For decades, Racks has been known for one thing—its fall-off-the-bone ribs and signature barbecue sauce. But while other restaurants constantly rebrand and revamp their menus, Racks took a different approach: keeping its classics intact.
“You know what RACKS stands for? ‘Real American Country Kitchen Style,’” says Leo “Chukri” Prieto III, CEO of Racks. “Up to this day, we try to follow that theme when it comes to building and designing the store, creating menus, and products.”
The key to Racks’ longevity? Consistency. While the restaurant has introduced hundreds of menu items over the years, Prieto says they never touched the essentials—the dishes customers loved from the start.
“The most important thing is we made sure to keep the originals and to keep the quality of the originals,” he says. “The ribs, the fried chicken, and the sauce—everybody was dying for that back then. They would say, ‘Oh, I missed this.’”
But that doesn’t mean Racks hasn’t evolved. Alongside its signature ribs, the brand has added new menu innovations that have also become fan favorites.
“We developed great products. We have a really good signature clam chowder soup. We have this thing called the onion brick—it’s like a big loaf of onions, like onion rings, but huge. And, again, our fried chicken is so good.”
Beyond the food, Racks leans into nostalgia to keep customers connected to the brand.
“Everybody remembers Racks. They remember eating there so well, so we didn’t want to change that,” Prieto explains. “By not changing the logo, that gave the customer a connection to the past.”
For Prieto, brand loyalty is built on trust—and for Racks, that means keeping the food just as customers remember it while still offering something new.
“Even up to now, people say, ‘The last time I ate in Racks was in the ‘90s!’ Well, we have a lot of new stuff in store for those people who still dream about the nostalgia of the brand.”
This article includes quotes from an interview originally published by Esquire Philippines, authored by Henry Ong.
