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From a new menu, to a new venue…launches are the focus for the Local Restaurant Group. We caught up with the team behind LRG to learn how they’ve adapted to 2020 and how they’re innovating for 2021. We’d love to hear and re-share your success stories to inspire our industry. If you’d like to share your story, email us marketing@chefworks.ca.
Photo: Chef Micheal at Hambrgr Hamilton in our Delancey Chef Coat
CWC: Tell us what’s in the pipeline for Local Restaurant Group…
LRG: We are working on a new concept named “Undefined” that will be opening it’s doors next month and a fourth Hambrgr is that will open in spring of 2021!
Also right now we have a NEW menu for our Hambrgr locations, it will be launching on November 11th in Hamilton! We push the boundaries when it comes to our menu, we are constantly evolving and testing out new menu items with our guests!
One of the ways we do this is through our Chef Smash special! Every couple of weeks we feature a new BRGR for our guests to try and it gives us the opportunity to listen to our guests feedback or gives us the chance to see what might potentially work well on our next menu!
CWC: How did you and your team adapt during 2020?
LRG: We adapted during 2020 by bringing access to our guests on delivery platforms such as UberEats, Skip The Dishes, and DoorDash to serve our loyal guests during the lockdown and closure of indoor dining.
Before reopening each location we decided that it was important to offer our full menu and came up with creative packaging solutions that didn’t compromise the quality of food that we are known for! Listening to feedback from guests was also important, as it allowed us to quickly adjust when opportunities are pointed out to us by our guests. Adjusting some of these simple elements helped us to focus on what was important, serving our guests, comforting them with our food and executing orders with a quick turnaround!
Once we were able to reopen inside and on the patio we took the necessary precautions needed to keep our guests safe. We kept reservations limited to 90 minutes per group and only allowed groups of 6 to dine with us. We also had to change the seating arrangements in each restaurant to allow for socially distanced and safe dining for all our guests as well as sanitizing surfaces, menus and high traffic areas as advised by Public Health.
CWC: What has been your greatest success of the year so far?
LRG: Greatest successes of the year has to be that through all of the uncertainties we were able to bring back all of our staff early on as well as grow our team through hiring more staff and expanding our business.
Community involvement has always been a point for us as well – At the beginning of the pandemic Hambrgr was approached by “We Feed The Need Hamont” to donate and deliver meals to frontline workers at Frank’s No Frills. We felt that it was important as a brand and members of the community to support our frontline heroes!
We also ventured into uncharted territories and came out with merchandise! We even worked with a local artist to create what we call a “Dope Brgr Box”. Each box came with a Dope Brgr Shirt, a Hambrgr branded sticker, a Dope Chief sticker and as an added bonus we included a receipt of authentication which was numbered out of /420.
This exclusive merch drop was great because it allowed us to support and work closely with an amazing local artist named “The Dope Chief” and create a very special piece of merchandise for our guests to be excited about opening!
CWC: What’s your current ‘absolutely must try’ dish?
LRG: There are so many amazing dishes to enjoy at our restaurants! At Hambrgr we would say our Biggie Mac is a popular Brgr! We have run it two times as a Chef Smash, and it has been one of our most highly requested Brgrs since it left! We are happy to say it will be returning permanently on our November 11th!
We also have a concept called Lost and Found Taqueria and Spirits. This concept was inspired by LA taquerias. Lost + Found is a modern taco and spirits restaurant with an emphasis on serving up innovative tacos, beautifully constructed cocktails, craft beer, and of course tequila and mezcal. If you’ve never been there you need to try our smash to order Guacamole or our Nashville Fried Chicken Tacos!
CWC: Thank you very much!
You can visit and follow their brands here:
Lost+ Found – Website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok: @Eatlostandfound
Hambrgr – Website, Hamilton Facebook, Saint Catherines Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Twitter St Catherines and Tiktok: @EatHambrgr