its off-premise transactions and BJ's is taking advantage of mobile communication and its large parking lots to create a better off-premise experience, Trojan said. 

The restaurant also adapted its off-premise menu, introducing portioned group meals, which now make up 20% of its catering sales, he said. BJ's also introduced a beer subscription service in Northern California. Early results showed high engagement among members, which indicates the potential for word-of-mouth subscribers, less subscriber defections and the program’s ability to improve customer frequency, Trojan said.

The Cheesecake Factory

Q2 comparable sales: -56.9%
Q3 comparable sales: -23.3%

Top three strategies:

• Maximizing use of indoor dining with its large floor plans to create flexible seating layouts and adding glass partitions to increase capacity in areas that allow it
• Sustaining strong off-premise momentum driven by its digital platforms and maintaining 90% of its elevated off-premise sales even as dining rooms reopen
• Raising awareness of off-premise through marketing efforts that have particularly benefited slower dayparts, such as lunch, and helped grow delivery

The big picture:

The Cheesecake Factory's emphasis on marketing has been particularly helpful with its delivery channel, which has seen new guests and strong reorder rates, President David Gordon said during an October earnings call. 

"We also continue to see an overall customer order frequency increase, supporting strong return on investment on our marketing campaigns this year," Gordon said. 

The company's $15 lunch special, which included a slice of cheesecake, not only helped drive lunch awareness but also contributed to late afternoon sales, Gordon said. The company also didn’t simplify its menu like other chains did and, instead, leaned into the launch of its Timeless Classics menu card, which was originally tested in Southern California. The menu highlighted customer favorites and an affordable price point, he said.

Chili's (Brinker International)

Q4 comparable sales:-32.2%
Q1 comparable sales: -7.2%

• Continuing to leverage the It's Just Wings virtual brand, which is on target to generate over $150 million in sales during its first year
• Significantly reduced its television advertising to more aggressively spend in digital and direct channels that benefit the brand more, like its My Chili's rewards program
• Greater emphasis on delivery across all of its brands

The big picture:

Virtual brands are becoming a growing part of Brinker's portfolio, and the company is evaluating internal and external opportunities to increase awareness of It's Just Wings, CEO Wyman Roberts said during an October earnings call. The company is also testing a few other ideas and expects there to be a lot of upside for virtual brands in the future, Roberts said.  

"It's a very strong brand. [It's] getting great consumer acceptance and appeal," Roberts said. 

The company is working with DoorDash on how best to position It's Just Wings and market it more effectively, Roberts said. 

Brinker was also able to integrate the brand into its existing labor model at the 1,000-plus restaurants where it was deployed, Chief Financial Officer Joe Taylor said during the call. 

"I think some folks are kind of looking at doing virtual almost pop-ups that they'll use to help get them through COVID, but that's not our strategy," Taylor said. "This is definitely a long-term growth vehicle. And one we see working well for us going forward."

Chuy's

Q2 comparable sales: -39%
Q3 comparable sales: -19.8%

Top three strategies: 

• Improving its off-premise business with enhanced takeout, curbside and DoorDash services
• Testing pay-at-the-table devices that will allow dining room guests to complete their transactions while minimizing contact with wait staff
• Streamlined menu to feature a reduce number of entrees and added family meal and beverage kits with plans to add popular menu items back during the fourth quarter

The big picture:

By the end of the third quarter, Chuy's had 92 restaurants open for indoor dining at various capacity levels. But the chain continued to maintain about 33% of total sales, which is more than double last year’s levels, Steve Hislop, Chuy's president and CEO, said during a November call with investors.  

The company, which finalized its relationship with DoorDash during Q1, offers a different menu for delivery and increased those prices during the second quarter to help offset delivery fees, Jon Howie, Chuy's chief financial officer, said during the call. 

While Chuy's is currently only looking into tableside payments via QR codes, it continues to test various handled devices, Howie said. The company still has handhelds in some restaurants where servers can take orders, Howie said.

