Operations

Redefining QSRs: How PDQ journeyed to superior quality, service

PDQ - short for People Dedicated to Quality - has 63 traditional units as well as sports arenas and airport locations. The brand is a people-first organization, with a firm focus on good food and hospitality.

PDQ's honey butter sandwich is a big mover for the chicken brand. Photo provided by PDQ.

September 22, 2023 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group

P.D.Q. — short for People Dedicated to Quality — was founded on simple ideals. The brand's founders wanted a healthier option to most QSRs in the market with great service and even better food.

The brand was launched by Outback Steakhouse Co-Founder Bob Basham and MVP Holdings CEO Nick Reader. Reader's children played competitive sports, affording him the opportunity to visit QSRs in other states.

Together, Basham and Reader discovered a concept in North Carolina called Tenders, purchased the brand and spent two years working on it.

Kep Sweeney is CEO of PDQ. Photo provided by PDQ.

They opened the first PDQ in Tampa in October 2011 on the principles of great food, great hospitality and cleanliness.

"It was a fresh concept, and they took a lot of pride culinarily," Kep Sweeney, PDQ CEO, told QSRweb in a phone interview. "The vision is to be at the top of the culinary sector stack. We compete at QSR, we're bound by all of the guardrails that make a concept a QSR, but we want to be at the top of the culinary stack. And we want to do that by changing the lives of our people and the guests."

That includes scholarships for and helping employees in need. How managers manage hourly workers is also paramount to the brand's success. "I think we're slowly changing the industry this way," Sweeney said. "We have a fairly advanced education program."

Zoom meetings with speakers in fireside chats, book groups and master classes with professionals like Disney's Bob Iger, or case studies on Chick-fil-A's adoption on technology, are held every Thursday, advancing the thinking of many of the brand's managers.

"We want highly educated managers, and we want them to be part of the process," Sweeney said. "We're very focused on the whole person, and this may be a stepping stone for them."

On the menu

The brand's bestseller is its four-piece chicken tender meal, but the chicken sandwiches are also big movers. The chicken is buttermilk brined, double breaded by hand, and tossed in a sauce like PDQ's popular Honey Butter.

"We go to a lot of trouble for all of these" menu items, Sweeney said. "I've always been amazed at PDQ at the level of work that goes into it. … It's insane that a QSR restaurant will hand cut fresh zucchini and then take that zucchini and toss it in a light breading and then toss that in buttermilk. Toss that again in breading to crisp it up and serve it with PDQ Sauce."

Those items are made to order, Sweeney added, and meant to be eaten right away. They make most of their food in house to order using proprietary recipes.

"Again, the emphasis on culinary is magnificent," Sweeney said. "It's just made better. That's our corporate ethos."

Chicken tenders are a hallmark item for the brand. Photo provided by PDQ.

Operations

Today, PDQ operates 63 traditional restaurants, as well as a handful of units in airports and sports arenas.

Proprietary ingredients are moved using a national vendor, and the brand has worked diligently to create good partnerships with its vendors.

PDQ utilizes a white-label app designed exclusively for the brand, and it integrates with its Revel POS system. The brand worked with Apple on its GPS software "so when you order, we know when you break our geofence that we don't have to drop it now knowing its going to be 20 minutes before you get there. When you break a five-minute geofence, your order will come up," Sweeney said.

The brand has been challenged by volatile purchasing, especially poultry inflation that went up 129% in recent years. "We did raise prices a little, but we can't pass that on to the guest," Sweeney said.

Unlike many other QSR brands, hiring and retention has not been problematic. Sweeney said the brand has significantly lower turnover than other QSR players in the industry. He noted PDQ pays at the top of the industry to aid in retention.

"As you go down the P and L, labor needs to be elevated to the top," Sweeney said. "That's where we have this really, really low turnover."

The brand has opened two more locations this year.

"I think our growth is going to be composed of omnichannel," Sweeney said. "We're going to look for all types of distribution. We love our product and we want to distribute it in a lot of different ways. The drive-thrus, double drive-thrus — all of those things we're exploring."

About Mandy Wolf Detwiler

Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the site editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places.

An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience to Networld Media Group. She has spent nearly two decades covering the pizza industry, from independent pizzerias to multi-unit chains and every size business in between. Mandy has been featured on the Food Network and has won numerous awards for her coverage of the restaurant industry. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, and can tell you where to find the best slices in the country after spending 15 years traveling and eating pizza for a living.

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