Culinary Adventures Restaurants owners performed internal research and hired a national branding firm to conduct a three-month survey of diners and customers in Burbank, Wilhelm said. The survey produced some negative feedback, with some customers complaining about the “fussiness” of a French restaurant and some relatively unhealthy menu selections, he said.
“The reality is that the menu items that were most popular were the most American,” Wilhelm said. “So I thought, I don’t want to be perceived that way in any of the markets.”
The result was a rebranding of French 75 to Savannah, a contemporary American restaurant with Southern regional dishes, like Chipotle-Honey Glazed Baby Back Ribs and a variety of grilled ribs, steaks and seafood.
“By and large the physical changes were fairly minor in terms of lighting and art,” he said. “And the menu changed somewhat, but not drastically . . . we really replaced the French items with American.”
Culinary Adventures already operates Savannah restaurants in Orange County, where the eatery has attracted a strong and loyal clientele, Wilhelm said. So far the change in Burbank seems to be sitting well with customers, judging by recent restaurant activity, manager Nathan Linsley said.
The restaurant’s signature menu items include Apple-wood smoked Prime Rib, Maple and Spice Glazed Salmon and Zinfandel Braised Short Ribs. There are also plans to bring back some form of nighttime entertainment, like the Bistro featured for a time, with jazz music on some nights of the week, Wilhelm said.
That met with both positive and negative reports from customers, he said.
“There were people that were disappointed when we discontinued those things,” he said. “We are in the process of working to reintroduce it in some fashion . . . . We do think we might try something different than what we did before.”
For more information or for reservations, call (818) 955-5100.
