I used to hit up JCI for the now-termed "legacy menu" but agree with the sentiment of worse quality, less food and higher prices.

9 bucks for the bare bones 2 cheese coneys, fries and a drink combo is a hard pass.

You sound fat.

So tl;dr - It was a little disappointing. President and VP Marketing showed up to meet. VP didn't say a whole lot, Pres talked almost the entire time. Wanted my feedback but essentially told me that what I had to say was "wa wa, I liked it the old way" and that that didn't matter to him.

It should be known I'm paraphrasing everything in this post. Nothing outside of quotation marks should be construed as a direct quote.

So we meet up and the President and his VP of Marketing are there. Both very nice. They give me a cup and tell me to grab a drink and come sit down and talk. I then get the 15-20 min version of the history of JCI and all the difficulties in marketing they face. Main points;

1: Primary demographic is blue hair crowd.
2: Blue hair crowd only dines with them once every 6 weeks or there abouts as well as the fact that blue hairs are dying off.
3: 22-29 year olds are a new demographic they're targeting and focus groups say that age group A: absolutely hates everything about the old JCI concept and B: wants wood table tops over formica, craft beer and healthier options. (Hence JCI Grill concept refresh)

President believes JCI to have always been "fast casual" despite their concept being rather inconsistant with the traditional definition. Perhaps quick service, but I'd say more fast food that happens to be served on plates rather than in paper.

Initially and several times throughout the meeting President states they have never, aren't now, nor are they ever intending on altering the legacy menu or the process involved in preparing it. He insists the buns are still steamed. He takes me back in the kitchen and shows me the steamer and how it's used.

Great.

Throughout I'm asking quesitons verifying that I understand their goal in the refresh with JCI Grill, their goal in adding menu items to lure in new customers and demographics, and the steps they've taken to ensure the legacy items are still the same as they always have been.

I asked him that if he added the new menu items because he felt the legacy items weren't attractive to the younger demographic he's aiming to capture. He says yes. That his focus groups yielded lots of complaints about the unhealthy menu and how bad hotdogs were for you and that they wanted healthier options. I asked him, "so you felt a line of deluxe, gourmet hotdogs, sliders and patty melts was the way to go?" He noted the salads and chicken sandwiches, pointing to an older lady behind us with a salad. He talked about eliminating the "veto" vote in groups voting on where to have a lunch during the business day, citing one person claiming "they don't have anything I want/healthy."

i asked that if wood table tops, leather seating, more yellow lighting, USB plugs in the booths and a Pei-Wei like menu experience (all items he cited as being a draw to the younger demo) were so popular and key to success, could he please help me understand why food trucks are so very popular wtih this demo when they offer none of that. I asked if it had anything to do with the fact that the food is simply good, and thus people will seek it out. His answer was (essentially) that food trucks are popular on the west coast because it's too hot here to eat outside. It didn't really answer my question, but that's what he offered.

I asked him what his break down of legacy items vs new items was. He said 4 years ago it was 70/30, but that now it's closer to 55/45. I asked if that could be because many of the new items weren't on the menu 4 years ago and he said no no no the legacy items were on the decline before that.

An hour and 20 min in, we decide to go ahead and order some lunch and taste it all. VP has to leave, so he does. I order two cheese coneys all the way. That's it. Pres orders a burger and a coney. Food comes out, my coney buns are soft to the touch but still chewy, like they weren't steamed long enough. Anyone else remember how they used to essentially fall apart? Yeah, not the case anymore.

I point this out.

He didn't have much of an answer for me.

