Sports restaurants pitch quality food to win fans

Nation's Restaurant News, March 8, 1993 by Carolyn Walkup

CHICAGO -- Producing good food is the play that sports-themed restaurant operators count on to keep their fans cheering.

Even though their many television screens are turned to sports, their rotisseries and stoves are more important equipment, according to several operators who expect to prevail through winning and losing seasons. Yet their sports tie-ins are invaluable in initially attracting customers.

Two new restaurants in the Chicago suburbs, Ron Santo's American Rotisserie in Schaumburg and Harry Caray's Restaurant in Wheeling, obviously appeal to the area's Chicago Cubs fans. Admirers of nine-time-all-star Santo and popular Cubs announcer Caray also can expect to see the namesake celebrities in their restaurants fairly often.

Other sports restaurant operators who pride themselves on their food quality don't feel that celebrity connections are necessary to their success. Dean Vlahos, president of the seven-unit Champps Americana, based in Minnetonka, Minn., reported annual sales of $7 million at his flagship property.

"Sports and good food are synonymous with success," Vlahos said. His 10,000-square-foot company-owned restaurant in Minnetonka has a large menu featuring everything from sandwiches, salads, pastas, pizzas and burgers to Black Angus steak and swordfish entrees.

Fred Hoffmann, an industry veteran who owns two Alumni Club and one Moretti's sports restaurants in Chicago and suburban Schaumburg, agreed that food quality is as important in a sports-themed establishment as in any other concept. "Some places are just a tavern with a limited menu," he pointed out. "Ours are full-fledged restaurants."

While Hoffmann, Vlahos and Santo are racking up beverage sales near 40 percent, they downplay the sports bar image. "Bars come and go," explained Gary Morrow, Santo's vice president of operations. "If you have a real restaurant that people recognize as providing great service and value, you have something that will sustain you year-round."

Vlahos maintained that Champps is different from a sports bar because it emphasizes food and a family atmosphere. Featuring an open kitchen, Champps also has a children's menu.

The new Harry Caray's has a smaller bar than the original Harry Caray's in downtown Chicago and just two TVs. "We don't want a sports bar image. We want a fine dining image," said Vincent Ferraro, one of four principals in the Wheeling location, which tallies just 15 percent in alcoholic beverage sales.

"Some people are confused," Ferraro admitted, if they are expecting to find a sports bar atmosphere. Expect for a collection of Cubs photographs on the walls, Harry Caray's does not have a noticeable theme.

Ferraro, Caray and the two other principals expect their hearty Italian-American food to be the primary attraction for customers. Surrounding residents and office workers eagerly anticipated the January opening, and early business has been brisk, with two-hour waits typical on Friday and Saturday nights. Santo's, which opened last fall, also has been experiencing good volume although Morrow would not reveal sales figures. Lengthy waits on weekend nights are also the norm, with customers especially attracted to the signature rotisserie-roasted chicken and baby back ribs.

Reasonable prices are a key part of the attraction at Santo's. The chicken dinners, served with soup or salad, baked beans or mixed vegetable and potato, start at $5.75 for a quarter chicken and peak at $7.95 for a half chicken. Rib dinners range from $8.95 for a half rack to $12.95 for a whole one.

Check averages at Champps are $12.50 for dinner and $9.50 for lunch. Sales at the flagship have risen every month since it opened three years ago, Vlahos said. Harry Caray's is in a higher-priced category, with dinner averaging $22.75 and lunch $11.50. Signature items are chicken Vesuvio, prime dry-aged steaks, chops and veal dishes. Entrees include soup or salad and a huge side order of pasta.

All of these operators expect to succeed where others have failed. "I think the reason a lot of them fail is there were no professional restaurant people involved who were paying attention to restaurant operations," Morrow said. Added Vlahos, "Whether it's a sports cafe or a country-Western bar, food is the anchor, or you won't have longevity."