“We cook to order, and the average wait time is 10–12 minutes,” Friedman says. He says the tables at a Wing Zone are more for waiting than for dining. “Ninety percent of our food is taken out of the store and of that, delivery represents 40–50 percent of our revenue.” “A lot of our stores have fewer than 20 seats because we are not a dine-in restaurant,” Friedman says. About 70 percent of a Wing Zone footprint is kitchen, with the remainder being counter area, lobby, tables, and restrooms. The compact size means lower costs for occupancy, utilities, and build out. Wing Zone stores are typically about 1,200 square feet.
Buffalo wing zone full#
And some people just don’t like meat on the bone and prefer these because they are made with full white-meat chicken breast chunks.”įriedman says the ticket average at Wing Zone is fairly high at about $17 because customers are often ordering for multiple people. They are less messy, so they are good for lunches and parties. “They give people a different look at the product. “Boneless wings are a great addition to our menu,” he says. Wings make up 50–60 percent of the menu mix at Wing Zone, which also offers salads, fried shrimp, chicken tenders, half-pound burgers, chicken sandwiches, and side items like Wedge Fries, Cheese Fries, Onion Rings, Mozzarella Stix, Fried Mushrooms, and Fried Pickles.Ībout two thirds of the wings sold at Wing Zone are original style and a third are boneless, but the boneless are gaining in popularity, Friedman says. “We just want to make the flavor names more enticing, so instead of hot we’ll have Hot Shot, and medium buffalo will be Buffalo Blitz.” “We’re having fun with it by asking for help on Facebook and Twitter,” Friedman says. All flavors have a heat index of 0–4, and many are being renamed with the help of Wing Zone customers. “After the nonbreaded wings are cooked, they are tossed in the dry rub so it adheres.”ĭry flavors include Sea Salt and Vinegar, Cool Ranch, and Blackened Voodoo, a Cajun flavor profile. “We have introduced flavors, or rubs, which are dry seasonings applied to wings,” Friedman says. The flavors at Wing Zone range from what the company refers to as “wet flavors” like Buffalo and BBQ, to its newly developed “dry flavors.” We were the first to come out with a variety of flavors.” We don’t just have mild, medium, and hot. Of the new traditional stores, 50 percent will be located in existing Wing Zone markets, with the remaining going in new markets like Chicago, Seattle, and California.įriedman says folks at Wing Zone “are fans of flavor. In addition, there will be a Wing Zone outlet on 12–14 military bases by the end of 2012. Future growth plans include international locations and the opening of 12–15 new domestic stores in 2011 and 15–20 in 2012. Wing Zone began franchising in 2000 and has since grown to 83 units. So the founders decided their best opportunity for future growth was through franchising. “We went into the closest and biggest college markets within driving distance,” Friedman says.Īfter witnessing the concept’s initial success, friends, store managers, and even customers started asking how they could get involved with Wing Zone. “And we actually get along.”įriedman says when the first Wing Zone opened in Gainesville, he and Scott were “true owner/operators-cooking, delivering, and doing whatever it took.”īetween 19, the two expanded to six additional locations, all company owned. “I’m more in sales, marketing, and franchising, and he’s still into the numbers,” Friedman says.
For the most part, they have stuck with those roles. We did the testing out of our fraternity house kitchen, and then in my senior year of college we opened our first restaurant.”įriedman was a marketing major and Scott majored in finance. “So we wrote a business plan focused on takeout and delivery. “Wings were something you couldn’t get delivered then,” Friedman says. Take-out and delivery wings were the brainstorm of fraternity brothers Matt Friedman and Adam Scott, who, while studying at the University of Florida, wanted to feed themselves and fellow Gators something besides the delivery mainstays of pizza and subs. The idea for Wing Zone was hatched in a fraternity house in 1991, but the first store didn’t open until two years later.
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