Rex's Chicken 111th & Memorial - A quick review

[SXSW]

I hope they don't put a Rex's in their failed Camille's location on Cherry Street.  One of their "brands" will go there along with FreshBerry but they haven't stated which one.  In another thread I suggested Greenz as a healthy alternative that fits in better with Cherry Street and midtown.  If you have been to Cool Greens in OKC it looks very similar and really good.

http://www.greenzsalads.com/

I haven't tried Rex's yet but plan on going sometime this week if I find myself down that way.  I remember eating Rex's as a kid and loving the fry bread but my tastes have changed and I rarely, if ever, eat fast food but may make an exception for some good boneless chicken and fry bread.

[Gaspar]

I hope they don't put a Rex's in their failed Camille's location on Cherry Street.  One of their "brands" will go there along with FreshBerry but they haven't stated which one.  In another thread I suggested Greenz as a healthy alternative that fits in better with Cherry Street and midtown.  If you have been to Cool Greens in OKC it looks very similar and really good.

http://www.greenzsalads.com/

I haven't tried Rex's yet but plan on going sometime this week if I find myself down that way.  I remember eating Rex's as a kid and loving the fry bread but my tastes have changed and I rarely, if ever, eat fast food but may make an exception for some good boneless chicken and fry bread.

It is the wrong demographic for a Rex's.   And for portions of the demo that do exist in the area, there are too many other offerings near by that would compete at a far better price point. 

I agree, Greenz would be a better choice for the area.  BUT, Jason's would make it a tough road to success.  Greenz offers salads at over $9 with tax.  Jason's offers all you can eat at $7+. 

The entries at Greenz are also competitive with other offerings on Cherry Street, but over priced.  If Camille's was not successful there, Greenz will be even more of a challenge.

I'm sure they've taken all of this into consideration, which makes me think they may be considering a Rex's.   

It seems that they are reliant on the Brand with little consideration of the reason that Rex's used to be a destination in the first place.  My family used to eat there weekly because the crunchy boneless chicken that you could dip in the mashed potatoes and gravy.  Finish it off with some fry bread and you were in high-cal heaven.  No one else featured boneless fried chicken.  Not KFC, not McDonald's, no one.  It was a delicious novelty. 

Now it's available in nearly every flavor combination at every chain.  McDonald's, Arby's, Wendy's, Sonic, KFC, Long John Silvers, Burger King, and many more.  There is no more novelty in the product, so to revive Rex's you have to rely on flavor, quality, and price.   

Furthermore, the brand "Rex's" is actually a weakness because it forces the chain to compete with a ghost, and no matter how good the product it, it's not going to be better than the memories people have of the original unique concept.  I don't know of a single example of a revived restaurant concept that is not considered a pale shadow of the original.  I think they would have been more successful using another name and simply branding the chicken offering on the menu as "Rex's Recipe."  This would give them a new brand to build without forcing them behind the eight-ball from day one.

I may be wrong, and I love it when I'm wrong, because that's when I learn new things.
But I doubt I'm wrong.

[DolfanBob]

Gaspar. Spot on Brother. I agree with your assessment of competing with memories.
The same thing happened when Casa Bonita thought that they could close. Come back as Casa Viva, close and then try again as Casa Bonita again. Epic fail. IMO

[Gaspar]

Gaspar. Spot on Brother. I agree with your assessment of competing with memories.
The same thing happened when Casa Bonita thought that they could close. Come back as Casa Viva, close and then try again as Casa Bonita again. Epic fail. IMO

This is a known pitfall.  I've seen some brands revived, but they are never as strong as the original, and they spend their entire life-cycle attempting to live up to unrealistic standards.

You can see it on this thread.  When people talk about the old Rex's, the descriptions are almost ethereal.  The brand is not only a simple restaurant concept, but a place in time.  How do you compete with that?

Essentially there are two target demographic subdivisions for this concept.  Those who remember the old Rex's, and those who have heard the stories and want to experience it.  Both of these groups arrive through the door with lofty expectations very difficult to overcome.  No matter how good the new product, the customer is poised to be critical of it.  It's human nature.

A third demo group, and less important, are those who don't know Rex's from a hole in the ground.  They see a hip location with overpriced chicken nuggets and a limited menu.  The brand has no effect on them.  They can take their family down the street to KFC and eat the same thing for half the price. 

Building a new brand is always better than reviving a dead one.  Sure you can achieve an initial marketing punch by offering something familiar, but it's temporary and ultimately detrimental.

[DTowner]

Gaspar is spot on.  Memories grow fonder over time.  However, I remember going to Rex's on 15th a few times and getting lousy service, the place wasn't very clean (tables always sticky with honey residue) and it was never busy.  But the chicken was so good I didin't mind!

How can a company that specializies in franchising restaurants be so inept at opening/operating a new restaurant?  I don't know much about Beautiful Brands, but other than Camille's (the 15th St. location not withstanding), does it have any successful brands that it has developed and franchised?

[DolfanBob]

Oh one other question I forgot to ask. Did Beautiful Brands have to buy the Rex's name or is there some family connection ?

[dbacks fan]

Oh one other question I forgot to ask. Did Beautiful Brands have to buy the Rex's name or is there some family connection ?

I think they would have to buy it unless the trademark/copywright/patent had expired. Then I think it would be fair game.

[Conan71]

Oh one other question I forgot to ask. Did Beautiful Brands have to buy the Rex's name or is there some family connection ?

