Franchise Restaurants Grow Again -- from Houston to China

Franchise restaurants are growing again and here are the latest deals that We Sell Restaurants has been tracking around the world. August was a very busy month with multiple opening and announcements of franchise restaurants both overseas and within the U.S. Many small concepts with under 50 - 100 units seem to be putting up new locations which speaks to the overall health of the industry and interest by customers in new concepts. Here's what we captured in August announcements for new franchise restaurants with more than a dozen concepts putting deals on the table ranging from single store to master franchise development agreements for multiples.

Houston’s iconic German eatery, King’s BierHaus has finalized its first deal deal to bring three franchise restaurants to the greater Houston area. King’s BierHaus, cites itself as an award-winning ‘hybrid-casual’ German eatery.

The first franchised location will open in League City (828 W. FM 646) in October 2018. A second location is in the process of being secured in Katy. Local franchisee Chung Hui, whose background is in retail development, is the franchisee of record for this expansion.

King’s BierHaus is the modern sister concept to the #1 German Restaurant in America, King’s Biergarten, founded by Austrian-born father and son duo Hans and Philipp Sitter in 2011. It began as a car wash serving bratwurst and beer and, over the years, developed into an iconic stop for local Houstonians and tourists alike.

The bierhaus has developed an innovative ‘hybrid casual’ model for its franchise restaurants, which combines elements of full-service and fast casual dining. The brand cites this as a contributing factor to store volume. King’s Bierhaus’ existing location, which implements the hybrid casual framework, reported a monthly average of $507,102 gross sales in the second half of 2017.

Mexico is on the mind of major franchise restaurants looking to grow and Mexico City is seeing more than one new concept. Romano’s Macaroni Grill^®, has announced the opening of its third location in Mexico City. Opened by Macaroni Grill franchise partner, Grupo Dival, the new franchise restaurants will be in the Tlalpan borough, just ten miles south of Mexico City, with a second location opened by the group within the past six months. International expansion continues to be an important part of the strategic franchise restaurants plan for Macaroni Grill with the recent opening in Mexico City bringing the number of international locations to 18, located in seven countries.

Hooters of America recently announced the 11^th Hooters location in Mexico City, Mexico. Led by franchisee Hooters de Mexico, the new 5,3755 square foot venue, is located at Calz. Acoxpa 430 Loc. A-PA-07/08, Col. Vergel del Sur, CP 14340, Tlalpan, in Mexico City,

The new location will feature a centrally located bar, a wide array of cocktails and craft beers, comfortable seating options, and a top-of-the-line AV package perfect for watching all the games.

Hooters of Paseo Acoxpa boasts 294 seats, over 40 TVs, and a spacious patio, making it easy and comfortable for fans to catch their favorite game. Hooters continues its acceleration of franchise restaurants and is actively seeking qualified franchise partners to open new locations in select markets across the U.S. and around the globe.

Willie Jewell’s Old School Bar-B-Q, the fast-casual spinoff from the 69 year veteran Bono’s Pit Bar-B-Q concept, is expanding in Lexington, SC. Willie Jewell’s will be opening its newest location on August 22, 2018. Locally-owned by Willie Jewell’s franchisee, Jeff Katz, the first Lexington location will be 105 Saluda Pointe Court and will be open 7 days a week from 11:00am – 9:00pm with full service Catering opportunities as well.

This will be the 13th of the franchise restaurants stores for the growing concept, which will now have restaurants in Florida, Georgia, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Willie Jewell’s is continuing to expand into new markets through the strength of locally owned and operated Franchises, with 4 more stores currently under construction in Brunswick, GA and the Tampa, FL areas.

Chicken Salad Chick, the nation’s only southern inspired, fast casual chicken salad franchise restaurants chain, announced today it will be expanding in Tennessee with its fourth Nashville location opening in Spring Hill. Located at 4867 Main Street, the company-owned restaurant marks the brand’s 92nd location in the Southeast and will open on Tuesday, August 21st with a ribbon cutting ceremony starting at 9:30a.m.

The Chicken Salad Chick concept, born in Auburn, was established in 2008 in the kitchen of founder, Stacy Brown. When Stacy discovered that the local county health department would not allow her to continue making and selling her delicious recipes out of her home kitchen, she overcame that obstacle by launching her first franchise restaurants with the business expertise of her future husband and fellow founder, Kevin Brown. Together, they opened a small takeout restaurant, which quickly grew; the company now has 92 restaurants across the Southeast.

SAJJ Mediterranean, the popular family of Bay Area-based restaurants and food trucks known for fresh, exotic, and customizable Middle Eastern cuisine, will officially celebrate the Grand Opening of their seventh brick-and-mortar store on Friday, September 7. The newest SAJJ outpost is located at 88 Belden Place/ 485 Pine Street in San Francisco’s business epicenter, the Financial District, and will be celebrating its official Grand Opening by offering up specials and free items to new customers. It is the second San Francisco location for the brand. SAJJ’s newest eatery is located across from the iconic Bank of America building on Belden Place, known among locals for transforming from a small drivable road at night into a pedestrian-only, cafe-lined street during the day, offering al fresco dining experiences in the midst of the bustling FiDi neighborhood. The historic building that houses the new SAJJ shop was built after the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, and still retains its original brick walls and mosaic floor. To preserve the integrity and history of the century-old building, SAJJ has kept much of the space’s original structure and qualities intact.

