Sometime this summer, the residents of Williamsburg will be hit with a sight so bizarre — and yet, so familiar! — that heads might well explode.
They will see the comforting sight of a food truck and the logo of TGI Friday’s. And the two things will get smushed together.
Yes, a TGI Friday’s food truck will soon be roaming the streets of Brooklyn.
The truck is expected at Brooklyn’s Northside Music Festival in McCarren Park from June 13 to 15, where it will be handing out free sliders, ahi tuna crisps (the smaller version of a taco), loaded potato skins and their “Oreo Madness” dessert (essentially an Oreo ice cream cookie sandwich). The trucks will also be hitting other parts of the country throughout the summer. (Currently, there’s no word on whether this will be repeated or expanded in the future.)
Surprising? Certainly, but megarestaurant chains are not oblivious to the hip sensibilities of the Millennial generation. All the foodie trends — from food trucks to gluten-free menus to small plates to spirits from small distilleries — have been co-opted by the big boys.
Here are four of these trends that the chains are locking up.
Food trucks
TGI Friday’s is not the only chain to consider the food truck: In Spartanburg, S.C., the local Fuddruckers has My Fudd Truck. “We started four years ago,” says Patrick Chackal, training coordinator for Fuddruckers, and so far it has been received “very, very well.” The truck has been booked at events all over the city, done promotions and even appeared at a few weddings.
And earlier this year David Hollinger, who owns a Bennigan’s in Panama City, Florida unveiled a 26-foot-long Bennigan’s on the Fly food truck. The truck has done such spectacular business that Hollinger has ordered a second, even bigger truck (which should be hitting the road within the next week or so). In addition to booking his truck at concerts like the Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam (where the likes of Carrie Underwood and Randy Houser will perform), his lunchtime service has been such a hit that the corporate side of Bennigan’s has been talking to Hollinger about doing food trucks for their other restaurants.
“We go out there and we probably do $2,000 or $3,000 in lunch,” says Hollinger. “Do you know what that means to someone looking to expand their restaurant? That’s unheard of!”
The small, mom-and-pop (sort of) booze supplier
If you find that you’re feeling tipsy while chowing down on barbecue ribs, don’t worry, it’s not the food — it’s the moonshine. Outback Steakhouse has a new “Moonshine BBQ Menu” — which not only uses moonshine in the sauce, but also includes a few moonshine-based cocktails.
Outback, the 1,200-restaurant chain (headquartered in Tampa, Fla.), is using two moonshine suppliers for the menu, Georgia Moon and Ole Smoky. Ole Smoky cocktails include the “Huckleberry Hooch” (muddled seasonal berries, OJ, pineapple juice, cranberry juice and moonshine) and the “Watermelon Hunch Punch” (moonshine, fresh watermelon and lemonade, topped with a wedge of watermelon) — both for less than $6.
The company was founded in Gatlinburg, Tenn., in 2010, after the laws against moonshine were eased up, and its master distiller, Justin King, practiced that intoxicating art long before it was legal. We raise our glass to the effort!
Small plates
Sure, the never-ending pasta bowls can quell a ravenous appetite, but Olive Garden apparently doesn’t want to be known as just an appetite buster. So they recently decided to go the other way, too.
Earlier this year, the Florida-based 800-strong chain announced the biggest changes to its menu since it opened, introducing “light fare” as well as a “Taste of Italy Small Plate” menu, too, consisting of more modestly sized items like chicken meatballs ($4), crispy Parmesan asparagus ($4), crispy risotto bites (otherwise known as arancini, $4) and that grand staple of authentic Italian cuisine, hummus ($4) — oh, wait . . .
Gluten-free
Now that gluten is officially as bad for you as cigarettes and knife fighting, some of the big boys are making it easier for gluten-boycotting gluttons to indulge. Take Applebee’s, the 2,000-plus restaurant chain based out of Kansas City, Mo., famous for items like “grilled chicken wonton tacos” and “chicken and shrimp tequila tango,” which is now looking out for its customers by offering an “Eating Smart” part of their Web site.
In addition to calorie and fat counts (the appetizer sampler has 2,370 calories and an ungodly 46 grams of saturated fat!), they also have menus for those looking to avoid eggs, or peanuts, or soy . . . or the dreaded gluten! Apparently, French fries, steaks and even the chips and salsa are prepared without resorting to the “g” word. (Although Applebee’s is quick to add the caveat that “we are unable to guarantee that any menu item can be completely free of allergens.”)