Our company's latest project, Doc Brundy's Delectable Diversions, opened in early July. Located in Spanish Fork, just south of Provo, Utah, it sits in the heart of Mormon country.
Our involvement with the project started back in April 2016 when our CEO, Randy White, visited our client, Derrick, aka Doc Brundy, to check out the feasibility of developing an eatertainment facility in the two adjoining buildings he owned on Main Street. Derrick was the owner of hundreds of working vintage retro games and pinball machines and of course, wanted to incorporate them into the project. He was also Celiac, so wanted to offer gluten-free food.
Our first thought was to develop the building's 16,100 square feet as an arcade bar. But that won't work as Mormon's don't drink alcohol. So, we took the same approach we've taken in our international projects with cultures that have different values and customs and adapted the arcade bar concept to fit the Mormon culture. We developed a variation on the classic arcade bar, an arcade soda fountain that also included a scratch-food restaurant combined with duckpin bowling, three party rooms and a larger group meeting room.
Derrick came up with a great backstory for the project, its imaginary owner Doc Brundy and its delectable diversions description:
A renowned peddler of restoratives and cure-alls, “Doc” Brundy wandered the West, never staying in one place “lest the locals grow an unhealthy dependence upon my miraculous wares”.
Arriving in Utah his success foundered, and he was later said to be “sleeping comfortably and wholly voluntarily” in an alley in downtown Salt Lake City when Brigham Young [2nd president of The Church of Latter-day Saints and founder of Salt Lake City] passed by. Brigham stopped, proclaimed, “Eight hours work, eight hours sleep, and eight hours recreation,” then walked on. Doc bolted upright, cried “Eureka!”, and immediately founded this establishment.
Some say Doc wanders the West spreading his vision of Brigham's counsel to this day. We like to think so.
“Doc's” Orders:
- Source the best quality, local products when possible
- Make it all fresh from scratch in-house
- Take care of folks
- Never tell a woman she'd make an excellent “second wife”
It was a fun and rewarding project to work on as we were able to combine our client's creativity with our creativity and expertise on designing, producing and starting up different community leisure projects; in this case, a hybrid of an arcade bar and eatertainment facility sans alcohol, coffee and tea.
Like all our current eatertainment community leisure venue projects, food and beverage will be the majority of revenues at Doc Brundy's. We worked with our executive chef team to develop a very approachable menu that will work for both the sit-down restaurant area as well as for the bowling. The totally scratch-made menu includes such selections as Hog Wings, Bison Quinoa Meatballs, Signature Sunflour Crust Pizzas, “Not Your” Funeral Potato Soup (funeral potato soup is a classic Mormon dish). Turkey Bahn Mi Sandwich, Blended Bison Burgers, Chicken & Waffles and classics such a Chicken Tenders, Salmon Caesar Salad and Pan-Seared Sirloin Steak. The most expensive item on the menu is the steak at $19. And to fulfill Doc's wishes, absolutely everything on the menu is available gluten-free at no extra charge. In fact, we developed recipes for most items so they were inherently gluten-free. And to be further allergy-friendly, the entire facility is peanut-free.
Hog Wings | Chick and Waffle | Buffalo Cauliflower Wings |
Our client did some focus groups and research with local women to see what they would like. Surprisingly, they said they would like to have mocktails, branded at Doc Brundy's as “Doc”tails. They've been a great hit.
Doc Brundy's “Doc”tails, non-alcoholic drinks, from right to left – Strawberry Maiden Mule, Hibiscus Squeeze, Lavender Lemonade & Lime “Hello” Jello.
If you're going to have a soda fountain, you need to do it right. Doc Brundy's makes its own homemade ice cream. This allowed us to create the Cookie “Dough” Monster Sandwich with home-made blue cookie dough ice cream between two fresh backed chocolate chip cookies. The dessert menu also features a Hot Fudge Saturday since Mormon's don't work on Sundays, (Doc Brundy's is closed then). Of course, you can also purchase ice cream elixirs (some call them shakes) and ice cream sodas.
Oh, and all the sodas are 100% natural, non-GMO, gluten-free and vegan including unusual flavors such as Breckenridge Blueberry, Elderberry, Grand Mesa Grape and Pikes Peak Prickly Pear . There's no Coke or Pepsi. And yes, there's also no coffee or tea as that is not something Mormons drink.
Doc Brundy's Delectable Diversions is getting great customer reviews. You can check it out on their website www.docbrundys.com.