2019 Fast Casual

2019 fast casual DEVELOPED & PUBLISHED BY: SPONSORED BY: Executive Summary The fast casual industry is known for innovating everything from menus and the customer experience to decor and ambiance. The rest of the restaurant industry looks to fast casuals to see the latest and greatest, and those unique innovations often come from smaller, emerging brands. In no particular numerical order, this report reveals 20 of the Tom Harper CEO year’s most newsworthy fast casual concepts and discusses [email protected] why they not only have the potential to emerge as industry Cherryh Cansler VP of Editorial Kathy Doyle leaders but also how their ideas and offerings are disrupting Networld Media Group President the entire restaurant and retail segments. [email protected] This is by no means an exhaustive list as we know there are new and exciting concepts Cherryh Cansler Vice President of Editorial popping up all the time. What it is, however, is a compilation of several up-and-coming [email protected] brands that caught our attention over the past year. Although each brand on the list is Brittany Warren unique, they share one commonality — innovation — whether it comes in the form of a Custom content editor hybrid service model, outlandish menu offering or a funky atmosphere. [email protected] Congratulations to the 2019 Brands to Watch. We look forward to witnessing your Paige Hobbs Custom content coordinator growth and success. [email protected] Cheers, Katy Schamberger Contributing writer Cherryh Cansler VP of Editorial, Networld Media Group The 2019 Fast Casual Brands to Watch. ©2019 Networld Media Group LLC. 13100 East Point Park Blvd., Louisville, KY 40223. ABOUT OUR SPONSOR: (502) 241-7545. All rights reserved. No part of Heritage Parts is North America’s leading distributor of 100% Genuine OEM this publication may be reproduced without the express written approval of the publisher. replacement parts for commercial kitchen equipment. By providing industry Viewpoints of the columnists and editors are best customer care, innovative online tools including the Heritage mobile app, their own and do not necessarily represent the we help restaurants keep cooking, refrigeration and warewashing equipment viewpoints of the publisher. working at its best. 2019 fast casual 20 2 SkinnyFats Las Vegas, Nevada www.SkinnyFats.com Sometimes you want to eat healthy. Other times, well, not so much. Whatever your cravings, Las Vegas-based SkinnyFats has you covered. The extensive menu, which includes all- day breakfast, tacos and “things in bowls,” is split into two sections. Each dish has a version on “the healthy side,” which is 600 calories or less, as well as a counterpart on “the happy side,” which is all about indulgence. This dual approach to flavorful food is one of the primary reasons that SkinnyFats, founded in 2013, is finishing 2018 with a bang. Notable highlights include: • A completed expansion of SkinnyFats’s original location (from 1,800 to about 4,500 square feet), including a new commissary kitchen and some much-needed seating. “We went from 33 to 85 seats and immediately put them all to use,” Slobusky said. • Three new Las Vegas-area locations that opened in early December, bringing the total location count to seven. • The grand opening of SkinnyFats’s new Dallas store. • Expanded distribution of SkinnyFats’s house-made pineapple ketchup to approximately 90 grocery stores throughout Hawaii. So what does Slobusky do now? Part of SkinnyFats’ “The Healthy Side” menu, the MeanBean is a housemade black bean patty topped with spinach, red onion, tomato, avocado and spicy hummus on a wheat bun. 2019 fast casual 20 4 “I’m going to take a break for about five minutes,” he said with a laugh. Looking ahead to 2019, Slobusky has no plans to slow SkinnyFats’s momentum. Arguably the biggest project of the year will be the brand’s new 12,000-square-foot food hall in Salt Lake City, Utah, which will break ground in January. Called SkinnyFats Hall Pass, the space will accommodate eight restaurants and two bars, giving the SkinnyFats team plenty of room to try new food concepts. “We’re looking to bring in talented chefs to go concept-by-concept and remove a lot of the guesswork and things we’ve spent the last five years learning the hard way,” Slobusky said. “We’re removing that process so the chefs can focus on the food.” And if Slobusky decides to bring in chefs outside the SkinnyFats umbrella, Hall Pass is equipped to expand accordingly. Speaking of expansion, growth is absolutely on the table for SkinnyFats in 2019 and beyond. Strategic growth planning, in fact, is what helped lead Slobusky and SkinnyFats to the Dallas market. “We continue to build out Las Vegas, our home market, but probably in the next 18 to 24 months, we’re