HOSPITALITY h Entertainment Group ‘Taste of Six Flags’ Six Flags Entertainment Group complements its thrilling attractions with picture-perfect dining options. By Janice Hoppe-Spiers company profile Six Flags Entertainment Group www.sixflags.com Revenue: $1.3 billion Headquarters: Grand Prairie, Texas David McKillips, senior vice presi- dent of in-park services: “Our goal is to deliver great service and bring value, variety and a delicious meal to our guests on each visit.”

nities for our brand to expand on the worldwide stage is very exciting.”

Beyond the Ride Although visitors come for the roll- er coasters, going to Six Flags is all about having an entire theme park ex- perience, which includes dining and shopping. “We try to complement our guests’ experiences with great food and other forms of entertainment in- side our parks,” McKillips says. “Our goal is to deliver great service and bring value, variety and a delicious meal to our guests on each visit.” Burgers, pizza and chicken wings

>> David McKillips, senior vice president of in-park services, says a delicious meal complements the entire Six Flags experience. are food people expect at a theme park, but Six Flags guests are also ix Flags Entertainment Group a tremendous value platform to attract demanding more variety, indulgent is the largest regional theme season pass members who can now snacks and even unique drinks they park company in the world visit each season throughout the year.” can enjoy during their visit. At Six with 18 parks that drew a re- The Grand Prairie, Texas-based Flags Great America located near Scord 30 million visitors last year. “Our company’s parks are located through- Chicago, the company meets the success has been a direct result of a out the United States, along with a needs of its guests with a variety strategy that provides each park with park in Mexico, one in Montreal, Can- of dining options, including a new “new news” each and every year, ada, and now the brand is looking to concept launched in 2016 – Strut- whether that be a themed attraction, broaden its reach globally. ters. “This is a hand-breaded, fresh- record-breaking , pa- “We have announced several dipped chicken restaurant,” McKil- rade or special event,” Senior Vice properties that are being developed lips says. “We bread and batter each President of In-Park Services David throughout mainland China and also chicken strip by hand and build the McKillips says. “This strategy gives us in the Dubai Parks and Resorts com- chicken sandwich right in front of something to talk about each year and plex,” McKillips notes. “The opportu- you. It’s a fantastic presentation and

34 food & drink international • spring 2017 volume 2 • www.fooddrink-magazine.com Six Flags Entertainment Group

we pair your entrée with a craft beer Sports Bar is the place to go and in- Six Flags sells more than 1.5 million choice as well. This concept is on the dulge. In most parks, “BBQ brisket, turkey legs per year and more than mark with the growing trend of fresh pulled pork and smoked sausage, 1.3 million funnel cakes. “Our world chicken restaurants across the nation.” topped with a tangy barbecue sauce famous funnel cakes feature a propri- Over the past several years, Six Flags and Texas toast are featured on the etary recipe mix and have more than has been developing its own restaurant menu,” McKillips describes. “However, 25 different topping flavors throughout brands to continue meeting the needs we customize the menu depending on the year,” McKillips notes. “A couple of of its guests. The company’s Go Fresh regional preferences. For instance in guest-favorite flavors include s’mores, Café is a better-for-you location that Southern California at Six Flags Mag- maple bacon walnut, tres leches and offers healthy alternatives to tradition- ic Mountain, the park features freshly red velvet. We also featured several al theme park fare. “We do extensive smoked tri-tip barbecue and ribs. At ‘Limited Time Only’ offerings with our research to determine what offerings any of our JB’s locations, our guests can brand partners, including an M&M and are important to our guests,” McKillips get their barbecue fix.” Snickers-topped funnel cake.” notes. “A day at Six Flags will certainly Six Flags also launched a new con- include our famous funnel cakes or oth- cept focused on Asian cuisine, Chop Belmont Sausage Company is a family-owned meat er indulgent snacks, but our guests may Six. The restaurant features orange processing company located near Chicago. Walter Mulica, the founder and CEO, has deep roots in pro- want a better-for-you lunch option as chicken, beef and broccoli, as well as duction, quality and innovative product development well. We feature a healthy grilled chick- bubble tea and salted caramel Asian with 30-plus years of experience. In addition to the fully-cooked and perfectly sized smoked turkey drums en and apple salad, veggie and turkey donuts. “We also feature customized that we supply Six Flags, we produce a full line of deli meats, sausages and unique canned meat specialties. burgers and turkey flatbreads.” menu items, such a wonton tacos, which Our products are distributed throughout the US and are For meat lovers, JB’s Barbeque & are a guest favorite,” McKillips adds. approved for export as well.