Darden

Q4 comparable sales: -47.7%
Q1 comparable sales: -29%

Top three strategies: 

• Continued investment and implementation of technology to provide multiple ways for guests to order inside and outside the restaurant
• Focus on back-to-basics operating philosophy to drive restaurant level execution and create a better guest experience, such as streamlining menu and improving processes and procedures
• Reduction in marketing and promotional spending due to capacity restrictions

​The big picture:

Darden transformed its business model during the pandemic, allowing for restaurants to produce high absolute sales volumes even with sales declining at its restaurants, Darden CEO Gene Lee said during a September earnings call. That included decisions to adjust its cost structure to generate strong cash flows and make appropriate investments in its business. The first step in the process was to simplify menus to create efficiencies in food waste and labor productivity. 

The company has also been increasing development of different technology offerings to improve the guest experience. The company is deploying a mobile solution to make it easier for guests to let the company know when they have arrived to dine in or pick up orders via curbside, Lee said. Darden will expand its mobile payment options and for its three largest brands, over 50% of off-premise sales were digital, with guests ordering and paying online, Lee said. At Olive Garden, for example, online sales made up 60% of off-premise sales during the quarter, more than tripling last year's online sales, Lee said.

Denny's

Q2 comparable sales: -56.9%
Q3 comparable sales: -33.6%

Top three strategies:

• Focused on value, especially its $2, $4, $6, $8 value menu as well as free delivery offered when ordering on its website or app, and expanded its platform of shareable family packs
• Expanded technology features and launched Apple Pay for Denny's on Demand via its iOS app
• Continued to promote outdoor dining in areas that restrict indoor dining. Over one-third of its system offers the channel

The bigger picture:

Off-premise remained a key focus for the brand during the third quarter, with transactions up over 95% since the beginning of the pandemic, from $4,000 average weekly sales per store in February to about $7,800 per week in September, Denny's CEO John Miller said during an October earnings call. The company has also been rolling out curbside pickup parking signs to create a better experience for guests and team members while also promoting guest-controlled digital ordering from the parking lot, Miller said. 

During the fourth quarter, the company is hoping to grow its late-night daypart. Nearly all of its domestic restaurants have opened and 1,300 restaurants have opened dining rooms. Almost one-third of its franchised restaurants are operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Denny's President Mark Wolfinger said during the call. 

The company is incentivising its franchisees to maximize sales and profitability by expanding operating hours, and began two programs in order to assist franchisees in doing so during the fourth quarter. The first program extends scheduled payment of deferred fees and rent to restaurants with closed dining rooms as well as those operating at least 18 hours a day, Wolfinger said. 

The second program will provide temporary royalty relief on late-night sales to restaurants open 24 hours, he said. While 18% of its sales prior to the pandemic come from late night, the company estimates that its same-store sales results in the third quarter were impacted by eight to 10 percentage points from those restaurants closed during late night, Wolfinger said. 

IHOP (Dine Brands)

Q2 comparable sales: -59.1%
Q3 comparable sales: -30.2%

Top three strategies:

• Driving traffic during non-peak times with the launch of IHOPPY Hour to provide a variety of meals priced at $5 or $6 depending on the market
• Continuing to push its to-go channels via delivery and curbside
• Reopening restaurants and safely reaching higher capacity where available

The bigger picture:

The company's biggest move at the end of the quarter was the rollout of its IHOPPY Hour, which provides value-based meals between 2 p.m. and 10 p.m., depending on location. This marked the company’s first afternoon and evening focused value meal, Jay Johns, IHOP president, said during an earnings call with investors. 

"IHOPPY Hour is a strategic, longer term play for us, which focuses on influencing guests to think about IHOP for great value options during non-peak periods when we typically don't have capacity issues," Johns said. 

