Bringing the Sizzle

A brand update of Southern California based casual dining restaurant chain Sizzler could represent a “modern heritage” approach to re-finding the company’s way, according to a Fast Company report.

Originally launched in Culver City, California in 1958, Sizzler helped invent the casual dining chain restaurant, and was once known as much for its endless salad bar as its affordable steaks. But today there are just 75 Sizzler locations, according to Fast Company, down from 270 at the chain’s peak.

Sizzler filed for bankruptcy in 2020 as the pandemic forced the company to close restaurant dining rooms, and it has been bouncing back since.

A video created by the restaurant chain in 1991 to attract franchisees went viral online in 2015 after getting posted to an “obscure media” Reddit board. The chain has also been featured in movies, and on TV’s “South Park” and “Saturday Night Live.”

Working with the Brooklyn, New York creative agency Tavern, the restaurant chain has now taken a number of steps to refresh its brand spanning from its website to its physical locations. In large part by leveraging assets found in its archives, such as a steak-shucking cartoon bull rendered in a Hanna-Barbera-esque style named Ribby Ribeye.

The Ribby Ribeye character was in turn supplemented by Tavern with a cadre of supporting characters representing the brand’s other best-known menu offerings. Including cheese toast, the unlimited shrimp, a lobster tail, and the Salad Barbarian, an amorphous blob on a plate representing all the goods available at the chain’s beloved bar.

In addition, the Tavern agency team looked to the Sizzler brand’s past to refine its fonts, referencing the Windsor and Carlson Black Swash cuts it used through the mid-80s or so. It also cleaned up the brand’s logo through some slight changes, ditching a black background and dialing it back to a single color. And placing the text a slight angle to bring home the idea of a cattle-brand element.

Tavern also worked to update the Sizzler restaurant interiors, plates, and staff uniforms, as well as the living “brand” of how workers talk and embody the restaurant, and more. Through some of these updates, they additionally sought to resurrect Sizzler’s ownable red color in order to separate it more from competitors like Outback, Chili’s, and Applebee’s. Aiming for a bright and friendly overall vibe.

The redesigned Sizzler website is now live, and changes will reportedly be rolling out to physical restaurants in phases.

Overall, these updates might seem like an attempt by Sizzler to solidify its appeal with its apparent traditional target audiences of families, as well as value-conscious, nostalgic, and casual diners. While also attracting younger demographics, including through the use of social media platforms.

When it comes to social media in particular, Sizzler could take the current refresh as an opportunity to build buzz for its recent changes and share stories drawn from the restaurant chain’s history. But also to invite customers to share their own Sizzler memories, helping strengthen a sense of community around the brand.

Sizzler restaurant interior design refreshes reported by Fast Company in 2023 led by the studio TNI Design included new finishes, tile flooring, and reclaimed wood accents throughout locations. A prominent fireplace was placed under a big Sizzler logo near the front counter, and digital boards displayed new menus. More high-seats were also added and some four-seater booths expanded to hold six people.

Under the redesigns, some locations also saw possible structural changes to accommodate delivery orders fulfilled by third-party providers like Grubhub and DoorDash.

The first Sizzler restaurant to feature these redesigned elements was in Corona, California, in March 2023. Sizzler planned for all of its locations to have remodels underway by April 2024. In order to implement these changes, TNI Design’s plans reportedly had to work across the casual dining architectural spectrum, from 1970s mini-mall locations to brand new builds.

Additionally, the chain planned for every location to receive a refreshed salad bar with more airy space above it, as well as hanging planters and food-spotlighting pendant lamps. Utilitarian stainless steel crocks and trivets were also replaced with clean white surfaces and a black holding area for multiple pots of food and condiments. New surfaces and glass were also added to salad bar sneezeguards.

But while the redesigned salad bars looked new, their overall shape and central location, which had been Sizzler standards for 30 years, reportedly weren’t planned to change.