Pub Food in Focus: Head to Head

Head to Head: Revolution vs Slug and Lettuce

Both Slug and Lettuce, owned by Bay Restaurant Group, and Inventive Leisure's vodka bar brand Revolution, compete in the busy high street market. Drinks-led at key trading times, the menus have a double job to do - driving customer traffic at quicker times and encouraging increased customer spend during peak times. Horizons compared the two brands' 2009 menus.

Average price

Revolution (57 outlets): starter £4.13, main course £7.39, dessert £3.59

Slug & Lettuce (82 outlets): starter £4.58, main course £9.19, dessert £4.33

Slug and Lettuce has a higher menu price across the board, higher by 45p cash and 10.9 per cent on starters, £1.80 and 24.4 per cent on mains, and by 83p and 23.7 per cent on desserts.

Pricing Architecture: The average course prices show Slug and Lettuce's offer is more expensive by between 11 and 24 per cent, but only once Revolution's expensive antipasto shared starter platter is taken out of the equation.

Range Analysis - Volume: Slug and Lettuce has a considerably larger menu, with 93 items, than Revolution's 49. Slug's higher numbers are partially accounted for by both breakfast and children's menus, neither of which Revolution offers. The like-for-like range comes in at 79 dishes for Slug and 49 for Revolution.
Range Analysis - Dish Type: Both menus cover some similar ground in terms of burgers, pasta and salads. Slug opts for more traditional hearty cuisine such as lasagnes, risotto, pies, and lamb shank, while Revolution has some more adventurous dishes such as saltimbocca, sausage casserole, and sea bass, as well as spaghetti bolognaise and pizzas.

Food ethnicity: Both menus are based largely on English dishes such as salads, sausage and mash, and fish pie, along with burgers and Italian favourites lasagne and pasta. Revolution's menu is very heavily Italian themed with flags peppering the menu, red/white/green colours predominating and a special Italian meal deal.