As of Sept. 30, IHOP reopened 95% of its domestic system with some restrictions in place, Johns said. But even as dining rooms reopen, its off-premise made up over one-third of the sales mix during Q3, with delivery accounting for 15.7%, takeout making up 18.3% and online sales accounting for 22%, according to an earnings release. 

"Due to consumers becoming more familiar and comfortable with IHOP's off-premise channels, we believe we can retain much of these sales, even as dining room restrictions are eased over time," Johns said.

The One Group

Q2 comparable sales: -81.4% (STK); -52.8% (Kona Grill)
Q3 comparable sales: -24.2% (STK); -7.3% (Kona Grill)

Top three strategies: 

• Developing newsworthy programs, leveraging social media and digital capabilities to engage with STK guests in new ways, including using its STKs Friends with Benefits subscribers to deploy multiple emails and digital marketing campaigns to promote takeout and delivery
• Investing in technology allowing guests to order for curbside pickup or delivery from nine delivery partners for Kona Grill
• Adapting its menus, especially at STK, to make them more transportable for a takeout environment

The big picture:

During the fourth quarter, The One Group plans to drive events business, though at a lower year-over-year sales level because of the pandemic and restrictions, Manny Hilario, The One Group's president and CEO, said during a November earnings call with investors. The company will work on other types of programs and promotions to drive holiday sales, and it has been testing brunch at select STK and Kona Grill restaurants and expects to launch the menu companywide in the U.S.

The restaurant is also planning to offer premium menus at all of its locations during the holiday season, Hilario said. Its STK Meat Market, an e-commerce platform that was launched in spring, has also been doing well and providing a new way to reach guests that was not previously possible, Hilario said. This channel offers steaks for around $25 to $30 with two- and three-day shipping costs, Hilario said.

Outback Steakhouse (Bloomin' Brands)

Q2 comparable sales: -32.9%
Q3 comparable sales: -10.4%

Top three strategies:

• Simplified menus and reduced limited-time-offer discounts, which reduced complexity, improved consistency and increased profitability
• Continued emphasis on off-premise channels, which remain robust and are maintaining about 50% of its incremental volume even as dining rooms reopen
• Expansion of fast casual concept Aussie Grill, which originally opened its first free-standing unit in May in Tampa, Florida, with more grills planned in 2021 alongside the launch of virtual brand Tender Shack, which offers chicken tenders, fries, cookies and drinks

The big picture: 

While off-premise remains a tremendous driver of business growth, Bloomin' Brands is also extending into new concepts with Tender Shack, which was originally launched in Tampa Bay, Florida, CEO David Deno said during an October call with investors. Sales and customer feedback was strong and is ahead of expectations, he said. The company has now expanded the test to Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. 

"With Aussie Grill and Tender Shack, we believe we have an opportunity to create incremental growth channels that consumers will love, are perfect for today's environment, offers attractive economics and will remain relevant as dining habits have changed," Deno said. 

The company also has taken a closer look at improving its menu, launching a new menu at Outback with more accessible premium cuts, larger portions and lower prices Deno said.

"The menu is performing even better than what we saw in test," Deno said. "We are seeing strong customer feedback on value and guests are trading up to larger and better cut[s] of steak."

Red Robin

Q2 comparable sales: -41.4%
Q3 comparable sales: -25.1%

Top three strategies:

• Extending outdoor seating options beyond small patios to include all-weather tents and extended seating where available
• Resumed implementation of its Donatos rollout, virtually trained its teams on how to prepare these items and brought adoption to a total of 79 restaurants
• Reduced menu by over one-third to drive menu rationalization

The big picture:

Pre-COVID, the company had planned six initiatives to help Red Robin's turnaround: a new service model, menu rationalization, the Donatos rollout, technology investment, off-premise growth and portfolio optimization, Red Robin CEO Paul Murphy said during a November earnings call with investors. 

