Menu and Hours + +

On Chains

Someone recently mentioned that she hopes a restaurant called Chuy’s will be included in Menu and Hours and she was a little unhappy when I said it won’t be because it’s a chain. There is only one Chuy’s in Louisville so perhaps it doesn’t seem like a chain to some folks but in my mind it is because it has locations in several states and many locations in Texas. The conversation surrounding this particular restaurant made me realize I need to be more specific when I say that Menu and Hours won’t contain info about chain restaurants. 

In restaurant industry marketing terms it seems like 10 is the magic number of locations for something to be considered a chain but I think if something has 7 locations spread across four states that is as much of a chain as 10 locations. So after giving it a great deal of thought I’ve decided that something is a chain as far as Menu and Hours is concerned if there are more than 6 locations or there are locations in two states that don’t border one another (say one location in Florida and one location in Kentucky). I am going to make an exception to the two states rule for restaurants whose original locations are here in Louisville. For example Wild Eggs has locations in Louisville and in Colorado but since the original Wild Eggs is on Dutchman’s Lane it makes sense to include it in Menu and Hours (assuming Wild Eggs gives me permission to do so). 

 I understand this decision is somewhat arbitrary but this is what makes sense to me. That being said, this is not a completely written in stone rule. What I mean by that is if someone has a compelling reason for Restaurant X to be included in Menu and Hours even though by my definition it is a chain I’m willing to listen to what that reason is and consider it on a case by case basis.