Texas Roadhouse shows a little Southern hospitality

With over 360 restaurants spanning 47 states, the Texas Roadhouse is a restaurant that can be found illuminating roadsides across the country. Featuring a rustic atmosphere, line-dancing servers and authentic American cuisine, it is ranked the second best restaurant chain in the nation by Forbes magazine.

 However in Logan, Utah, the local Texas Roadhouse does more than serve food. It serves the community of Cache Valley hosting fundraisers and donating to local charities.

 Over nearly three years, the restaurant has raised thousands for the community through these fundraisers and events.

  In 2010, the restaurant teamed with the Logan Regional Hospital Foundation to raise money for their cancer treatment center. For one night, Texas Roadhouse donated 10 percent of all proceeds to help cancer patients receive treatment.

 “We got about $650,” said Christina Roberts, a representative for the Logan Regional Hospital Foundation. “It went to cancer services with minimal work on our end. It was great.”

 In addition, Roberts noted Texas Roadhouse also co-sponsors Tough Enough to Wear Pink, a local rodeo dedicated to raise breast cancer awareness.

 “It’s about getting out in the community, showing them we’re here,” said Scott Brown, an assistant kitchen manager at the Logan restaurant. “We try to help out with as many fundraising opportunities as we can because this store was built on charity.”

 It was late 2009 when construction finished on the Texas Roadhouse located on the corner of Main Street and 1400 North. What set this restaurant apart wasn’t the building design or location – but how it was built. It was funded entirely by the restaurant’s fundraising program called Andy’s Outreach.

 Andy’s Outreach is a charity started by chain founder Kent Taylor, and is exclusively for Texas Roadhouse employees.

 “We encourage everyone who works here to take out 50 cents to a dollar for Andy’s Outreach,” Brown said. “That money goes to the sick, or for somebody who gets hurt, or any other emergencies that might pop up.”

 The money raised goes towards family or friends of employees who are in need, paying for medical bills and time off that may be needed in an emergency. Donations are made solely by employees for employees.

 Each Texas Roadhouse built by Andy’s Outreach is dedicated specifically to benefitting the community.

 Every Monday night is kid’s night at Texas Roadhouse, which features classes, games and treats for kids, and is hosted by various fundraising groups in the valley. They frequently host tours for elementary students, showing them how to make their own rolls and even do the trademark line dance.

 According to Brown, the restaurant’s mission is to give back to the community that supports them.

 “This store is the first that we’ve built with that donation money,” Brown said. “We are trying to give back to what we’ve been given.”

Week 10 Article: Quiznos Comeback

 At the age of 23, Erik Stromness bought his first Quiznos franchise. He managed to fix up the struggling restaurant and sell it off in better shape than when he had found it.

 “The first one I bought was a really tiny location and it wasn’t run really well,” Stromness said. “So I got it going better, sold that one and bought the one I have in Salt Lake.”

 Six years later, after closing several hundred stores due to a struggling economy and a market saturated with competition, the Quiznos chain is fighting to make comeback much like the one Stromness accomplished six years ago.

 This Sunday and Monday will be the annual Quiznos convention held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Franchise owners from around the country will convene to see the new products and policies being unveiled by the company.

 “They are doing a brand relaunch in April and they are changing the menu,” said Jeremy Whitehouse, a Quiznos franchisee who owns locations in Logan and Salt Lake. “They’ve tested these ideas across the nation. It should bring new life back into the brand.”

 Among the changes to the Quiznos brand include several new sandwiches, a larger budget for marketing and a shift in advertising to a more local level.

 Utahns, however, have had a sneak preview of the new menu being released in May. Many locations, including the local Logan Quiznos, have been selected to market the changes in the menu.

 More important than the change in the menu though, according to Whitehouse, is a change in attitude to focus more on the local communities they serve.

 “You can only do so much with TV and radio advertising,” Whitehouse said. “You got to do local marketing, go out and let the people know you are there.”

 The lack of franchise owner connection to the store, according to Stromness, is what has caused the mass of closed Quiznos locations around the world.

