Web Exclusive: uWink Ready to Expand

Nolan Bushnell has tweaked his tech-driven concept to appeal to more than just gaming geeks.

By Lisa Bertagnoli, Contributing Editor -- Chain Leader, 4/23/2008 1:12:00 PM

uWink's light, contemporary decor reinforces its position as a restaurant that happens to have games, not a gaming parlor that happens to have food.

It's been in test almost two years, and now uWink, the latest techno-concept from Atari and Chuck E. Cheese creator Nolan Bushnell, is about to expand.

In May, the second uWink will open in Hollywood. The third is slated to open later this year in Mountain View, Calif. Additionally, OCC Partners LLC, a Miami-based franchisee, signed an agreement to open three uWink restaurants in Miami-Dade County over the next four years.

Like Chuck E. Cheese and more adult-oriented Dave & Buster's, uWink marries food with technology.
The first location, in Woodland Hills, Calif., seats 150 and offers a basic menu of burgers, pasta, sandwiches and pizza ($9 to about $11). The check average is $16; alcohol accounts for about 20 percent of sales.

Fifty to 70 computer games are available either free or for purchase with credits. Servers, or "entertainment concierges," help ensure that guests get the games that they want and that those games are appropriate for the tables' demographic makeup.

Family Friendly

Guests at uWink can order food from their table or play games with other customers.

There, the similarities between uWink and other tech-driven concepts end, says Brent Bushnell, chief technology officer at uWink and son of Nolan Bushnell.

The biggest difference: It's a restaurant that happens to have games, not a gaming parlor that happens to have food. Brent Bushnell says the development team worked hard on the menu, which Alissa Tappan, uWink's director of marketing, describes as "modern comfort food." Customers, she says, "are enjoying the food as much as they enjoy ordering in on the touch screens."

The light, contemporary decor also reinforces uWink's position as a restaurant. Food accounts for 80 percent of sales; the restaurant grosses about $3.2 million a year, between $500 and $700 per square foot, Tappan says.

Brent Bushnell says uWink attracts more women than it does Dungeons & Dragons nerds and is more socially oriented than Dave & Buster's. That's largely due to the game lineup, which offers Scrabble and Yahtzee as well as more competitive offerings, among them Pong and foosball as well as USI, uWink Scene Investigation, a riff on the popular TV show "CSI."

Creating the "fun for all" atmosphere took work, says Ian Cesa, partner at ib4e Partners, the Los Angeles-based consulting firm that helped uWink translate its technology into a user-friendly atmosphere before the first store opened in October 2006. "You have a guy like Nolan Bushnell and his team, and they're all technologists," Cesa says. "Their point of view is technology, not the customer."

Via focus groups, ib4e helped uWink choose games that were competitive but also offered self-improvement. Those games, he says, would help attract and retain female guests: "The value is because you learned something, not because you beat someone," Cesa says.

Value Engineered

Other adjustments, mostly in the name of value, have been made in the two years since the concept first opened. "Everything was a test to see what customers thought was the best value," Brent Bushnell says.

One example: Customers originally had to purchase credits to play games. Now customers earn credits as they order food and drinks. uWink also now offers prizes to game winners. An easy-game win might earn a candy bar; a more difficult win, an iPod or Xbox. "People compete with each other, trying to win the iPod first," Bushnell says.

A selection of a dozen or so party packages ($20 to $50 per person) also increases uWink's perceived value. Party hosts can ask uWink to program the computers at their tables to match the theme of the party. For instance, the menu for a children's party might not offer alcohol, says Alissa Tappan, uWink's marketing director.

So far, uWink has succeeded in attracting a mixed demographic, ranging from singles to couples to families with grandparents in tow. The secret, Brent Bushnell says, is that the concept really is the next technological step after interactive Web sites. "We're really bridging the gap between the Internet and the physical location," he says.

uWink's innovation is crucial in today's tough market. Find more chain-restaurant innovations in Innovation Puts Chains Ahead of the Curve.