Sandwiches are one of four ways guests can have their desired protein, like the crispy cod sandwich pictured here.
More and more, franchises are experimenting with customizable menus that brands like Subway and Qdoba made popular. Slapfish, the chef-driven seafood chain started in 2011 by Andrew Gruel, is experimenting with a customizable menu in three of its Utah stores.
The change follows a recent partnership with The Culinary Edge, a culinary innovation agency, and comes after the sale of the company last year by Gruel to private equity company Mac Haik Enterprises. Slapfish was founded on the principle of serving fine-dining level quality seafood in a fast casual setting.
The menu, aptly named “Choose Your Own Voyage,” allows customers to choose from seven different proteins—including non-seafood options such as chicken and plant-based “shrimp”—served grilled, crispy or seared. From there, guests pick whether they’d like a salad, bowl, sandwich or tacos and can select from five sauces.
Dan Anfinson is the president of Slapfish, a seafood franchise that recently partnered with The Culinary Edge.
Slapfish President Dan Anfinson, a lover of seafood and corresponding puns, said the new format is a cultivation of the last decade. “The voyage has taken us to where we’re at today,” he said. “I will tell you the rest of that voyage is uncharted. … I’m very optimistic and encouraged by the results thus far.”
Anfinson said the new menu allows customers to try each protein about 49 different ways.
“There’s almost limitless possibilities to that customization, and that maintains not only the relevancy for many perspectives, it maintains the culinary aspect of the chef-driven foundation where we started,” Anfinson said.
The first stores to debut the new menu, in the Salt Lake City market, reopened at the end of January. In the first week, about half of sales came from tacos and bowls, which Anfinson suggested may have to do with Utah’s cold weather.
Fans of the original menu still have some options, if they’re not ready to open their minds (or stomachs) to something new. Slapfish kept five flagship items on the menu: the lobster roll, epic shrimp burrito, fish and chips, poke bowl and the “clobster” grilled cheese.
The lobster roll is one of the five flagship menu items Slapfish is keeping on its menu in three Utah stores.
The chain also has its share of stellar sides, including Brussels sprouts good enough to make Anfinson, a lifetime hater, into a fan. “Don’t tell my mom,” he joked.
Seafood-specific concepts aren’t as widespread in franchising, but there are a handful making waves in the industry. Shuckin’ Shack, an oyster and seafood bar, is moving inward from its coastal roots, entering markets such as St. Louis. Angry Crab Shack has grown to 20 locations since opening in 2013, one of which is in the United Kingdom. Seafood chain Captain D’s had 536 units as of 2021, with sales of $567 million the same year.
The Culinary Edge partnership formed after Anfinson called the agency’s CEO, Graham Humphreys, to discuss his vision to create an easier-to-scale franchise. “Having delicious food isn’t always the easy part,” Humphreys said. “It’s having delicious food that is easy to prepare, even when it gets busy, at volume, at scale, in all your locations, every time with all of your teams.”
Graham Humphreys is the CEO of The Culinary Edge, a culinary innovation agency.
Seafood, Humphreys said, can be intimidating for the consumer because people are often less familiar with it than, say, burgers. “What we sought to do is keep the chef-driven nature of the brand, make it easy to understand, easy to order and easier to operate, all at the same time.”
Slapfish is using the three Utah stores as a guinea pig before possibly expanding the new menu to other existing stores. The brand has 18 units nationwide.
“There’s a very high level of confidence that the stuff we’re doing in this initiative, we’ll not only replicate, but we’ll go to other markets in the near future,” Anfinson said.