going to run out of logical real estate,” he said. “I’ll be in Dallas about 50 percent of the time, at least initially, then we’ll go pretty quickly into building more stores. Just the sheer size of Dallas and the market has a lot of appeal.” And if you visit a SkinnyFats location in Dallas, don’t be surprised to find a few regional menu additions. “We’ll splice in a little barbecue here and there,” Slobusky said. Additional growth is expected as a result of SkinnyFats’s franchise program, the documentation for which Slobusky recently finished. Likely franchise markets include Salt Lake City, as well as Washington, D.C. “We’re finishing a big wave of corporate stores, then we’ll spend our focus on franchise markets,” Slobusky said. “We’re excited to get into 2019!” 5 Dizengoff Philadelphia, Pennsylvania www.DizengoffHummus.com If you’re a hummus aficionado and you haven’t yet been to Dizengoff in Philadelphia, well, you know what to put at the top of your to-do list! Named for one of Tel Aviv’s most iconic streets, Dizengoff opened in the summer of 2014. The fast casual eatery is modeled after Israeli hummus stalls — “hummusiyas” — and features a small yet flavor-packed menu. The star, of course, is the hummus, freshly made and heavy on the tehina. Dizengoff’s hummus typically isn’t refrigerated, which keeps the food even fresher. The whipped clouds of chickpea nirvana are topped with a rotating selection of seasonal garnishes like hot spice lamb with pine nuts or avocado with harissa. There’s plenty of pillow-y pita bread to dredge through the hummus, plus chopped salad and Israeli pickles. And don’t leave without lemonnana, an Israeli-style frozen mint lemonade that’s the perfect antidote to Philadelphia’s sweltering summer days. Dizengoff is the brainchild of rock star duo Michael Solomonov, the chef, and Steve Cook, the business partner. Together, they’ve launched a veritable empire of Philadelphia restaurant brands under the CookNSolo umbrella, including Zahav, Federal Donuts, Abe Fisher, The Rooster and Goldie. For Dizengoff, 2018 proved to be a year of challenges. Locations in both New York City and Miami closed. Solomonov and Cook haven’t commented on the New York closing, but identified poor traffic as a result of nearby construction as the culprit in Miami. In a joint statement, they bid farewell to Miami “for now,” leaving many to hope that Dizengoff will return to the city. In the meantime, Solomonov and Cook have focused their attention and energy on Dizengoff’s two Philadelphia locations, including one inside the Center City Whole Foods. Their expertly made hummus continues to draw a crowd. So do their Saturday dinners, family-style Israeli meals that sell for $60/ticket and transform Dizengoff into a full-service restaurant. Independent media outlet Billy Penn called the dinners “Philly’s best-kept secret.” And now, the secret’s out! Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 6 Grandpa Mac Rehoboth Beach, Delaware www.grandpamac.com What helps Grandpa Mac stand out in a growing fast casual pasta market? Made-from-scratch pasta — eight varieties, to be exact. “It’s more labor-intensive, but we’re proud of it,” said Jason Russo, co-owner, Grandpa Mac. “People love coming in and seeing the pasta made fresh.” The homemade pasta is the foundation of Grandpa Mac’s menu, the brainchild of James Beard-nominated chef, Hari Cameron, and his brother, Orion, the co-founders of Grandpa Mac. More than a dozen signature chef pastas and a build-your-own pasta section are the two most popular categories, but diners can also choose from salads, paninis and soups. One dish in particular has helped Grandpa Mac build its following among a passionate audience segment: vegan customers. “Hari makes an unbelievable vegan un-cheese sauce,” Russo said. “It looks like cheese, it almost tastes like cheese, but there’s no cheese in it. Our largest sales growth in 2018 was from our vegan entrees.” Grandpa Mac — named for the Cameron brothers’ great-grandfather, Cameron McCurdy, as a way for Hari and Orion to pay tribute to their influential family member — operates two locations in Rehoboth Beach. The flagship store is a 500-square-foot space tucked in Rehoboth Beach’s quaint downtown and is catty-cornered to Hari and Jason’s high-end restaurant, a(MUSE.). In addition to its small size, the downtown location brings with it another challenge: a seasonal schedule. “It’s open during beach season, from April to October,” Russo said. Just four miles away, the second Grandpa Mac location is a generous 3,000+ square feet of prime real estate along Rehoboth Beach’s bustling Coastal Highway. “It’s probably more space than we need, but getting space on the highway is difficult,” Russo said.

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