(VeteransFranchise.com) - By Holli. Updated May 10, 2018
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — East Coast Wings + Grill, a growing family-dining franchise acclaimed for its wide variety of nationally award-winning buffalo wing flavors, has unveiled a refreshed menu featuring a new look and fan-favorite food items that are now here to stay.
The new menu was strategically designed to allow for a more comprehensive dining experience and features a bold new look incorporating charcoal, orange and white as the color theme. The redesign is made to align with the recently rolled out East Coast Wings + Grill re-image initiative and enhance the customer dining experience.
The new menu contains not only delicious new options, but a more complete description of its one-of-a-kind wing heat index. Here’s a look at the new and updated items:
- Wings – The new menu features East Coast Wings + Grill’s 58 flavors and eight-level heat index in a more detailed manner, allowing customers to more easily choose between the award winning flavors.
- Burgers – To elevate the burger category, East Coast Wings + Grill is introducing four new burgers including:
- The Mac + Cheese Burger, featuring two seasoned quarter-pounder Angus beef patties stacked with crispy onion petals, Applewood smoked bacon, smoky aioli, crisp lettuce, sliced tomatoes, American Cheese and the signature Mac + Cheese on a lightly toasted bun
- The 50/50 Burger, featuring two quarter-pound patties made up of 50% Angus beef and 50% Applewood smoked bacon and aged cheddar cheese, topped with house-made bourbon ketchup, crisp lettuce and sliced tomatoes on a lightly toasted bun
- The Dallas Burger, featuring two seasoned quarter-pound Angus beef patties stacked with pickles, house-made coleslaw, cowboy sauce, crisp lettuce and sliced tomato on a lightly toasted bun
- ECW+G Burger, featuring two seasoned quarter-pound Angus beef patties smothered in pepper jack cheese, ECW+G Signature RanchTM, award-winning wing sauce, crisp lettuce and sliced tomato on a lightly toasted bun
- Flatbreads – Enhancing the flatbread category, the new menu includes four new options such as the Thai Chicken flatbread, Chicken Margherita flatbread, BBQ Chicken flatbread and the Buffalo Chicken flatbread.
- Skillets – The signature skillet category is now more dominant among the menu, highlighting the fan-favorite Chicken Mac + Cheese skillet and the Kickin’ JoeTM skillet. The new menu also has added a Popper skillet appetizer with craft beer sauce, jalapeños and bacon bits, as well as a seasonal dessert skillet that will rotate throughout the year and will first feature a peanut butter and chocolate skillet topped with two scoops of chocolate ice cream and caramel drizzle.
“The new menu design is part of a strategic brand evolution plan that we have been formulating for more than two years,” said Sam Ballas, CEO of East Coast Wings + Grill. “A modernized menu plays a high priority in our new market look. The sophisticated feel of the menu is inviting to potential new customers, while enhancing what our loyal customers already love to eat. We put great effort into providing our customers with only the best, freshest and most delicious menu items. We would never add a dish unless we were positive our customers would enjoy it.”
Since launching in 1995, East Coast Wings has always been strategic about their menu development. The brand added the “+ Grill” in 2006 to diversify the menu and align with their strategic growth plans. Continuing to be diligent about menu development, the East Coast Wings + Grill team conducts quarterly menu analytics to identify high- and low-performing menu items. Items that consistently score in the bottom are replaced with past fan-favorite LTOs that have proven successful through the brand’s item development process, which consists of ideation, focus groups, test restaurants, and brand-wide LTOs.
“The restaurant re-image, shrinking the footprint and dropping development costs has fueled an interest in the brand,” Ballas added. “Existing franchisees are supporting the changes and embracing what we have been tasked to deliver. Opening six new restaurants in one year will certainly keep us busy, but we feel this is a good problem to have.”
Known for its wide variety of Buffalo wings, East Coast Wings + Grill offers nationally award-winning wing sauces that are mixed to order with the freshest ingredients. Inspired by different cultures—The Islands, Tex Mex, Classic American, Asian, Southern BBQ, European, Bayou and more—at East Coast Wings + Grill, community members can enjoy dozens of flavors of chicken wings and choose from eight heat intensities, resulting in hundreds of possible combinations that can be added to most entrees and of course, wings. While wings remain a staple, the restaurant’s menu also includes delicious burgers, flatbreads, skillets, salads and more.
About East Coast Wings + Grill
East Coast Wings + Grill is a fast-growing, casual, family dining franchise that puts the spotlight on buffalo wings. With more than 60 locations nationwide currently operating or in various stages of development, the burgeoning franchise recently secured itself a top spot for the second consecutive year on Restaurant Business Magazine’s“Future 50” list of the fastest-growing U.S. mid-size restaurant chains. 2016- Ranked in the INC. 5000 of personally held corporations. Entrepreneur magazine also named East Coast Wings + Grill one of the nation’s top franchise investments, and Franchise Times magazine ranked the company No. 395 on its “Top 200+” list of top revenue-producing U.S. franchises. The concept has also been recognized by The Franchise Grade and Franchise Business Review for transparency during the franchise sales process, franchisee support and overall franchisee satisfaction.
Based in North Carolina, East Coast Wings + Grill caters to chicken wing lovers by offering dozens of varying chicken wing flavors that can be paired with eight heat intensities—resulting in hundreds of delicious choices. The extensive menu also includes salads, wraps, sandwiches, burgers and more – all using fresh ingredients. For more information about East Coast Wings + Grill or its franchise opportunities, visit www.eastcoastwings.com or www.eastcoastwingsfranchise.com.
