30 new menu items?! A brewery chain revamps its experience to build loyalty

Take-Away with Sam Oches

Nation's Restaurant News

Business, Entrepreneurship

2.5 • 15 Ratings

🗓️ 9 November 2023

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Chris Westcott, CEO of Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant, a full-service operation with 21 locations across five states. Iron Hill has been offering craft beers and scratch cooking now for 27 years, but recently overhauled its menu with 30 new dishes as it refines its post-pandemic operation to better create a high-quality experience. Chris joined the podcast to talk about how Iron Hill is tapping into the potential of both its brewery and restaurant businesses and how it’s building a base of loyal customers in each community it moves into.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

Some of the most successful bar businesses are the ones that pair food and drink
To combat the negative perception around chains, companies should give each location a distinct personality
An executive’s hands-on experience brings credibility to innovation
Your menu shouldn’t just meet the low bar set by your competitors
Kids shouldn’t be forgotten in your loyalty efforts
By educating your guests on flavors and products, you can build trust and loyalty
Your VIP guests should be able to take the brand home with them
Consumers want hospitality, not service — don’t confuse the two

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at [email protected].

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, welcome to Takeaway with Sam Ocas, a podcast from Nation's Restaurant News.
0:04.7	I am Sam Ocas, editor-in-chief here at NRN, and this is the show where I give you an all-access pass
0:10.1	to the restaurant industry's most influential decision-makers.
0:13.8	This week I'm talking with Chris Westcott.
0:16.5	He is the CEO of Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant, a full-service operation with 21 locations across
0:24.0	five states. Iron Hill has been offering craft beers and scratch cooking now for about 27 years,
0:31.6	but it recently overhauled its menu with 30 new dishes as it refines its post-pandemic operation to better create a high-quality
0:42.8	experience. Chris joined the podcast to talk about how Iron Hill is tapping into the potential
0:48.4	of both its brewery and restaurant businesses and how it's building a base of loyal customers in each community
0:55.6	that it moves into.
0:56.9	In this conversation, you will learn more about how restaurants can combat the negative
1:01.4	perception around chains, why your menu should not just meet the low bar set by your
1:06.3	competitors, why kids should not be forgotten in your loyalty efforts, and why you shouldn't
1:12.9	confuse service and hospitality.
1:15.8	Jumping now into my interview with Iron Hill CEO Chris Westcott.
1:20.0	Also, don't forget to stick around after the interview, as I will share my eight
1:23.5	takeaways from this discussion, actionable insights that you can take with you on the go.
1:29.2	All right. I'm here with Chris Westcott, the CEO of Iron Hill. Chris, thanks for joining me today.
1:35.1	I appreciate it. Happy to be here. Thanks for having me. Yeah. So Iron Hill, a brewery and a restaurant,
1:41.5	which means it is checking two of my biggest boxes.
1:45.8	So I'm very happy to talk to you.
1:47.6	But Chris, what is Iron Hill all about?
	...

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