Restaurants are playing with food
Eat-ertainment evolves with better food to get diners off the couch
October 30, 2017
When Josh Rossmeisl was first invited to join Kings Dining and Entertainment, then known as Kings Bowl America, he wasn’t really that interested.
“I told them, ‘I don’t work in bowling alleys, I am a restaurant guy,’” he said.
Now the chief operating officer at Kings, Rossmeisl sees the company in a different light. Kings may be a destination for bowling and other games, but it’s also a restaurant with elevated food and beverage offerings that draw traffic on their own.
It’s all part of a growing trend driven by experience-hungry Millennials. They may not be inspired to get off the couch just to dine out, but a game or activity that makes it more of a social event might provide the incentive they need.
The trend has played host to a growing niche of eat-ertainment venues, such as New York-based Spin, which operates eight locations offering ping pong; Dallas-based Topgolf, a fast-growing chain operating about three dozen locations offering high-tech, golf-related games; and several others centered around video games and other activities, including immersive theater, like The Murder Mystery Theater Co., based in Grand Rapids, Mich.
The high-quality food and range of activities available at these concepts are fulfilling the needs of multiple types of dining occasions, from date nights to informal gatherings to corporate outings, operators said.
“People are looking to be entertained,” said Rossmeisl. “When people used to go out on a Friday or Saturday night and enjoy each others’ company in a restaurant, that would be entertainment. It was a great experience.”
Now, he said, people are looking for something more.
The emphasis on high-quality food at Wellesley, Mass.-based Kings, which operates 11 locations around the country offering bowling and a host of other table and interactive games, is what led the company to recently change the name of its restaurants to Kings Dining and Entertainment. Rossmeisl also sees the name change as a potential recruiting tool for the type of personnel the concept is seeking to attract.
“We're a full scratch kitchen,” he said. “It's not a place where we back in the frozen-food truck every Monday, and have food be an afterthought.”
The concept wins rave reviews from its customers for its chicken wings, its on-trend selection of flavorful burgers, and other fare, which include appetizers such as kung pao fried cauliflower, a variety of pizzas such as one topped with fig jam and prosciutto, and entrées such as ginger-soy-glazed salmon.
The average check for two totals $45 for lunch and $60 for dinner.
The strong food program at the concept is reflected by the chain’s booming takeout business, which has tripled in the last two years is now offered in several of the chain’s resataurants, said Rossmeisl. Food accounts for about 35 percent of revenues across all locations, he said, and beverages another 20 to 25 percent, with rest coming from games.
Culinary credibility
Likewise, Robert Thompson, founder and CEO of Denver-based Punch Bowl Social, said food is foremost at his concept, which has aggressive expansion plans.
His chain of about a dozen experiential restaurants rely heavily on offering a high-quality menu of scratch-made dishes and craft cocktails to accompany the design-forward warren of bowling lanes, bocce, karaoke, video games and other activities that Punch Bowl provides for amusement.