Dive Brief:
- Red Robin saw guest satisfaction scores in Q2 2024 increase to levels the chain hasn't seen since 2016, CEO G.J. Hart said Thursday during an earnings call.
- Overall dine-in guest satisfaction rates were up 6% while Black Box social net sentiment scores improved by 17% and negative guest complaints “are at an all-time low,” decreasing 29% compared to the year-ago quarter, Hart said.
- These improvements are the result of several initiatives that the chain has implemented over the past 20 months as part of its North Star plan, including increased staffing and menu improvements.
Dive Insight:
Prior to its North Star plan, Red Robin’s guest satisfaction scores were 10 points behind the casual dining industry, the widest margin it had seen in nearly a decade, Hart said.
Improvements to its labor model had one of the biggest impacts on guest satisfaction. In 2023, the company added more servers to allow each to focus on fewer tables and to reduce false wait times, which are wait times of 15 minutes or more, Hart said. The company also brought back hosts and bussers to improve table turn times and cleanliness.
In addition, it added kitchen expediters and returned to a management structure that would improve accuracy of orders. Prior to the initiative, restaurants were run by general managers, assistant managers and hourly managers. The assistant manager role was replaced by either a kitchen manager or hospitality manager, Hart said in 2023.
Managers visited 13% more tables during the second quarter compared to the year-ago quarter, Hart said. These visits typically result in guests rating their experiences 12% better, he added.
Having managers visit tables and maintaining a better presence in the dining rooms also helped control the flow of people, while new hosts have made false waits virtually nonexistent, Hart said. During Q2 2022, 10% of guests reported false waits, improving to 3% in Q2 2023. As of Q2 2024, only 1% of guests reported long waits.
Guests also reported a 7% improvement in pace of experience and 3% on orders served on time, Hart said.
Off-premise guest scores have also improved, with order accuracy and food taste up 7% and team friendliness scores up by 6%, Hart said.
Improvements to its menu and execution have also resulted in better scores. Red Robin has executed its bottomless promise offer — through which guests can receive free refills on at least 30 menu items — to 90% of guests, a 9% increase year over year.
The company updated several ingredients and added over 20 improved gourmet burgers, prepared on flat top grills which result in thicker and juicier burgers, Hart said. Food quality scores are up by 4% per surveys of loyalty guests and food quality scores outperformed the casual dining segment by 3%.
“The result of these initiatives is overall guest satisfaction that has reached parity to the casual dining industry over the last two quarters for the first time in almost nine years,” Hart said. “With our overall guest satisfaction scores going up like they have, we fully anticipate that that's going to continue to drive guest counts as well.”
As of the second quarter, traffic was in line with the industry, and Red Robin expects to “meet or exceed the industry average on traffic through the remainder of the year,” he said.