During the pandemic, off-premise became its top priority and the company has pivoted and supported the channel through enhanced operating procedures, IT upgrades and by improving order capacity. Off-premise sales increased 127.2% and made up 40.7% of food and beverage sales during the quarter, according to an earnings release. 

In addition to expanding its patio capacity, the company is also installing partitions in its dining room to optimize expanded indoor seating to allow it to reach 70% capacity as cold weather arrives, Murphy said. 

The Donatos rollout is also providing an additional lift to both the top and bottom line, and the company plans to add this menu to over 100 more locations in 2021, Murphy said. This rollout will be completed over the next two to three years, Murphy said.

Ruth's Hospitality

Q2 comparable sales: -74%
Q3 comparable sales: -36.7%

Top three strategies:

• Ruth's Anywhere helped the company overcome 90% of its total sales declines during the third quarter due to expanded takeout and delivery initiatives put in place earlier in the year
• Rightsized its real estate portfolio, including closing four company-owned units during Q3 and nine since the start of the pandemic, to make sure the company is managing strong restaurants
• Strengthened the balance sheet with significant liquidity and modest net debt and made operational changes, such as improving food and labor efficiencies, to improve margins

The big picture:

As part of its move toward improving operations, the company looked at how restaurants were structured, such as how management worked in restaurants and what different hours and levels of prep were, as a way to improve labor, Ruth's Hospitality president and CEO Cheryl Henry said during an October earnings call. The company also streamlined its menu.

"Whether it's the number of items on the menu or how they feel about the service, we are tracking [the guest impact] on a regular basis, ensuring that we are not impacting this experience overall," Henry said. 

As the company puts some items back on the menu, it has been able to hold onto its efficiencies in labor and receive positive guest input, she said. 

The restaurant is also seeing strong retention when it comes to off-premise, even with guests returning to the dining rooms. When the company was offering to-go only, sales were between 20% and 25% of prior year sales, Henry said. As restaurants have reopened, the company has kept about half of those sales, she said. 

The company is also seeing a rise in demand from non-business customers and reservations for celebrations, and just-because occasions are up in the double-digits year-over-year, Henry said.

Texas Roadhouse

Q2 comparable sales: -32.8% (company-owned); 32.1% (franchise-owned)
Q3 comparable sales: -6.3% (company-owned); -9.6% (franchise-owned)

Top three strategies:

• Rolled out a new mobile app features with Texas Roadhouse and Bubba's 33, including the ability to accept gift cards as a method of payment through the app
• Extension of off-premise features, including two-way testing for curbside guests to improve the process and testing drive-thru windows in a few locations
• Launch of online Texas Roadhouse Butcher Shop in early November to provide steaks for customers at home

The big picture:

The company has been working to reach more customers both in-store and off-premise. For in-store dining, it installed partitions around booths by early July, and extended outdoor dining at some locations, Kent Taylor, CEO and chairman at Texas Roadhouse, said during an October earnings call with investors. So far, about 98% of the company's restaurants are open with some kind of dining room capacity, Chief Financial Officer Tonya Robinson said during the call. 

Its renovated app is also expected to create a better experience for off-premise guests, who tend to order more through this channel, Taylor said. The company is also trying to transition more of the off-premise calls to online ordering or through the app to see if it can be more efficient, Robinson said. 

Even as the company's dine-in sales grew through the third quarter, the company has been holding onto most of its to-go sales, Taylor said. Weekly restaurant sales grew from $86,065 in July to $95,803 in September, with to-go sales shifting from 26.2% in July to 21.1% in September, according to an earnings release. 

Its Texas Roadhouse Butcher Shop will be different from the ready-to-grill steaks it was selling from its restaurants. These orders will come from a supplier the company is partnering with, and will be sent to houses frozen, similar to how Omaha Steaks does it, Taylor said. 

"This shouldn't impact the restaurants negatively," Robinson said during the call. "If anything, it brings more awareness to the brands with … the quality of the steaks."