A friend of mine and his business partner wound up with the Rex recipes either via outright purchase or a license arrangement and opened "King Chicken" (Rex=King as well they were Christians, so there was that connotation as well) at 81st & Yale.  He was an insurance guy and really had no business owning a restaurant.  This was maybe 10 or so years back and my memory has all but faded on that whole episode with Rex's.  At any rate, I ate there a few times and the recipe was faithful to the original.  Far as I know BB bought the recipes and name either from the friend of mine or the original family.  I would assume they bought the Pennington recipes from either the Pennington family or Bud Barnes who owned Doo Wop Diner as I think he may have bought the rights to those at one point after the revival of Penningtons at 81st & Lewis FAILED and became a Doo-Wop.

FWIW, Pennington's food wasn't that outstanding.  Black bottom pie was over-rated and I thought had an unappealing taste.  Their fried shrimp wasn't really any different than any other corn-bread rolled shrimp. (Bro's Houligan wins hands-down on fried shrimp, IMO).  Along the lines of Gaspar alluding to the memory always being fond of a previous incarnation, what I liked best about Penningtons was simply going there in mom's station wagon and getting drive-in food on a nice spring night.  

Camille's growth has been stagnant.  They seem to open about as many new units as those which have closed.  A friend worked in that organization for a number of years so I've heard some perspective from them and some perspective of a former franchisee that I know.  Somehow the CEO of BB manages to keep enough fresh capital coming in for his various concepts to remain a going concern.  I've really been amazed at how lousy Coney Beach apparently was and the rough start Rex's has had.  I'm curious how aware the CEO is of the on-site problems they have.  Sooner or later word gets around the industry and it will be harder to sign up new franchisee's if the concepts are failing, especially in the home market.

I'm actually rather surprised that Greg Hughes (In The Raw) aligned with BB to franchise his concept, he could have done that on his own.  I don't see Caz's going anywhere as a franchise.  The unique Brady atmosphere is every bit as much a part of that place's success as is the menu.  How novel is yet one more comfort food franchise anyhow?  My friend who used to own some Camille's franchises is pursuing franchising his concept on his own.  He was approached by BB and he turned them down flat, I think that's telling.

[YoungTulsan]

(Bro's Houligan wins hands-down on fried shrimp, IMO)

Word

[dbacks fan]

I have to agree with points brought up by both Gaspar and Conan that when you revive and old name there are expectations by those that remember the original, ie Rex's and the failed Pennington's, that can be tough shoes to fill. One thing that puts me off about Rex's is the fact that they do not post any prices on their website. For what it is, I would think that they would. I have seen several people post about Caz's and jmo I think their prices are a little on the high side. $17.00 for a 12oz rib eye I would hope that it is prime not choice, and, wishful thinking, it has been dry aged. One of my favorite places from the past was Hemi's Pizza and I frequented the one that was at 41st and Garnett for both lunch and dinner, but I think now with The Hideaway and similar places it would be hard pressed to survive. (I really liked their pizza and pasta lunch buffet.)

[DolfanBob]

Conan. I agree with you. Penningtons was a fun place for my family because my Dad was a TPD officer who moonlighted there. And it was a great way for Mom not to have to cook, and we pretty much had the run of the place as kid's since my Dad was doing the security. I was a bit to young to even care what the food tasted like. So there again, I would be just drawing on fond memories and not cuisine.

One other place that as a kid I enjoyed was the A&W A-Frame ice cream float stand out North. I walked over 2 miles to hang out there with friends. I cant remember if it was Apache St that it was on. I think there was Railroad tracks near it that we used to walk down to get there. Great Tulsa times.

[Fiend]

I ate there for the first time last night. It was definitely crowded. The fry bread was dead on as to how I remembered it, so was the okra. BUT they gave me this tiny little cup with a small amount of okra in it, a laughable amount, but I was not happy about that at all. There was WAY too much breading on the chicken, and it was over cooked. Once I got past the crispy slightly burnt tasting breading, the chicken had that familiar Rex's taste.

What they need to fix:

1. Get rid of all the kids working there who dont know how to cook s%*t, I want that original Rex's taste damn it!

2. Double, no, tripple the portions!

3. More chicken, less breading!

4. Again, larger portions and less breading on the chicken!


Having said that, I will go back again, if anything for the fry bread. Hopefully the chicken will be better the second time around, seriously doubt the portions will be larger.

[DTowner]

Conan, good insights and inside info.  Sounds like BB needs to step back and get its own house in order by focusing on improved product development, operations and franchisee training before trotting out new brands and concepts.

[tulsabug]

Ah yes - I remember the old Rex's quite well! Slow service, dirty tables, and the most wonderful case of food poisoning ever from their potato salad. Sounds like the new Rex's might just be up to snuff!

[zstyles]

Went here last night to get a to-go order. Staff had more to do with conversations with each other and sort of interested in my order.

Went to wait at a table..sat there while an older couple(maybe 80's sat down) was brought their order. They asked the girl where the butter was, she pointed to the other end of the store and walked away...(I said there bewildered) I went up and go it for them and told a guy who seemed maybe halfway like a manager who told me "okay"...got my order left.....the place was pretty full when I left.

Get home, chicken is overdone, and my wife chips her tooth on a bone that was IN the boneless chicken!

Over all ...not a great start for the brand if you ask me.