Bringing the Sizzle Back

After a series of unfortunate events that almost drove them out of the restaurant business, Sizzler’s is trying to make a comeback, Michael Hiltzik reports in his column in the Los Angeles Times.
One of the strategic missteps that preceded Sizzler’s bankruptcy in the 90’s was the evolution of the salad bar into an all-you-can-eat buffet, where “quantity” surpassed “quality”.
Now Sizzler’s is adapting itself to today’s market, aiming at consumers that have good memories of its restaurants of yesteryear, but offering a redesigned restaurants, menus and service.
Here’s an interesting passage that shows how consumer perceptions work:

When the company brightened the color scheme and decor of a prototype restaurant outside Sacramento, visitors remarked on the sudden improvement in the food, which actually had been upgraded the year before.