Cheers is dedicated to delivering hospitality professionals the information, insights and data necessary to drive their beverage business by covering trends and innovations in operations, merchandising, service and training.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/776571
www.cheersonline.com 18 • January/February 2017 holiday from late February through early April by launching what it calls the Hooley menu. The drinks featured—Jameson and Ginger, Black and IPA (layered Guinness stout and Leggy Lass IPA), Green Tea (Jameson Irish whiskey, peach schnapps and lemon juice) and the Lucky Kiss (Jameson, Malibu rum, Midori melon liqueur and pineapple juice)—hew to the traditional with a twist, says Tilted Kilt marketing vice president Mercedes Contreras. "This being such a big period for us, we hit hard in the build up, via decorating and dressing up and social media and focus on all the Irish varieties of food and drink we feature," she says. While not all units feature day-long Hooley parties, those that do bring in bagpipers and Irish bands through the day, even during the week as part of the build up. The Hooley food menu includes drink pairing suggestions, a move that often incrementally increases beverage sales. 3. DO IT HALFWAY. Operations with Irish themes have helped create a new phenomenon: Halfway to St. Paddy's Day, a Sept. 17 event that mimics the Gaelic holiday and provides a much-needed promotional occasion in early fall. Both the Tilted Kilt and Bennigan's mark the day, and the trend is spreading. "Halfway to St. Paddy's Day is like a mid-year warm up, and we feature many of the same food and drink items that we offer during the month of March," says Angela Discher, vice president marketing for Legendary Restaurant Group, owner of the 20 Bennigan's domestic units. "And it's something that has caught on." Drinks included for the promotion include the Skinny Leprechaun (Deep Eddy vodka, mint and soda water), the Celtic Hurricane ( Jameson, Malibu, grenadine, orange juice and pineapple juice), Long Ireland Iced Tea ( Jameson, Stolichnaya vodka, triple sec, lemon sour, cola) and Shamrockin' Sangria (Blackstone merlot, DeKuyper Razzmatazz, lemon sour, lemon juice and orange juice). Ri Ra execs let local units decide whether to participate, and some of them have employed the halfway theme. The Charlotte unit once held a Halfway to St. Patrick's Day event with a "Halfway to Ireland" competition, which sent the winner halfway there—to Reykjavik, Iceland. Then there are the various events known as St. Practice Day. Tilted Kilts in some locations mark the 17th of every month with special promotions of drink and food, with the January and February promotions gathering the most attraction and business, says Contreras. "St. Practice Day is something that we coined some time ago, since St. Paddy's Day is the biggest day of the year by far for our pubs, and being that we try to create an Irish feel, we always want an excuse to host a party." 4. GET IN ON THE CRAWL. One way for operators to get in on St. Paddy's celebrations is by participating in scheduled bar crawls. St. Practice Day is held the week before the big day in Savannah, GA. Called the perfect way "to build your tolerance and be in tip-top shape for the big day," the charitable event involves scorecards for participants with prizes awarded Tilted Kilts in some locations mark the 17th of every month as "St. Practice Day," with special promo- tions of drink and food. Bennigan's Halfway to St. Paddy's Day event on Sept. 17 mimics the Gaelic holiday and provides a much-needed pro- motional occasion in early fall.