I asked if he felt the "foodie" demographic was one he was concerned about. He gave a generic answer about wanting to make food for everyone. To that I answered the following (and these are my conclusions about the meeting):

I feel JCI Grill has skewed itself to two a very narrow and essentially different demographics using incorrect information. They try to cater to the nastalgia crowd with their legacy menu (that, after some digging, turns out DID have a major componant change in the early 2000's... More on that below) while also trying to cater to a tiny number of people who for some reason don't understand that James Coney Island is a hotdog restaurant. The one lady who decides she wants a salad instead of hotdogs isn't your key demographic. They idenitifed young people who listed a number of things about the old JCI concept they didn't like and they jumped at some conclusions about what that must mean they DO want. Rather than simply making a small range of products VERY well and at a reasonable price point, they've expanded the menu, Guy Fieri'd the interior and put 4 craft beer taps behind the register. So they want to draw in the new hip crowd with their BS menu items and their yellow lighting, but don't want to run off their older customers by changing the legacy menu too much. They bemoan the down turn of consistant repeat business but they've done everything they possibly can to make their single namesake item as least cravable as they possibly can by surrounding it with a crappy ordering experience and "hip" interior that feels like Darden Restaurants threw up all over it. Meanwhile totally missed the idea that the younger crowd of hip 22-29 year olds love delicious food but also relish in $#!+ food at the same time. Pick one and stay in that lane. It's hard to do a "gourmet" dog and what is essentially the White Castle Burger of hotdogs within the same concept. They're too diametrically opposed. There's a trend towards specialty restaurants that essentially do one thing very well... See Ramen trend. See Bahn Mi trend. See taco truck trend. See the elote guy on Long Point. See the entire BBQ industry. See steakhouses everywhere. Gone are the days of a generic restaurant ala Bennigans or TGI Friday's where there's something for everyone at mediocre quality. Today's crowd knows what their order is before they get in the car to drive to your restaurant. That's the popular thing. That's they trend. Their concept to draw in the 22-29 year old demo will fail.

The entire experience has confirmed for me that their new concept has essentially made JCI go the way of the dodo for me. I'll still attempt to satisfy my craving occasionally and for the record I still think they have the best corndogs in town, but I guess I'll have to go to Michigan to get a decent coney again.



Also, THE BUNS DID CHANGE!!! In the late 90's, early 2000's Mrs. Bairds (previous supplier) was purchased by Mexican baking conglomerate Bimbo. Bimbo told JCI they had 2 weeks to find another vendor, that they would no longer be making JCI's buns. JCI jumped through hoops to get Rainbow on board. They spent a couple of years tweeking the Rainbow menu to be just right. Apparently the JCI recipe has more gluten in it to stand up to the steaming. In my opinion, they've still got some work to do.


The subject of price point never did come up as we spent too much time on substance. He left me with his business card and encouraged any more feed back. I may ask him to meet again if for whatever reason we come up with enough to say to warrant another meeting.

If I were that President, I'd be laughing my arse off all the way back to the office after that lunch.

What the **** just happened here

Hold up. You had a chance to order whatever you wanted (at least I'm assuming this Darrin guy picked up the tab), and all you got were two Coneys? I would've gone for two Coneys, chili cheese fries, a corn dog, and a large Delaware Punch (and a refill to go), regardless of whether I thought I could eat it all or not. But to settle for two dogs? That seems like a waste.

Just to clarify things...the f*** exactly was the point of this meeting of the minds?

James Coney Island made the mistake of changing the name to JCI, updating their menu, and increasing their prices in a short period of time. This "ripping of the band-aid" effect left a sour taste for many.

If they made "special" menu additions throughout the process (similar to what Whataburger has done), I believe things would have worked out better. When it comes down to it....nobody really wants to drop almost $10 for a hot dog combo meal.

I would have suggested a family of 4 meal deal for a Monday-Thursday special. You can have burgers, hot dogs, corn dogs, special new menu items, and/or one day of the week a combination of all three. This could bring in a bit more business and gives people the opportunity to try something new. Customer gets to choose the side between fries, tater tots, salad, or a healthier veggie addition. If they want to do a family dessert option for a few more dollars.....go forward!

lostrg said:

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I like James Coney Island but I'm banned from one of them

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can you also get banned from Texags? That would be great.