When CEO David McDougall asked his store managers what one thing could be done immediately to help turn around the struggling Back Yard Burgers restaurant chain, one came back with a quick: “Just bring back the seasoned fries.”
The previous management had done away with the popular item, and it was such an egregious error that many regular customers stopped coming in, said McDougall, who took the helm in early 2013 as the Nashville-based company was emerging from bankruptcy reorganization.
McDougall knew it would take more than reintroducing one menu item to get the burger chain back on track, but it was a place to start.