Tim Horton's plans to open 1,500 franchise restaurants in Asia over the next decade despite facing hefty competition from a slew of companies who have dominated the market as the continent warms to drinking coffee. The president of Tim Hortons says a plan to conquer a crowded Chinese coffee market hinges on tailoring its menu to local habits and tastes — including offering congee and matcha alongside signature items such as double doubles.

Tims announced an agreement last month with private equity firm Cartesian Capital to bring thousands of franchise restaurants to China, with plans to open the first location in 2019.Tim Hortons has previously announced plans to expand to Spain, Mexico, Great Britain and the Philippines. Its U.S. expansion, however, appears to be faltering. Last month it closed four locations in Ohio, the latest in a string of closures south of the border in the past several years

Tropical Smoothie Café, has announed the opening of its 700th location in the system, in Hurst, TX at 760 Airport Freeway Suite 100. This major milestone showcases Tropical Smoothie Cafe’s rapid growth since launching in Destin, FL more than 20 years ago and gets the company closer to reaching its goal of opening 120 franchise restaurants in 2018. Tropical Smoothie Café is continuing to fuel development in Dallas/Fort Worth to bring its better-for-you® offerings to more communities throughout the metro area. With nine cafes currently open in Dallas/Fort Worth, these expansion efforts will bring two additional locations to the market by the end of this year.

Fork & Salad, the Maui-based eatery with a mission to make healthy, farm-to-table cuisine accessible to the masses, plans to open its third corporate location and first U.S. mainland store in Orange, CA. The location, which will introduce the brand to the mainland U.S. and serve as a training store for future franchisee operators, is slated to open before the end of 2018.

Fork & Salad’s new Orange County restaurant will be located in a historically restored building that features original brick construction from 1922 and open wood truss beams. The 1,535 square foot space will have seating for more than 45 guests and be prominently located in the walkable district of Old Towne Orange. Fork & Salad’s menu options include build-your-own and signature salads, produce-forward sandwiches, gluten-free items, kombucha on draft and more, which can be enjoyed in-store or for take-out and pick-up via phone ordering or the Fork & Salad mobile app.

Bennigan’s announces it newest store in Mandan, North Dakota. The 42-year-old brand is developing in smaller markets as evidenced by this location in a town of only 22,000 people.

The new restaurant, located at 1506 27^th St. NW, will celebrated its grand opening on Monday, Aug. 20.

Since the end of 2012, the company has opened new franchise restaurants in Clarksburg and Frederick, Md.; Sacramento, Calif.; Melbourne, Fla.; Monahans, Texas; Lexington, Ky.; Veracruz, Mexico; Larnaca, Cyprus; Obarrio, Panama; Doha, Qatar; and Dubai, UAE.

Franchise restaurants are coming soon to Steubenville, Ohio, and Memphis, Tenn.; and internationally in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Amsterdam and Pakistan, with more than 100 additional locations in development.

Jon Smith Subs, a nationally recognized chain known for delicious hot, grilled subs featuring high-quality marinated sirloin steak and chicken, celebrated a grand opening in Richmond, Virginia on August 20th. The restaurant, located at 8517 Midlothian Turnpike, Richmond, is 1,600-square-feet and seats 35-40. Jon Smith Subs has locations in South and Central Florida as well as Ohio, Nevada, Texas, and California—soon in Australia.

Orlando based Jimmy Hula’s Licensing announced the opening of its 15th store in August at 68 East Pine St., Orlando, Florida. Jimmy Hula’shas units in the Orlando, Tampa-Clearwater-St. Petersburg, Jacksonville and Daytona Beach markets and is looking to franchise expansion throughout the Southeast.

Jimmy Hula’s serves specialty tacos, burgers, sandwiches and bowls in a surf/ beach vibe. It’s fine food at value pricing. That’s why our locals call it Food Nirvana. All stores serve a variety of craft beers and several stores have full service bars.

Jimmy Hula’s has signed area development and master franchise agreements calling for the opening of 60 additional franchise restaurants in Florida and North Carolina.

Since the beginning of the Slim Chickens journey in Fayetteville, the brand has celebrated 75 franchise restaurants openings in 14 states, as well as international locations in Kuwait and London. The brand is well on its way to achieving its goal of 600 restaurants by 2025.

The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill will soon be coming to 14315 Orchard Parkway, Suite 400, Westminster, Colorado. The parent company for The Great Greek– announced that is has finalized its latest agreement with Jack Jones, a local business man and former defense contractor. The rapidly-expanding fast-casual franchise restaurants group already has 15 locations in development across the United States, along with its two original, award-winning locations in the greater Las Vegas metropolitan area.

UFG has been strategically expanding The Great Greek brand nationwide, with a strong focus on established markets that are ripe for a departure from typical fast-food fare and middle-of-the-road flavor. Likewise, they are partnering with experienced business people eager to make a bold entrance into the restaurant market.

The original Great Greek locations were in Las Vegas, but the concept is now being franchised by The United Franchise Group and is quickly expanding across the U.S. and abroad.

That is a mind-boggling amount of activity for a single month showing tremendous growth in franchise restaurants from small concepts to very large players. We'll keep you posted on more deals as they hit the market. Meanwhile, if you're interested in franchise restaurants but want to avoid the risk of a start up, visit us online to see our inventory of existing franchise restaurants for sale? Check out our listings online at the link below or contact We Sell Restaurants for more information.