Food & Beverage

Smokey Bones' virtual brand revamp returns burger to value-based roots

Burgers have gotten pretty darn tony on the virtual restaurant landscape, with prices to match. But one virtual brand thinks the real money is in the value-based burger.

The Burger Experience features five variations of the beloved sandwich. (Photo provided)

April 7, 2021

As restaurant leaders are well aware, restaurant burgers have really evolved from the lowly "everyman's food" they once were to what are quite often regal sandwiches, created by chefs, often with prices to match. In fact, Smokey Bones CEO James O'Reilly has been closely watching this upscaling phenomenon taking place across the virtual restaurant landscape and saw it as an opportunity, according to a brand spokeswoman. And that is why, Smokey Bones has opted to re-introduce the virtual burger brand it first brought to market in the fall of 2019, but this time as a value-based burger brand.

The revamped The Burger Experience has a menu featuring five burgers — each one priced about $6 — as well as crinkle fries that will cater to the current economy's growing demand for value-based everything. The remade virtual brand joins Smokey Bones other virtual brand, The Wing Experience, which has proven a big sales winner for the company, according to a release.

Each of the handful of The Burger Experience sandwiches feature the brand's "secret umami XTC" sauce that contains mustard, soy and hoisin sauce, which the company said recalls the burgers of yesteryear. Variations of the sandwich come with the sauce and burger alone, or with additions of cheese, bacon, mushrooms and Swiss, and finally the company's "Green Chile burger."

"The pandemic has changed the way customers interact with restaurants with guests now increasingly relying on curbside, carryout, delivery and third-party delivery apps," CEO James O'Reilly said in the release. "We believe many of these changes are going to be permanent and now is the time for us to innovate and invest. We have the operational and culinary capability to do just that, while focusing on one of American's most beloved menu items — burgers."

The Burger Experience operates inside Smokey Bones' 61 locations across 16 states and its items are available for curbside pick-up or delivery.

"We wanted to do something different by offering a really delicious menu of burgers starting at $6 that are designed for off-premise customers only," O'Reilly said in the release. "The Burger Experience offers the kind of delicious burger you could easily order every week for your lunch, or order in large numbers for a group with drinks and crinkle fries. The brand is fun, relaxed and very focused on one simple thing: great burgers you can enjoy anytime and anywhere."