Brian Bogert and Manny LeClercq are the founding partners of The Social Order, a dining collective that includes locally owned concepts like The Jones Assembly and Spark, as well as locally owned franchises Fuzzy’s Taco Shop and Dave’s Hot Chicken. While good food is at the forefront of much of what The Social Order does, it is their commitment to ongoing evolution and innovation in hospitality that sets them apart.
“Our company ethos is to always innovate, evolve and think of new ways to offer hospitality, new menu items, entertainment, and general ways to engage on a more personal level with our guests,” Bogert said.
The innovation goes beyond guest experience, though, because no company can offer hospitality without a great team. Bogert said the team focus has helped with retention, which is critical in a staffing shortage. The Social Order offers hourly and full-time employees PTO and 401K, a move that has helped morale and growth.
“So often, employees in our industry must work longer or harder prior to vacation to save up enough money, and then are not compensated during their vacation time,” Bogert said. “Sadly, that is just the way our industry has worked for a long time, and we wanted to turn that upside down.”
Because of their commitment to innovation, the company “experienced total systemwide revenue growth of 46 percent in 2021 versus 2020 and 12 percent growth over pre-pandemic 2019,” according to Bogert, and year-to-date 2022 is trending toward 22 percent growth and $40 million in revenues system wide.
Dining Innovator of the Year Finalists: 84 Hospitality, OK Cider Co.
