6th
The Sticky Sandwich
I wanted to take a short break from writing my technoculture book to share this fascinating story about HRD Coffee, a family-owned diner located across the street from the WIRED office.
In the past year this eatery has gone from a shoddy squat-and-gobble to a lively neighborhood staple. Also noteworthy — for years, the diner had an average 2-star rating on Yelp. In the past eight or nine months, its rating has shot up to an impressive 4-star average with over 100 reviews.
Yes, the restaurant did get new owners, which is the simple explanation for the positive change. But for the most part, the menu and the restaurant employees have remained the same. So a more important question is, how did the new owners do it?
From my observations, it all started with a new sandwich that the restaurant highlighted as a signature item: the Mongolian Cheesesteak. It’s exactly what it sounds like, and it’s both delicious and cheap ($6).
This is what Malcolm Gladwell would call the “sticky factor” in his book The Tipping Point. The Mongolian Cheesesteak is the unique menu item (fusing two foods widely loved by Americans) that gets people remembering and raving about this place to their friends. Looking at HRD’s Yelp reviews, you’ll see enthusiastic mentions of that sandwich in almost every other review for the past year. Word-of-mouth recommendations both in the real world and cyberspace culminated into a social epidemic that dramatically altered the respectability and perception of this diner.
Along with the cheesesteak, HRD made a few more interesting additions to the menu: a Sloppy JoJo (Korean pork with a hamburger bun), a Korean BBQ pork burrito and other fusion offerings. But it was really the Mongolian Cheesesteak that drove momentum for HRD before it tipped.
It’s funny. I used to mildly despise this restaurant and only eat there when I was desperate and short on cash, and the workers were always almost too thrilled to see me because they had so few patrons. Because of the cheesesteak, HRD’s become one of my favorites near the office, and the same employees are busier (and more exhausted) than ever because they are always overflowing with customers.
Just a few days ago, HRD made some renovations to its sign, too, covering its once-drab painted walls with a neon-colored banner displaying a nice clean font. That was a big step to change perceptions of the restaurant, but the Mongolian Cheesesteak came first.
That’s one hell of a sandwich.
