The Organic Agave Margarita, Plum Collins and Chinese 88 are three of 12 new cocktails P.F. Chang's will launch in June.

Come June, 12 new Asian riffs on classic cocktails will roll throughout P.F. Chang's 178-unit system. They're all part of a new beverage push that includes revamped wine menus, expanded non-alcoholic specialty drinks and ramped-up training.

Mary Melton, beverage director for the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based, casual-dining chain, says this is the biggest beverage redo the company has undertaken since its first-ever signature cocktail launch and recipe standardization in 2004. “As you move forward, you just discern new attitudes, interests, approaches to beverages,” she says. “Much of what we're doing is just to keep up with the times.”

The wine revamp, which has been phased in at various units since April, meant moving to a menu that lists wines according to mouth feel and flavor—a practice that some wine retail shops now use—rather than listing by varietal. Red wines on P.F. Chang's menus are now categorized as “Lush & Easy,” “Soft &Tangy,” “Rich & Spicy” or simply “Powerful.” White wines are “Fruity,” “Floral,” “Tangy” and “Creamy.” And inciting the olfactory imagination, subheads matched with each heading suggest that wines may be like “Honeysuckle & Rose,” “Peaches & Melons” or “Cherries & Currants.”

Giving classics an Asian slant adds fresh fun to P.F. Chang's specialty cocktails such as the Asian Persuasion, green-tea vodka with fresh-brewed green tea, simple syrup and lemon slice.

Beyond guest-friendly wine headings, the fact that all but eight of P.F. Chang's 50 wines can be ordered by the glass encourages trial. Also, a build-your-own-flight option lets guest choose three, 2.5 ounce pours from the list for $10. “It's a very low-risk way to try a wine you haven't tried before,” Melton says.

In tandem with the new wine approach, P.F. Chang's hopes to fuel interest in specialty cocktails with 12 re-created classics that have an Asian slant and premium ingredients. Examples include the Chinese 88, $8.50, which features dry gin shaken with lemon juice and finished with sparkling wine in a sugar-rimmed glass. Another is the Yuzu Old Fashioned, $8.50, which mixes bourbon, yuzu citrus juice, soda, plus a cherry and an orange slice that have been muddled in orange bitters.

“Our aim is to revitalize some of our drinks,” says Melton. “Today people want that premium edge with spirits. And they like things that are light and fresh.”

User-friendly listings, grouped by flavor profile, prompted a lift in sales of some less-familiar varietals.

To support the new beverage program, P.F. Chang's launched more in-depth training in April. Basic training, which is required for all servers, managers and bartenders, includes thorough explanations of bartending tools, techniques, a tutorial on classic cocktails, familiarization with P.F. Chang's specialty drinks, wine and sake training, and garnishing information. Managers and bartenders must also complete advanced training, which moves employees through six educational modules. Six to 10 bartenders at each of the 178 restaurants will go through the training by June.

The non-alcoholic Lemongrass Non-tini.

Her hope in adding these elements is that the training will produce bartenders who “not only know enough about classic cocktails to understand what it means to put a spin on those classics, but who also are able to engage the guest more with knowledgeable beverage suggestions.”