News

California sees heavy activity in new restaurant opens this week

California was a hotbed of new fast casual restaurant activity this week, with seven new openings announced.

February 4, 2015

It's been a busy week for new unit announcements, with most centered in the California market. Here's a rundown of activity this week:

New market entries

Several brands stepped into new markets this week.

Mediterranean Cuisine Operating Company LLC announced it will open its second Yalla Mediterranean on March 10 at 1813 Ygnacio Valley Road in Walnut Creek, California. The first Yalla Mediterranean opened in Pleasant Hill, California in December 2014.

The Walnut Creek location will open in the space of the former Daphne’s California Greek. Over the course of the next two years, Mediterranean Cuisine Operating Company will also convert additional Daphne’s locations throughout California.

Fresh To Order will open its first North Carolina unit in Charlotte's Carolina Place Mall by the end of the month. The unit is the first of eight restaurants scheduled to open in North Carolina over the next five years.

Jamba Juice has announced it has opened its first store in Santa Fe Springs, California. The new store is located at 10124 Carmenita Road. The location marks the fourth store for Jamba franchise partner, CMCS Juice LP.

Expanding footprint

Pie Five Pizza will open its third unit in the greater Nashville, Tennessee area on Feb. 9 at 271 Indian Lake Blvd, Suite 130 in Hendersonville. The Hendersonville location is the third of 10 planned franchise units opened by Rich Davis and Ron Payne of Music City Pie Works, LLC. Pie Five can also be found at The Crossings retail strip in Donelson as well as in Franklin.

Modmarkethas opened its third Dallas-area location. The newest unit is located in Preston Hollow Village. A fourth unit is scheduled to open at 1161 E. Southlake Blvd. this spring.

Blaze Fast Fire'd Pizza will open its 25th Southern California location at the University of Southern California on Feb. 5. The restaurant is located on the University of Southern California's campus at University Gateway (3335 South Figueroa Street), near CVS.

Juice It Up!, opened its third Irvine, California location. The new Irvine Juice It Up! is located in the Irvine/Sand Canyon Plaza at 6610 Irvine Center Drive. It is operated under the ownership of Shobha Trading LLC, which was co-founded by sisters Faurum and Megha Doshi. 

Pieology Pizzeria has announced its new Santa Rosa, California location will officially open on Friday, Feb. 6. Pieology Santa Rosa is located at 2280 Mendocino Avenue at Mendocino Marketplace. Pieology has ten units open or in development in Northern California.

Multiple units

Two brands opened multiple units.

Dickey's Barbecue Pitwill open four new units this week:

• At 21853 Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills, California. The franchise is owned by Joey Menichini and family. The Menichinis have plans to open four more locations.
• In the Northgate Shopping Center at 6628 West 10th St Unit 102 in Greeley, Colorado. It's the second unit for the Derek and Jennifer O'Hara, who opened their first Dickey's in 2011.
• At 1348 East Prosperity Avenue in Tulare, California. Donnie and Kelly Brooks are the franchisees.
• In the Cosby Station Shopping Center at 3314 Highway 5 in Douglasville, Georgia. Winfield Wilson is the franchisee.

Menchie's announced the opening of two new units this week:

• In Randall Crossing at 2531 North County Line Road in Algonquin, Illinois. The franchisee is Tracy Elbert.
• In Parkway Village at 21430 SW Langer Farms Parkway, Suite 148 in Sherwood, Oregon. The franchisee is David Brown.

New franchise agreement

St. Louis, Missouri-based salad and pizza concept Crushed Red has inked a franchise development agreement to open six restaurants in the Denver market over the next five years. This announcement marks the first franchise agreement since Crushed Red launched its franchise opportunity in late-2014.

The new Crushed Red locations in Denver will be owned and operated by the JAM Management franchise group. Led by Jim Merlo, JAM Management plans to open its first Crushed Red restaurant at the Denver Tech Center in May, followed by a second restaurant opening at the Orchard Town Center in Westminster in June of this year.

Relocation

Umami Restaurant Group has announced plans to close its Santa Monica, California restaurant and open a new location at 525 Broadway, just around the corner from its current location. The new location will be significantly larger, with almost 3,000 square feet and 90 seats and will include a full bar. The original location will remain in operation until the new restaurant opens later this year.