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Testing the Market The Six Flags culinary team works out of the company’s test kitchen in Texas to develop restaurant brands and limited time offers. “We are always testing different recipes and are constantly looking at trends in the casual dining and fast food categories,” McKillips says. “We have a strategic partnership with Coca-Cola and they help us identify guest preferences in the beverage category.” The company’s most unique LTO’s include chicken strips in a waffle cone drizzled with maple syrup, pork rind nachos, fresh churros, “Scare-Acha” boneless wings served at Six Flags’ Fright Fest Halloween event, and fried everything, including pickles, bananas and Oreos at WTF – What The Fried! “These LTO’s are fun, some indulgent and some are simply outrageous. We want our guests to have fun and try new things as they walk around the park with and enjoy,” McKillips adds. This year, Six Flags is hosting a Mardi Gras celebration at Six Flags Fiesta in San Antonio and Six Flags Mexico in Mexico City. The menu will include Cajun popcorn chicken po’boys, boudin balls, popcorn crawfish in a cone and Cajun popcorn shrimp in a cone, gumbo in a bread bowl, muffulet- tas with voodoo chips and jambalaya. Desserts include beig- nets, fried king cake and guests can wash it all down with a Southern Hurricane and Peachy SoCo Iced Tea. Six Flags’ culinary team did extensive research in New Orleans, studying recipes and consulting with Cajun chefs to develop menu offerings that will surely be authentic to the Mardi Gras experience. Beverages are also a major focus at Six Flags parks, which

>> Beverages are a major focus at the parks, including custom cocktails and craft beer.

36 food & drink international • spring 2017 volume 2 • www.fooddrink-magazine.com Six Flags Entertainment Group

feature everything from custom cocktails to craft beers. Six have more than 12,000 employees in our in-park services Flags is planning to debut its first-ever craft soda kiosk, in team and many are seasonal and working in a kitchen envi- partnership with Coca-Cola, at its Six Flags Discovery King- ronment for the first time, so they need to know a consistent dom park in Vallejo, Calif. training tool to manage portion size, how to build an entrée The company also recently announced a new multi-year and how it should look for our guests.” agreement with The ICEE Company. In addition to cold Last season, Six Flags launched the “Tastes of Six Flags,” beverages, Six Flags also partnered with Just Born Candy’s platform, which invited guests into its kitchens to see its Peeps® brand to develop a custom hot chocolate program scratch-made, unique and sometimes outrageous offerings during Fright Fest and . Each cup is that are featured at the theme parks. The ‘Taste’ segments served with a ghost or snowman-shaped Peep® during the were featured on the Six Flags website as well as promot- respective special event season. ed through vignettes on its in-park TV Network, Six Flags This spring, Six Flags Over near will open TV. “We received great feedback from our guests about the a new candy store experience – Coaster Candy. “This will campaign and plan to roll-out another set of content this sea- be Six Flags’ most spectacular candy shop, combining the son,” McKillips says. ‘theater’ of making homemade treats in front of our guests Six Flags will continue to create concepts that drive value while also featuring the most popular brands that our guests’ and variety, as well as revenue. “We are trying to elevate our desire,” McKillips says. total culinary offering, striving for operational excellence, “The Coaster Candy shop will offer more than 20 differ- great tasting snacks, entrees, and beverages all while keep- ent flavors of homemade fudge, caramel and candy apples, ing our lines moving so our guests can enjoy their day at Six brittle, bark and our own line of candy under the Coaster Flags,” McKillips says. “And the best and tastiest days are Candy brand,” he adds. “It will be the perfect complement to still to come!” our fantastic relationships with our partners like M&M’s and all of Mars Chocolate Brands, Just Born’s Peeps, Mike & Ike, Hot Tamales brands. We are super excited and think this is going to be something very special for our guests.”

Quality Service Six Flags provides consistent training from park to park and continues to implement efficiencies to serve customers fast- er. “Theme park guests are accustomed to waiting in lines for rides, so we don’t want them to experience a long wait for our restaurants too,” McKillips says. “We are constant- ly looking at efficiencies – from reviewing kitchen design layouts to simplifying our menus to help guests make easier menu decisions. This summer, we will be testing self-service ordering kiosks and in-app ordering.” Moving to mobile ordering is no small task for this big operator; for guests to order from the Six Flags App, the team has to consider the operational flow of its restaurants because it will need pick-up windows. “Not every restaurant was built with that in mind, so we need to look at each location and how we can service the meals to our guests in the most efficient manner, but we are adapting,” McKillips adds. Six Flags’ ‘Picture Perfect’ program helps its culinary staff members deliver the perfect menu item every time. “We pro- vide pictures of our menu items and place them in our kitch- ens so employees know what a custom burger, for example, looks like when building them,” McKillips explains. “We

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