One Club, Many Dining Occasions

How a Strategic Refresher Can Define the Right Dining Experiences, and Guide the Facility Master Plan

A recent Strategic Refresher session that we conducted at a prominent country club produced a revealing discussion about dining. The club offers formal dining, a casual dining room, an adult-only bar, and poolside dining—so on paper, it appears to provide several choices. 

In practice, however, members coming directly from pickleball, the athletic field or other recreational activities do not feel comfortable entering the clubhouse’s casual dining room in athletic attire. Although it is called “casual,” the room still has tablecloths and retains the atmosphere of a traditional clubhouse restaurant.

Because of this, these members head instead to the poolside grill. As a result, the Pool Grill serves not only swimmers and families, but also members arriving from recreational activities throughout the campus. At peak times, the venue gets slammed. The problem is compounded by a menu that has become too complicated for a kitchen intended to provide speed and convenience. Orders accumulate, ticket times grow, staff become overwhelmed and member satisfaction suffers.

At first glance, the club appears to have a Pool Grill problem. But our Strategic Refresher with this club revealed that the crowded venue and long ticket times were symptoms of a much broader issue.

Different Occasions Require Different Experiences

Today’s club members do not want one dining experience. They want choices that correspond with how they are dressed, who they are with, how much time they have and what they want from that particular visit. 

For many clubs, this means providing four distinct dining experiences. These are not four versions of the same restaurant: Each requires a clearly defined audience, atmosphere, menu, service model and operational plan.

Recreation dining should be fast, informal, and welcoming to members coming directly from the pool, courts, golf course or athletic field. The menu does not need to be extensive. Burgers, sandwiches, wraps, simple salads, children’s selections and beverages can be fresh and appealing while remaining manageable for the kitchen. The venue’s promise should be quality, consistency and dependable ticket times.

Everyday casual dining should offer comfortable indoor and outdoor seating with a broader menu supported by the main kitchen. More importantly, it must feel genuinely casual, as reflected by how its furniture, finishes, entrances and service standards communicate expectations. If members in recreational attire feel they do not belong, the room is not functioning as casual dining—regardless of what the club calls it.

Adult-only social dining fulfills another need. An adult-oriented bar and dining area provides a place for drinks, conversation, shared appetizers and dinner away from the activity of family recreation areas. This does not diminish the club’s commitment to families; it gives adults another reason to remain at the club and provides a natural setting for informal social interaction.

Formal and special-occasion dining can continue to support traditions, celebrations and elevated culinary experiences. Formality still has a place when it is intentional, rather than the default experience throughout the clubhouse.

The Value of the Strategic Refresher

The dining discussion demonstrates why club Boards should establish strategic direction before beginning architectural design. Had the leadership of the club described at the start of this article focused only on utilization numbers and complaints, it might have concluded that its Pool Grill simply needed a larger kitchen, more equipment or additional staff. Our Strategic Refresher session allowed the Board and General Manager to step back and ask why the venue was experiencing so much demand.

Through this discussion, it became clear that members were voting with their feet. They were choosing the Pool Grill partly because another dining area did not feel appropriate for the occasion. The conversation reframed the question from “How do we fix the Pool Grill?” to “What combination of dining experiences should the Club provide to meet members’ different needs?”

That is the appropriate role of the Board and GM during a Strategic Refresher. The Board helps to define the desired member experience and establish long-term priorities. The GM contributes operating knowledge, including utilization, ticket times, menu complexity, staffing requirements, kitchen capacity and member traffic patterns.

The initial direction can then be validated through focus groups, surveys and concept testing. Members can help to clarify what casual dining means to them, how they want to use each venue, and which improvements are important enough to support financially.

From Strategic Direction to the Master Plan

Once a club defines the experiences it intends to provide, the Facility Master Plan can determine how to deliver them. The planning team can evaluate whether the Pool Grill kitchen needs expansion or simply a more focused menu and efficient configuration. It can explore how the casual dining room might become more welcoming, how indoor and outdoor areas should connect, where adult bar dining belongs and how the main kitchen can support multiple venues.

The Master Plan must also address seating capacity, entrances, circulation, service stations and the movement of food, staff, dishes and waste. Probable costs, phasing and funding should be considered before the club advances into detailed design.

The distinction is important: The Strategic Refresher defines the dining experiences the club needs. The Facility Master Plan determines the spaces and systems required to deliver them.

Members will always vote with their feet—and with their dining dollars. The most successful clubs pay attention not only to where members are going, but also to why they are going there—and what may be pushing them away from somewhere else. A Strategic Refresher uncovers those underlying behaviors before the club invests in the wrong solution, while the Facility Master Plan translates that insight into the right combination of venues, kitchens and experiences. 

When every dining venue has a clear purpose and every member can find an experience that fits the moment, dining becomes more than a club amenity. It becomes one of the most powerful ways the club brings members together, strengthens their connection and becomes an indispensable part of their lives.