Are franchise restaurants expanding?  You bet they are!  Here are some of the latest deals the restaurant brokers have found in their inbox in recent days.  Is there a singular trend?  Not really.  Overall fast casual is still outpacing other segments (full service and fast food) and pizza is dominant but outside of those observations the news on franchise restaurant growth is across all categories.  . 

Continuing to get a strong piece of the new unit pie are pizza concepts. Uncle Maddio's Pizza has signed a two-unit development deal for the Pensacola, Florida, area, with franchisees Jeremy and Wendy Jordan. The first location will open in 2017.  

Meanwhile, MOD Pizza has entered into a partnership with BBX Capital to develop an estimated 50 or more MOD locations throughout central and southern Florida over the next seven years. BBX has retail companies inlcuding Hoffman's Chocolates but this will be their first food business anrowd they are staking a huge role at 50 stores.  The restaurant brokers will be watching to see how this chain develops this opportunity.  

Pie Five Pizza is growin gin the Greater Baltimore area with the fifth location by franchisee Megel opening this month.  There are plans to open 12 more units by this franchisee in the Greater Baltimore over the next few years. Pie Five, based out of Dallas, offers a fast casual dining experience with customers designing their own pizza. 

While fast casual pizza is growing, the burger growth remains strong.  BurgerFi has added a second Delray Beach Florida location this month. The expansion in Delray is part of BurgerFi’s overall franchise development plans for this year, with a goal to have 100 restaurants open by the end of 2016. The company has experienced a surge of franchise expansion.

In other burger news, Cade Cothren, whose family is Hwy 55 Burgers, Shakes & Fries' master franchisee for the state of Tennessee, has opened a Lewisburg restaurant in Governor's Plaza. An additional two restaurants are already opened in Nolensville and Spring Hill, with about 50 new Hwy 55 locations planned for Tennessee over the next 10 years.

Other concepts expanding include Captain D’s who announced signed franchise development agreements to expand in Georgia, Texas and Virginia. As part of this accelerated growth, the company will open five new restaurants in the Savannah, Georgia market, three in Dallas, Texas, and one in Hopewell, Virginia over the next several years. Captain D’s has experienced a recent surge of franchise development, propelled by the brand’s overall expansion plans for the year and its ongoing success, with the second quarter of 2016 signifying its 19th consecutive quarter of system-wide growth.

A Texas Dairy Queen franchisee is moving at a rapid pace.  He just announced the opening of their 9th location in 40 months.  Franchisee Michael Clarke, owner Luckety Split Food Services said, "We opened our first location in Euless, Texas in April 2013 and now, exactly 1,234 days later, we'lll open the doors to our 9th location."  Now that's moving ""Likety Split!"

Richard Tarascio, President of Hot Harry’s Fresh Burritos has announced the opening of the newest Hot Harry’s location at 1470 East Street, New Britain, Connecticut.  Walk On Bistreaux & Bar has announced an Area Development Agreement with seasoned restaurant owner Moussa Haidar to bring an initial five Walk-On’s Bistreaux & Bar restaurants to southern Texas, with more locations to be added in the near future. Haidar currently owns and operates more than 20 IHOP locations and an On The Border franchise.

Houston-based Salata, a custom salad and salad wrap chainwith 53 locations throughout Texas, California and Illinois, is reinstating its franchising program, after a two-year hiatus during which time it opened a new headquarters building.

Newk’s Eatery, the fast casual restaurant known for its culinary-driven menu and open kitchen, is expanding into Indiana with the company’s latest development agreement to open 15 locations in the Indianapolis and southern Indiana markets over the next several years. Indy Eatery is the fourth multi-unit franchisee to sign with Newk’s in 2016. Combined, the new franchisees will open more than 45 new restaurants in the next four years, consistent with Newk’s goal to reach 200 units by

Paris Baguette, announced its first multi-unit franchise deal in Northern California. With 11 locations already open an operating throughout Northern California, Kim’s next location is expected to open in the first quarter of 2017 in the city of Sunnyvale, California. With over 70 years of experience in the baking industry, Paris Baguette first debuted in the United States in 2005. Further expansion plans across the United States will focus on 18 key target markets including continued development throughout California and the Northeast. By the close of this year, Paris Baguette is on track to add 15 new locations. 

Chicken Salad Chick, will be expanding in Georgia with its first location in Athens. This location marks the 13th Chicken Salad Chick location in Georgia, and the sixth location for Origin Development Group, an Atlanta-based restaurant development fund founded by Darren DeVore and Lauren Fernandez. The Chicken Salad Chick concept  has 63 restaurants across the Southeast.

How's the franchise restaurant business?  From the deals announced and opening, the health seems pretty strong.  What do you think?  Want to see our latest franchise restaurants for sale?  Visit this link.