QSR February 2023

Hot Chikn Kitchn HEADQUARTERS: SARASOTA, FLORIDA

in 2019, the brand has swelled to 30 locations across Califor nia and Nevada. And despite the pandemic, it managed to open 23 units in the f irst two years of oper ation. Cookie Plug kicked off fran chising last March, and now has some 130 units under development through a combination of corpo rate and franchise-owned deals, with forthcoming locations as far af ield as Puerto Rico. And that’s the tip of the iceberg. The company is aiming for 500 open locations and 1,000 more in the pipeline by the end of 2025.

the start of Q2. Long term, the brand has set its sights on 100 units in three years. Cookie Plug HEADQUARTERS: A sense of playfulness pervades Cookie Plug, from its graff iti-cov ered walls to its colorful selection of cookies, with names like the O.G., Purple Haze, and Pixie Junkie, as well as monthly spe cials. Since the f irst store debuted RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA UNITS: 30

UNITS: 5

Hot Chikn Kitchn took a signa ture route to a sizzling category by building around four premium sauces: Base, Medic, After Burner, and Angry Hot. It then couples these f lavors with high-quality chicken that’s certified halal. Oper ationally, a small menu ( there are seven mains and every one includes chicken ) , allows the brand to be eff icient with limited prep time. The company says employees could show up at 10:30 to open at 11. But there’s also plenty of mission behind the product. Mike Sarago and his son, Anthony Sarago, along with partner Chef Frederic Gilm ore, created Hot Chikn Kitchn to “harness the power of food to bring people together.” It started dur ing COVID as a spot to connect community, and has thrived since. “The brand’s mission of unity through food has been the driv ing force behind its success. We believe that food is what unites us all and lifts people up,” the com pany says. Hot Chikn Kitchn hosts “Unity Days” where nonprof its can raise money in-store. They typi cally run from open to close on Tuesdays and the chain donates 25 percent of guests’ pre-tax sales back to their chosen organization. Recently, Hot Chikn Kitchn went from two to four locations in a sin gle month and isn’t holding back on future goals—it plans to roll more than 200 locations within the next three years. “HCK is the result of a lot of hard work and determination by our team,” Mike Sarago says. “The brand has a delicious menu that is easy to execute and ready to scale. We cannot wait to bring our Nash ville Style Hot Chicken to the whole country.”

The 40/40 List

COOKIE PLUG (2)

The Kebab Shop

THE KEBAB SHOP

our existing markets and into new ones, including South Flor ida,” CMO Wally Sadat says. The Kebab Shop now plans to expand by 10–15 stores per year over the next few, which includes openings in existing markets like California, Texas, and Florida. The ultimate aim: bring the concept to every major city in America. “Our mission is to ‘Change The Kebab Game’ by mak ing kebabs as approachable here in the U.S. as it is in Europe. We give people a unique Mediterranean experience by using familiar ingredients in surprising ways. From our loaded San Diego Wrap to our award-winning fries, and specialty sauces made in-house, we hope to appeal to everyone,” Sadat says The Kebab Shop’s popularity grew from an innova tive menu and accessible environment. The food focuses on European-Style Kebabs (carved off vertical rotisseries or chargrilled) served in wraps, boxes, or plates that can be cus tomized based on the guests’ preferences, with the brand’s fries and house-made sauces. “The past five years have been crazy; we launched 16 restaurants in five different markets more than doubling our store count since the start of COVID,” Sadat says. “This experience has made our concept stronger, and we are ready to accelerate our growth even further.”

HEADQUARTERS: AUSTIN, TEXAS

UNITS: 33

Sinceoriginating inSan Diego’s East Village in 2007, Kebab Shop has scaled to 33 units, with momentum picking up. The brand faced its share of hardships during COVID, but had infrastruc ture—digital capabilities for online ordering, pickup, and delivery, and cloud-based operations to help communicate changes to staff—in place to weather the worst of it. In fact, it opened 12 units during the pandemic window and has doubled its store count since 2020. “The Kebab Shop’s experience during COVID-19 motivated us, even more so, to accelerate our growth across

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FEBRUARY 2023 | QSR | www.qsrmagazine.com