Wings and Beer? Where are we Going?

By Eric Brinkley

The Plan

• I decided to do my ethnography on a comparison between two wing restaurants: Buffalo Wild Wings and Wild Wing Café.

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Reasons

• The main reason I chose to do a comparison on these two restaurants is because my friends and I always argue as to what restaurant we want to go to for a sports game.

• Our Favorite restaurants are Buffalo Wild Wings and Wild Wing Café.

• My Favorite thing to do when not attending a sporting event that I want to see is watch it while drinking beer and eating wings at a restaurant.

Goal

• The Main Goal of this ethnography was to decide which restaurant was better for each day of the week to watch a sporting event.

Picture of a Wild Wing Cafe

Picture of a Buffalo Wild WingsRainydaydiscounts.com

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How I Chose My Sites

• Buffalo Wild Wings and Wild Wing Café have multiple sites in the region of Columbia to chose from.

• I chose the two closest restaurants to my house which were the Wild Wing Café in the Vista and The Buffalo Wild Wings off of Garners Ferry Rd.

• It also made since to chose these restaurants, because they are both in the urban part of Columbia, so they are more comparable.

Methods to My Madness

• I chose a multitude of variables to measure and observe while I was in each of the restaurants.

• These variables were chosen for the purpose of achieving my goal.

• Each variable was graded on a scale of one to ten

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Methods Continued

• The Variables Included were: Average age, average group size, cleanliness, number of menu items, number of beers (draft and bottle), number of non-alcoholic drinks, taste of beer, taste of food, atmosphere, number of employees, number of TVs, price of beers, food presentation, happiness of customers, happiness of employees, amount of time waiting on food, promotions, extent of employee training, average age of employees, and number of wing flavors.

How I Fit in and Limitations

When I entered each of the restaurants I decided that I would go in as a customer. The variables I chose to observe/measure were easily attained simply by being a customer. Being a customer may have caused me to be treated differently, as apposed to someone doing research on a restaurant etc.

There were certain variables that I was not able to record, which would have enhanced the accuracy of my research. They included seeing the Kitchens of the restaurant, Talking with management, Amount of beers tasted, amount of food tasted, Time available to research the restaurants, and money.

How I Fit in Limitations

Buffalo Wild Wings Environment

As soon as I walked into the door of the restaurant My jaw dropped open. The number of TVs in this restaurant is almost overkill (keyword: almost). The amount of things to do and watch can keep you busy in this restaurant for hours on end. Everyone in the restaurant seemed to be enjoying themselves for the most part. The employees were pleasing and prompt.

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Variable RatingsVariables Amount/Rating Variables Cont. Rating

Average Customer Age 23/9 Cleanliness 9.5

Average Group Size 4/(N/A) Taste of beer 10

Number of Menu Items 73/9.5 Taste of food 10

Number of Beers 45/9.5 Atmosphere 10

Number of Drinks 15/8 Price of Beers 9.5

Number of TVs 35/10 Happiness of Customers 9.5

Time Waiting of Food 20/9 Happiness of Employees 9

Average Employee Age 22/9 Promotions 8.5

Number of Wing Flavors 20/8.5 Employee Training 9.5

Number of Employees 20/9 Food Presentation 7.5

Variables in the left column had a number to answer the question as well as a rating, while variables on the right only had a rating, because a number value was not needed.

Analysis on Important Variables

The most important variables were the number of beers, number of TVs, taste of beer, taste of food, atmosphere, and price of beers. There was a large selection of beers and every beer I tasted was tasted very good. The number of TVs was ridiculous and stood out most in the restaurant. The atmosphere was very nice largely due to the number of TVs. The wings that I had were delicious and the price of the beers were relatively cheap.

Alternate Observations

There was one thing that I observed in this restaurant that was not part of the variables that I predetermined. I noticed that there were certain TVs designated for Trivia. These you could answer the questions on the TV by asking your server or bartender to give you a remote control. There were local, regional, and national scoreboard rankings. Not all questions were sports based, so if someone didn’t care much for sports, they could just play trivia on the TV. I think that trivia made this restaurant enjoyable for all types of people.

BWW Overall Experience

The Buffalo Wild Wings experience was great. Almost all of the variables that I measured and Observed received high marks except for the service which still had a pretty high mark. The 35 televisions in the restaurant was spectacular, and it was impossible to not find the game you were trying to watch. The Wings were delicious and had plenty of sauce on them. The beers were at a great price and the glasses made the beer taste better than normal.

Wild Wing Café Environment• When I walked into Wild Wing

Café I was immediately greeted and noticed music playing. There was a large amount of sports paraphernalia all over the walls. The restaurant was very busy and somewhat loud due to all of the talking. The Server that I had took care of my friends and I very well. There were about 20 TVs in the restaurant.

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Variable RatingsVariables Amount/Rating Variables Cont. Rating

Average Customer Age 22/9 Cleanliness 9

Average Group Size 4.5/(N/A) Taste of beer 9.5

Number of Menu Items 78/10 Taste of food 8.5

Number of Beers 40/9 Atmosphere 9.5

Number of Drinks 18/8.5 Price of Beers 9.5

Number of TVs 20/8.5 Happiness of Customers 9.5

Time Waiting of Food 10/10 Happiness of Employees 9

Average Employee Age 22/9 Promotions 10

Number of Wing Flavors 35/9.5 Employee Training 9

Number of Employees 20/9 Food Presentation 9

Variables in the left column had a number to answer the question as well as a rating, while variables on the right only had a rating, because a number value was not needed.

Analysis on Important Variables

The most important variables were the number of beers, number of TVs, taste of beer, taste of food, atmosphere, and price of beers. Some of the beers that we had were warm, because the pint glasses had just come out of the dishwasher. The number of TVs was average, with most of the TVs being about 37 inches. The atmosphere was very cool, due to the music and all of the sports paraphernalia at the restaurant. The wings that I had did not have much flavor due to the lack of sauce on them. The beers were cheap compared to other restaurants.

Promotions

Wild Wing Café had a promotion for every day of the week and most of them were appealing. The promotions consisted of:Day of Week Promotion

Monday Trivia Night

Tuesday 2 dollar draft night; Buy 12 wings get 12 free with Student ID

Wednesday 2 dollar tacos and 3 dollar margaritas

Thursday 2 dollar vodka drinks and Coaches Call in Show

Friday Live Music; 3 dollar Firefly Sweetea Vodka

Weekend 3.25 Bud light stadium cups; 13 dollar bud light buckets

WWC Overall Experience

• The Wild Wing Café experience was very pleasurable. Almost every variable that I recorded received high marks except for the taste of food. The sports paraphernalia on the walls and music playing made the environment very relaxing. The service was excellent and are food was promptly brought to my table. The hot beer glasses put brought my friends and I down a little bit, but overall we enjoyed our visit.

Final ComparisonBuffalo Wild Wings Wild Wing Café

Wing Taste Winner Loser

Beer Taste Winner Loser

Beer Cheapness (overall) Tie Tie

Number of TVs Winner Loser

Overall Service Loser Winner

Overall Atmosphere Tie Tie

Tuesday Special Loser Winner

Any other day Winner Loser

Overall Winner Loser