Buffalo's Southwest Cafe'

Nation's Restaurant News, Dec 9, 2002 by Jack Hayes

When Johnny Rockets veteran Ray Cabana joined the former Buffalo's Cafe as president and chief executive five years ago, the brand's menu was built around chicken wings, rotisserie chicken, burgers, sandwiches and such signature plates as Wild West Chili, Texarkana Corn and Buffalo Chip Cookies with ice cream.

Today, in the wake of a comprehensive retooling of its design, ambience, service and menu, the brand has emerged as Buffalo's Southwest Cafe with a budget casual menu that still enables it to wedge between mainstream chains, such as Applebee's, Ruby Tuesday and Chili's.

The difference is that the new Buffalo's is boasting items like the top-selling Laredo burrito and quesadilla grande, both $7.99, as well as Pecos River catfish, $8.99, a Sizzlin' Sirloin and St. Louis ribs plate, both $12.99, and plates of regular wings, $5.99.

One of the final pieces in that evolution was the naming of 23-year-old Shaun Curtis as corporate executive chef last February A graduate of the Art Institute of Atlanta's culinary-training program, Curtis did a brief tour as chef de cuisine, pastry chef and restaurant chef with such local concepts as Rose & Crown, Fratelli di Napoli and Deux Plex.

"We took this step to establish that we're able to deliver the spark, color and flavor of the Southwest," says Cabana, explaining that Buffalo's also recently named Bennigan's veteran Brett Summers as operations director to buttress the chain's foundation.

Given responsibility for overhauling the total menu, Curtis sees his goal as "taking Buffalo's to a higher culinary level--bringing on the pizzazz without taking away the value."

To that end, Curtis has widened the menu with the creation of nine distinct categories: appetizers, salads, soups and sides, Southwest specialties, "world famous" wings, Buffalo's favorites, campfire steaks and ribs, sandwiches and wraps, and Rio Grande burgers.

In all, he created a dozen new items and reformulated the menu's balance to carry the brand forward into its new Southwest Cafe tradition.

According to Curtis, the proprietary "classic" chicken wing is the only item that splits the menu from its new Southwestern focus.

"Wings are where the brand got started, and we're keeping them because we never want to forget our roots," he says.

Nevertheless, Curtis has developed three distinctive wing sauces-- teriyaki, ranch and BBQ--to complement the mainstay mild, medium, hot and scorchin' dips in an effort to appeal to changing market taste buds. He currently is working on a chipotle dip that will push the Southwest dimension.

"I have a list of 10 to 15 sauce ideas in the works, but the chipotle is on our priority list because it will help us validate the fusion between Southwest and wings," he says.

The new menu took effect in early September and has been in full swing systemwide for two months. At a late October store opening in Lansing, Mich., Curtis witnessed the potential for changing a brand's menu focus.

"In Atlanta, where the brand was built on wings, the phasing in of those new products can be a little problematic," Curtis explains. "But at the new Lansing store we sold mostly fajitas and steaks."

Curtis wanted to test how effectively lunch portions of fajitas and other dinner plates as well as wrap sandwiches could drive lunch business, so he developed a "lunch stampede" menu insert which starts at $3.99.

"I wanted to get the message out that you could eat better products with full service here for the same price as you'd pay at a quick-service restaurant," Curtis says. "We led it off with the Blazin' BBQ Wrap, served with fries, at $4.99. There was a little resistance from some of the operators, but when they tried it-- wham! That's my approach; just give it a little try."

Curtis speaks proudly of the chain's signature "buffalo chip" dessert, which became a forgotten item at many Buffalo's locations despite its having powered the brand in its earlier days. Buffalo's co-founder Ralph Perrella asked Curtis to engineer the item's revival.

"I work side by side with Ralph," Curtis says. "The first thing I do every day is bounce ideas off of him. He has a humongous influence on my duties and my approach."

Today, when a buffalo chip is ordered, the staff approaches the table and presents the guest with a galvanized bucket. The guest then reaches into the bucket for the "chip" and puts it on her or his plate, where a scoop of vanilla ice cream lies waiting.

"At our record opening in Lansing, we quadrupled our previous weekly high with 274 dessert items--70 percent of them buffalo chips," Curtis boasts. "You can go into any restaurant and get a happy birthday song, but not with a buffalo chip."

RELATED ARTICLE: Headquarters: 707 Whitlock Ave., SW., Suite 13, Marietta, Ga.

Concept: P casual dining, Southwestern ambience and cuisine

Opened: 1985

Units: 50 in nine states from Florida to Michigan

Seats: 150 to 300

Prices: $5.49-$13.99

Best-selling items: quesadilla grande, Laredo burrito, "classic" wings