I started working for (founder) Ron Green at the original Broken Egg Cafe in Mandeville, Louisiana, in 2001 as a busboy and a server. When I graduated from college I had the opportunity to approach my business partners about opening in Lafayette. I called Ron and said, “Hey, I’ve found your franchisee.” He said, “who?” I said, “me.” We laughed about it. We opened in 2007 and took off running.
Breakfast and brunch are probably the two fastest-growing segments in the industry. Being open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day, that’s what we’re successful at and that’s what we do.
We’re probably one of the very few breakfast-brunch restaurants that actually has a bar. Our menu is Louisiana-inspired, everything is fresh and made to order. It’s an upscale feel with a casual atmosphere. The word they use is polished-casual. The biggest challenge is finding the right staff and making sure they live up to the Another Broken Egg standard.
We look for a daytime population with a big lunch crowd, or just where a lot of people would be. On the weekend, we become a destination place where people want to be with their families. Our Tapestry Park location has done really well, which is why we wanted to continue growing. We’ve been looking in other markets throughout Jacksonville. Florida has been very good to us.
The biggest-selling item would be the Floridian omelet. It’s cream cheese inside of an omelet with some lump crab meat on top with some Monterey Jack cheese and green onions. Then we have the Cinnamon Roll French Toast, which is a cinnamon roll dipped in French toast batter. We grill it and add some bananas Foster sauce and strawberries, blueberries and blackberries on top with whipped cream. It’s really good.
I’m probably the worst customer that we have because I’ve eaten the menu items so many times that I kind of make my own, but for the most part it’s just scrambled eggs and turkey sausage.