Dive Brief:

• Virtual Dining Concepts and IHOP expanded their partnership, adding two virtual brands across a number of IHOP locations and growing the availability of VDC’s existing Pardon My Cheesesteak brand, the companies announced Wednesday. 
• The two new brands are sports-themed: MLB Ballpark Bites Presented by Mastercard and NASCAR Refuel Tenders & Burgers, according to the press release.
• While many virtual brand concepts have flamed out or been folded into regular restaurant menus, IHOP has continued to add brands in its bid to drive incremental traffic to non-breakfast dayparts.

Dive Insight:

The three brands are already available at a large number of IHOP stores, with more to follow throughout the year, according to the press release.

Parden My Cheesesteak is available at 900 locations and NASCAR Refuel Tender & Burgers is at over 400 locations as of Q1. Another 130 locations are expected to add the NASCAR brand in the future. The press release did not specify how many locations are serving MLB Ballpark Bites Presented by Mastercard, which offers “modern takes on concession stand favorites.”

“Off-premise channels continue to deliver incremental sales and profits to our franchisees and the IHOP brand,” IHOP president Jay Johns said. “The three brands we’re implementing will be a growth driver for our restaurants, specifically as we look at non-peak hours during lunch, dinner and late night.”

IHOP already offered TenderFix, Thrilled Cheese and Super Mega Dilla from a number of restaurants. Parent company Dine Brands is considering adding co-branded Applebee’s/IHOP units in some U.S. markets in the near future, as traffic declines weigh on the casual dining segment. IHOP also launched major updates to its menu last year and added a pancake of the month club to drive trial of new flavors earlier in 2024.

Despite its cooperation with Dine, Virtual Dining Concepts has suffered from some of the same operational and reputational problems as its now-defunct competitors. Its flagship brand, MrBeast Burger, was at the heart of dueling suits between the virtual brand platform and Jimmy Donaldson, the aforementioned MrBeast. Around the same time, Red Robin stopped serving the virtual brand and suffered only a minor loss to its same-store sales as a result.