The 'rosé-all-day' themed restaurant is using AI to boost engagement and sales.
The Hampton Social, a coastal-inspired restaurant and bar known for its "rosé all day" theme, is bringing back its popular National Rosé Month festivities—but with an AI-twist. The restaurant, with locations in Illinois, Florida, and Tennessee, will feature 30 Days of Rosé programming during June, including pink-themed happy hours.
In 2021, The Hampton Social’s beverage director Greg Innocent introduced a National Rosé Hotline available throughout June, where rosé lovers and curious sippers could call up the hotline to ask any questions they had like "what food pairs best with rosé?" and "is there a difference between light and dark rosé"?
"The Rosé Hotline has been so fun. We received a lot of great national attention and some really hilarious calls from consumers about rosé," Innocent says. "We also received some truly great questions from guests wanting to learn more about Rosé."
But this year, Innocent is upping the ante to boost the guest experience and engagement.
The Hampton Social launched a new ChatGPT-inspired botline, allowing customers to get real-time answers to their rosé-related questions. Prompted by Innocent and his team of bartending pros at The Hampton Social, the digital bot-line—or virtual sommelier, if you will—uses information shared by real human bartenders and generates responses to any rosé-related questions.
"We thought with all of the noise and interest around ChatGPT, we'd expand on it this year and go AI. But truthfully, this is a fun way for us to test out the larger guest experience approach with technology for the restaurant industry," says Innocent. The restaurant worked with a third-party app and its web development team to build the bot.
When asked how long the idea for going from hotline to botline has been in the works, Innocent says "Honestly, it was a quick idea this year. We are really strategizing on AI and how we can incorporate it into our business model to streamline the guest experience and enhance our greater hospitality levels, while still maintaining that invaluable human element."
Whether or not the bot-line boosts traffic or engagement levels remains to be seen, but Innocent is optimistic. "We are launching now, so we'll be able to track results at the end of Rosé Month (end of June)."
The restaurant has always embraced rosé, with its Hampton Frosé and rotating Rosé of the Day menu being popular choices since the eatery's inception in 2015. This year, the restaurant is launching its own proprietary private label rosé, H Rosé—which will become the new rosé of the day—plus a specialty Rosé-focused cocktail menu and a weekday pink-themed happy hour featuring discounts on H Rosé and signature pizzas.
Innocent joined the team as a part-time bartender following stints at Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants, Virgin Hotel, Rockit Ranch Production, and Starwood hotels (now Marriott) in various leadership roles.
"As we keep growing as a brand, my hope is to continue to find shining stars who can keep the craft of bartending strong," Innocent adds. "In the near future, we will release a first-of-its-kind all bartender menu, which will be a collaborative effort from all of our regions, and a cocktail book of our best cocktails that our loyal consumers can enjoy at home."
Chicago-based Parker Hospitality owns The Hampton Social, which is a coastal-inspired concept rooted in the Hamptons lifestyle. The 'rosé-all-day' themed restaurant has nine locations in the U.S.: two in Chicago (River North and Streeterville); Burr Ridge, Illinois; Skokie, Illinois; South Barrington, Illinois; Nashville, Tennessee; Naples, Florida; Orlando, Florida; and Delray Beach, Florida. Stores in Miami, Atlanta, and Denver are in construction.
