Ohio restaurant company targets the Columbus market

A Cincinnati-based sports restaurant company looking for growth in Georgia said it is very hungry to be in the Columbus market, with the possibility of multiple locations.

Buffalo Wings and Rings, founded in 1984, has had its eye on Columbus for at least a couple of years, said Philip Schram, chief development officer and a partner with the restaurant company.

“We are kind of building what we call the I-75 corridor, from Michigan to Florida,” Schram said. “Columbus, Ga., is the size of city that we like a lot. We are very successful in cities that are between 50,000 and 200,000 in population.”

It has 57 locations in 13 states, including some now “coming soon.” Those on the way include one in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. The north Atlanta area also is on the chain’s radar screen for growth. It has about 20 locations in the Middle East as well.

Schram, who bought Buffalo Wings and Rings with a couple of partners in 2005, said his company analyzes local demographics before deciding it wants to be in a city. He said Columbus has the potential for multiple restaurants.

“We may do a ring around the city in the neighborhoods that are the most desirable to our business,” he said. “Typically, we don’t put a restaurant quite in the middle (of the city) because then it can cannabilize all the others in the market. But, yeah, we can easily put four there.”

Schram called Buffalo Wings and Rings “an elevated version” of a sports bar and restaurant, offering a “club level” experience complete with well-prepared food and plenty of TV screens, all geared toward families rather than a pure party crowd.

“We are definitely the club level,” he said. “All of our food is fresh, never frozen, made to order on the premises. We understand what the family wants. For example, we have some competitors. We call that category the breastaurant. It’s more ogling on the breast side with the servers. We are very careful not to display that because, again, we cater to the families. Then we do a lot of training of our employees to make sure that they address properly the customer so that when you leave you are very happy about the service.”

The Buffalo Wings and Rings restaurants average about 6,000 square feet, with the typical size seating 200 diners inside and another 40 on a patio outside.

The menu includes, of course, chicken wings and boneless chicken wings in a wide variety of flavors. But there also are burgers, sandwiches such as a classic gyro and Philly steak, quesadillas, and extras that include bacon mac and cheese, as well as the signature onion rings.

“Just to give you an example where we are unique and better than the competition, we use the best quality of chicken tender,” Schram said. “There is a product that is very popular, which is boneless wings. All of competitors use a frozen product, chicken that’s processed into the shape of a wing. We take our chicken tenders and cut them in half. It does not look exactly like a boneless wing, but when you eat it, it’s a very superior product.”

Buffalo Wings and Rings launched its new “club-level” store design in 2013 and added “chef-inspired” items to the menu in 2014, including street tacos, chorizo nacho burgers and parmesan garlic aioli fries. Franchise Business Review also has included it on a list of the Top 40 food franchises for 2016.

A slogan inside its restaurants reads: “Great Food. No Bull.”

This story was originally published October 5, 2016 at 1:57 PM with the headline "Ohio restaurant company targets the Columbus market."