Heart Attack Shack owner Brian Tipps, right, speaks with Esther Helton and Buddy Strickland during the first days of the popular restaurant’s opening in East Ridge.
Brian, let’s begin by having you share something interesting about the Heart Attack Shack story?
I guess I would say the story is still being written as the customer base grows. To my knowledge the furthest away someone lives that has eaten with us is from New York. These guys were in Tennessee for something in Knoxville but traveled on down to eat here. I would add that it is interesting that we have such a diverse variety of customers. You are just as likely to see a young family with children walk in to eat as you are a group of college students, workmen on their lunch break, or a retired couple. I am so proud that we have developed a food concept where Millennials and Baby Boomers alike enjoy our food!
What are your plans for the future?
As we keep building our brand, we are looking for the right place where we can add another location somewhere in Chattanooga that has approximately 3 times the seating capacity of our original location.here in East Ridge. We have also kicked around the idea of opening for breakfast and serving food items like omelets, coffee, and donuts, including bacon-wrapped donuts.
Some people have asked, “Why are you not open on Sundays?”
We buy into the philosophy that it’s good to have a day off. While we are serving the community, it is also people in the community we are hiring and we think it’s good and healthy to give our managers and team members a day where they don’t have to think about work but can focus their time and energy on the most important things in life – faith and family.
There’s been some confusion regarding your burgers. Can you clarify what kind of meat is used for Heart Attack Shack burgers?
I would love to clarify this for the community because it irritates our managers and myself whenever we see a review on Google or Yelp that misrepresents the facts. Heart Attack Shack serves fresh, hand-pattied, never frozen burgers.
What is your favorite burger?
My favorite burger at the Shack is the half-pound with cheddar cheese, fried egg, and bacon. We also offer a quarter-pound size and full one-pound burgers for those with an extra appetite!
Can you update us on the status of the lawsuit filed against you?
Without getting into any details, I can confidently state that Heart Attack Shack is compliant with all laws and is eager to have our day in court. Due to being in the middle of the legal process I cannot comment further, but Heart Attack Shack has great legal representation with Casey Long as our lawyer and this matter is going to be resolved soon.
Describe the greatest challenges you have as a business.
I imagine that our greatest challenges are not unique to us. The restaurant industry is tough. We are a new brand trying to build our brand and earn the loyalty of our customers at a time when established brands are struggling to varying degrees. I recently read where Applebee’s is closing around 100 of their locations this year. One of the challenges is understanding you are not going to meet everyone’s expectations with the services you offer. As a business owner, one has to make hundreds of decisions regarding every aspect of the business. Various factors influence each one and it is impossible to create a final product that will appeal to everyone. The most frustrating part is human error, because even with fresh ingredients and a trained team of experienced cooks, occasionally a burger will get overcooked.
Characterize the biggest opportunities you have as a newer restaurant.
Ultimately people are looking for a good experience. Foremost, they want the food to taste great. While our burgers and wings are our top sellers, we recently had a day where our Philly Cheese Steak was number one for that day because it is another great tasting option. All our menu items taste good so as more people hear about and try us our opportunity to provide them a five-star experience and earn their loyalty to return in the future is our goal. But we also live in the emerging digital age where social media and sharing experiences is part of our weekly routine, so this provides us with a neat opportunity because we are a unique restaurant with a catchy name and people want to post pictures of their dining experience at Heart Attack Shack to share with their friends, family, and other followers. We mostly post pictures of those who try the Heart Attack Challenge of two full pound burgers and a large order of heart attack fries, but we find a lot of people posting their own pictures of their order along with commentary of how delicious it tastes.
Is there anything that customers don’t know about Heart Attack Shack that you think they would value learning?
First, I would say that a lot of our customers probably do not realize that we give back to the community. So far we have supported teachers in the local school system, youth-related activities and youth sports teams in the community, and are proud sponsors of H3 Ministries that serves and feeds the homeless. Second, I think that while our customers definitely like our food, some don’t realize how special some of our recipes are, like our in-house chili, which has won three different awards. A third thing I think they would value learning if they don’t already know it, is that we do listen to and appreciate their input. While we don’t always make a change based on a comment or message, we always listen to what people have to say and have made several modifications and improvements to our operations because of their feedback.