 “The issue with restaurants is that if you aren’t willing to be a part of the restaurant, to work in the restaurant and help it in some way, then it doesn’t matter what kind of location you have for the restaurant—it will die,” Stromness said. “That’s the reason why these stores close.”

 “The problem has been absentee owners who don’t really care; people who own a store just so they can own it,” Whitehouse said. “I’ll spend four or five hours a week in a store, just marketing to people in a local area.”

 Over the past several years, the company has struggled from lawsuits filed by many of their own franchise owners, as well as accumulating a debt of over 800 million dollars.

 With the announced changes the company was able to cut its debt nearly in half, according to Stromness.

 With the upcoming changes to the Quiznos franchise, Whitehouse is optimistic that the company will make a comeback. Ultimately, he hopes that it will become a regular stop for the locals in Logan as well as sandwich-lovers around the world.

 “They’ve tested ideas across the nation, found out what the public wants and now they will put it into implementation,” Whitehouse said. “We’re going to see a lot more media attention and a lot more marketing at a local level in the store. There will be a lot of changes that will be positive in the community.”

Week 9 Article

 In 2007, for the first time in a decade, the minimum wage in America was raised. Previously $5.15 an hour, it leaped to $7.25 an hour. For millions of people this meant more money, more food and more security.

 For Cindy Soutter, however, this change did not apply. For over 36 years, she has made under $3.00 an hour working full time.

 Her job is active, requiring her to move on her feet for several hours at a time.

 Social skills are a must as she caters to all kinds of people.

 She often stays well after closing time to clean.

 Above all else, her job requires service with a smile – no matter what.

 Cindy Soutter is a waitress at a local Italian restaurant, and has been for the majority of her life.

 According to minimum-wage.org, $2.13 is the federal minimum wage for an employee who can make more than $30 a day in tips. This often applies to tip-reliant jobs such as bartending, servers and valets. As a waitress, Soutter has struggled for years with the sub-standard wage.

 “It’s frustrating because we work hard for our tips and some people don’t leave tips at all,” Soutter said. “If it’s really slow one night we may come into work and not even make minimum wage.”

 The law states that if the employee makes less in tips than minimum wage on any shift, the employer must reimburse the employee.

 For Phillip Love, a waiter at a popular restaurant chain, that isn’t always the case.

 “There are days where you are making 30 dollars for five hours, and that’s certainly nowhere close to working minimum wage,” Love said. “It’s kind of difficult that people will come in and tip you two or three dollars for a 30 dollar meal and I’ll be like, ‘Well thanks, you’re my only source of money.’”

 While $2.13 is the federal standard for tipped employees, many states have their own wages. 

 According to dol.gov, California pays its tipped employees an average of $8.00. New York varies its wage from $2.13 to $6.15 depending on the employee’s job. Oregon pays its tipped employees an average of $9.04.

  

 Fourteen states pay the federal minimum of $2.13, including Utah.

  For Soutter, the wage doesn’t match the long and strenuous hours she puts in nightly.

   

 “I feel like I work really hard for my money and I work really hard for the restaurant,” Soutter said. “Sometimes the hourly wage they pay us doesn’t feel like they compensate us for the time we put into the restaurant, the people we bring into the restaurant and the money we make them by doing an extra hard job.”

  

 “I think the waitress is why people come back or don’t come back,” Soutter said. “If you give good service you should be paid according to that.”

  Both Soutter and Love note that customers are always shocked to learn how much they make per hour.

 “Some customers say, ‘That’s your job: you’re a server, you get paid to do that and you don’t get a tip,’” Soutter said. “They don’t understand how much we’re paid. A lot of them are shocked when they find out how much we make.”

 “I understand the type of business I’m in, I understand the money we make is off our tips,” Love said. “However, I also feel that we should get more of an hourly wage for what we do. Half of the people that walk into our restaurant don’t understand that we’re getting paid so little.”

Welcome to the Logan Lunchroom, a journalistic blog all about the restaurants, eateries, and luncheonettes in Cache Valley. Good food has power to boost a town's economy, bring people together, and establish a city as a must-stop on family road trips. Every good restaurant has a story to tell, or a story to hide. The purpose of this site is to find, and tell, these stories.