CINCINNATI — Big Boy without his Big Boy double-decker; menu additions; a revamped, brighter restaurant with a kids’ zone, and experimentation with “brupper” are among changes underway at Frisch’s Restaurants Inc. as its new leadership tries to competitively beef up the regional chain.
Atlanta-based NRD Capital’s $175 million acquisition last August ended family operation of the Cincinnati-based regional business dating to a 1939 drive-thru that later acquired trademark rights in Ohio and nearby states for Big Boy, originated in California. The private equity firm named industry veteran Jason Vaughn the new CEO in April and has slowly — and cautiously — been making changes.
The chain recently unveiled Big Boy’s new look — no longer hoisting his signature sandwich and his formerly chubby cheeks noticeably tighter.
“He’s a little thinned down, but he’s still a big boy,” Vaughn said, chuckling.
Vaughn and Anne Mejia, the new executive vice president of marketing, explained that Big Boy’s different look is meant to signal other changes are underway in the chain, which had been profitable but faced increasing casual-dining competition.
“The evolving of the Big Boy himself is a part of the broader picture,” Vaughn said. “We’re evolving Big Boy, we’re evolving our venue; how it looks and the food offerings, and we’re just evolving the brand.”
The Frisch’s in Covington, Ky., near the Ohio River has brighter colors and lighting, updated employee attire and dinnerware, and homey touches such as local artwork and clocks showing the time in nearby towns. The new-look prototype rolled out there June 29 includes images around the restaurant of the new-look Big Boy, a “community table” to encourage convivial dining, and the kids’ area where children can color and hang up their results.
Frisch’s earlier began a line of “prime-time” burgers to augment the Big Boy double-decker, Brawny Lad and its other traditional sandwiches, and July will bring the western barbecue burger with special barbecue sauce. Frisch’s is moving into appetizers and planning new drinks for summer including a lemonade fizz.
