Wonder, the owner of Grubhub, is now the owner and manager of a fast-casual restaurant, Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken. Yipee! They got to be thanking the stars, the cosmos.
Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken is not a committee, but is a famous New York City dining spot which marks Wonder’s first restaurant acquisition. This is a huge success for a company that always looks to accelerate its growth and development.
The acquisition was announced last Tuesday. Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken, since then, is joining Wonder’s catalog of over two dozen restaurant brands, open for dine-in, pick-up, and delivery, with some for delivery through Grubhub.
Wonder spoke about the acquisition, telling Ridesharing Forum, “We don’t have to explain to people, through marketing and otherwise, what makes this brand so great!”
And, they’re definitely making things great. Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken may not be as renowned and global as your KFC, but this restaurant specializes in chicken sandwiches and bone-in chicken, well-regarded among the residents of New York City. Wonder is also taking charge of operating Blue Ribbon’s location in Manhattan.
Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken was initially operated by Blue Ribbon Restaurants, a well-honored New York-based company founded by brothers Eric and Bruce Bromberg, not Bloomberg, that started in 1992 with the name “Blue Ribbon Brasserie.”
In 2013, during the time of the Democrats in the USA, the Bromberg brothers spun off the brasserie’s famous fried chicken into its own concept, the blue ribbon fried chicken, hence the name of the restaurant, Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken.
The restaurant’s menu also includes sauced-up wings, sandwiches, smash burgers, tender dogs, salads, fried chicken combos, fried chicken by the piece, and so much more.
For Grubhub owner Wonder, this is a way for Blue Ribbon to have a recognizable name and spot in Wonder’s “hall of fame of 100 outlets” on the East Coast, known globally.
Blue Ribbon will be the third chicken concept by Wonder, except that it is a product of an acquisition, rather than an original concept. Blue Ribbon will be joining Street Bird by Marcus Samuelsson and Mr. D’s Fried Chicken.
Wonder’s management reiterates that all those three will still be competing with each other, even if they are already operated by one company. Also, Wonder believes Blue Ribbon will allow it to compete with other restaurants of these kinds, though not to overtake, such as Raising Cane’s and Chick-fil-A.
“The chicken market is humongous. It’s one of the largest,” Wonder told Ridesharing Forum. “There’s enough TAM for 30 concepts in chicken to live if we can support it.”
Whatever that means, you’d better just agree.
Nevertheless, Blue Ribbon is the first-ever restaurant concept that Wonder has acquired outright, signaling the start of a brand-new growth strategy for a company that already has knowledge of and understands the ins and outs of this market. Grubhub is excited. For more food delivery news, sign up for that account on this Ridesharing Forum website.