Shreveport’s Newest Secret Restaurant is ‘Tender Shack’

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Good news/weird news time: Shreveport is getting a new restaurant, but you won't ever be able to visit it.

Tender Shack has been testing their business for the last month in Tampa Bay, Florida and things have been going pretty good.  So good, in fact, that the fledgling restaurant chain is expanding with 12 new locations across the country.  It breaks down to 4 in Texas, 2 in Kansas, 1 each in Oklahoma & Missouri, and 4 in Louisiana - including one right here in Shreveport!

So, how is this restaurant going to make money with a non-existent dining room?  Delivery.  Sure, 3rd party delivery companies like Door Dash existed before the COVID-19 pandemic - but they have absolutely thrived since then.  As it turns out, when the bulk of the American population has been "asked" to stay in indoors - our affinity for dinner delivery goes through the roof.  That is where restaurants like Tender Shack come in.

Tender Shack is part of a secret underground scene only accessible by delivery.  The reason is simple:  It's actually Outback Steakhouse.  More specifically, the brand is owned and operated by Bloomin' Brands - the parent company of Outback and Carrabba’s Italian Grill.  You won't find them any where except outside of a 3rd party delivery service.  When you do order from Tender Shack, that food is made in the Outback kitchen - then placed in packaging that in no way references Outback Steakhouse.

This is the same thing that Just Wings (prepared in the kitchen of Chili's and Maggiano’s Little Italy), Neighborhood Wings (Applebee's), and Pasqually's Pizzas (Chuck E Cheese's) employ to maximize sales and take advantage of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) during the unpredictable times of the pandemic.