When SLM first broke the news that St. Louis would be home to Twisted Ranch, a theme restaurant where every menu item contained ranch dressing, it received national attention. The reactions ranged from “You can’t be serious” to “Why didn’t I think of that?” Naysayers gave it six months before the novelty wore off.
Salads, flatbreads, sandwiches, wraps, burgers, and entrées were enhanced by “America’s favorite dressing” in some way. The most popular item on the menu: the basket of hand-cut ranch seasoned fries, served lazy susan-style, flanked by ramekins of 13 ranch flavors (out of 27 total).
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Almost two years later, “business had been growing steadily,” says co-owner Jim Hayden—until last week, when a 1-minute Buzzfeed video went viral.
“Someone in their California office heard about us and said they’d like to do a video, which they did three weeks ago,” Hayden says. “We weren’t told if or when it might air.”
BuzzFeed published the video at 5 p.m. on March 22, and the effects were felt almost immediately, as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported earlier.
“The following day, we were busy, and then all hell broke loose. Wait time increased to three hours,” Hayden says. “On Saturday, the wait was two hours right after the doors opened. People had seen the video and for some reason thought Twisted Ranch was a big restaurant. It isn’t. We seat 45.”
As social media flexed its muscles, the floodgates opened wider. (At press time, the video had 20 million views, 273,000 shares, and received 136,000 comments—7,000 in the time it took to write this article.)
“I’ve been interviewed by out-of-town TV stations, radio stations, and received more than a dozen inquiries from potential franchisees,” says Hayden. “We’re seeing people from all over the metro and the Midwest, folks who swear they made the pilgrimage just to come to the restaurant. I tell them I’m flattered, of course, but that won’t help them get a table any quicker.”
As to future plans, Hayden says there’s no room to expand the flagship, but additional locations are being considered.
Planning a visit to the restaurant? As Twisted Ranch’s website suggests, you might call ahead to check on the wait.
