Bloomin’ Brands, the parent company of Outback Steakhouse and Carrabba’s Italian Grill, recently opened a delivery-only chicken chain called Tender Shack.
Virtual kitchens have flourished during COVID-19, as existing brands have flexed to meet the increased demand for delivery. They use the kitchens of already operating name-brand restaurants, however food is sold under a different name on third-party delivery platforms, like DoorDash, Uber Eats or Grubhub.
In a sense, these help restaurants optimize search engine optimization, or SEO. Consumers ordering food delivery tend to search for a menu item, like wings or Chinese food, rather than by a restaurant name.
Off-premises dining is becoming increasingly popular, accounting for 27% of restaurant industry sales in 2018. With the dining rooms of many of their favorite restaurants closed during COVID-19, consumers turned to delivery options to get a break from cooking, accelerating the move towards virtual kitchens.
Bloomin’ competitor Brinker International launched a similar concept, It’s Just Wings, in June 2020. The virtual wing brand currently generates $3 million in weekly sales and could be worth more than $150 million in its first year.
More about Tender Shack
Tender Shack’s menu includes chicken-based sandwiches and platters that are prepared in Outback Steakhouse and Carrabba’s Italian Grill kitchens and available exclusively for delivery by DoorDash.
Prices range from $8.99 for a single order of tenders and fries to $25 for a variety of 20-tender platters. For example, the Dang Good Seasoned Tender Sandwich or Nashville Hot AF Tender Sandwich, which contain three tenders, are served with fries for $8.99.
After a successful test run in Tampa Bay, Florida, Tender Shack is now available for delivery in 13 markets including Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio, Texas; Metairie, Baton Rouge, Shreveport and Lafayette, Louisiana; Kansas City and Wichita, Kansas; Tulsa, Oklahoma and Independence, Missouri.
“Our customers and our operators have been very pleased with the test and we’re excited to expand the test to additional areas,” Michael Stutts, Bloomin's chief customer officer, said in a statement.
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