Managing Editor
Curious about what’s on the menu, business wise, for four popular area restaurants? The International Council of Shopping Centers Next Generation group sponsored a “Food For Thought” session Tuesday evening at Alhambra Theatre & Dining and the Daily Record followed up Wednesday. Here’s what’s cooking.
Chris Calloway, Five Guys Burgers and Fries
As chief operating officer of Calloway Consolidated Group, the area franchise owner for Five Guys Burgers and Fries in Northeast Florida, Calloway says the chain looks for sites with great visibility, parking and the demographics for its menu, which is limited to burgers, hot dogs and fries. “Everybody likes burgers,” said Calloway.
The chain is based in Lorton, Va., near Washington, D.C.
Calloway said Five Guys prefers to locate restaurants seven to 10 miles from each other, although they could be closer if it’s a high-volume area.
Calloway said the Five Guys at St. Johns Town Center is six miles from the restaurant along Southside Boulevard near The Avenues Mall. “Both have been very good for us.”
The Jacksonville sales volume is slightly lower than in other more densely populated areas of Florida, but is about 7 percent higher than the average for Five Guys nationwide, he said. “Jacksonville is a very strong market and a good market for what we’re doing,” he said. “We certainly see this area as having the opportunity to grow.”
Calloway said Jacksonville’s many neighborhoods also allow the chain to open as the neighborhood burger joint. “That is something that is really important ot us,” he said. “When we go into these neighborhoods, each is its own little town in a big city.”
For locations, Five Guys looks for the end-cap, the end store, in a shopping center, “but we’re certainly willing to consider other options.”
A prototypical Five Guys restaurant is 2,700 to 3,000 square feet. Average seating is about 90.
The franchise territory stretches from the Florida-Georgia state line to Gainesville and Palm Coast. Calloway said there are 11 stores, with nine in Jacksonville, one in St. Augustine and one in Gainesville.
The franchise group has an agreement for 25 restaurants, which Calloway said could be completed by 2014.
Bill Kratsas, Al’s Pizza
Kratsas, a partner in Al’s Pizza and vice president of Al’s Pizza Franchise Service, said the chain prefers sites with limited competition, acknowledging that most restaurants prefer the same.
He said the Jacksonville-based chain tries to negotiate clauses in its leases if it is in a developed strip center. “We will try to get some exclusive language that we are the exclusive pizza restaurant,” he said.
Al’s Pizza is 22 years old and operates six locations in Jacksonville. In addition to pizza, Al’s offers entrees, appetizers, calzones, wraps, salads, desserts and more. To manage costs, he said Al’s has invested in a software program customized for the company to track each restaurant’s food costs to better manage the bottom line. He said Al’s has saved 3 percent without changing the menu and ended 2009 better than 2008, even with slightly lower sales.
Kratsas said three of the Al’s Pizza locations in Jacksonville are freestanding and three are in shopping centers. They average about 3,700-3,800 square feet of space, seating 120-130 customers, although the San Jose Boulevard restaurant is 5,600 square feet with a capacity of 170. He said the “sweet spot” size is 4,000 square feet.
“We are open to a lot of different opportunities,” he said.
Kratsas, a McDonald’s operator for 25 years, said Al’s launched its franchise program this year. The first operator is in the site selection process in Charlotte, N.C., he said.
Don Nicol, TacoLu
A former partner in the Sticky Fingers restaurants, Don Nicol opened the one-and-only TacoLu in Jacksonville Beach two years ago with his wife, Debbie.
(The Lu stands for their daughter, Lucy. Son Henry was allowed to create a taco on the menu and has a new item for the new menu coming out soon.).
Nicol said the Beach Boulevard building had most recently been a restaurant, which made it easier and less costly to convert it to TacoLu. “We tried to build out TacoLu on a shoestring,” he said.
He prefers the next location to be convertible, too. “Some locations are a no-brainer, but the build-out is prohibitive,” he said.
The menu focuses on freshly made tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas and salads. A limited menu keeps food costs down, he said.
Nicol said he could “use 600 square feet” more, especially for kitchen space, at the 3,200-square-foot restaurant, but he doesn’t need a much larger location. “I’m not going to get to the super center style place with 300 seats,” he said. The restaurant’s occupancy is just over 150.
Nicol doesn’t have any specific sites identified for expansion. “For me, it’s whatever works,” he said. When he thinks about expansion, he thinks about Riverside, San Marco and St. Augustine, he said. “Those are great little neighborhoods. I would love to find something in there.”
But there’s no rush. “I’m not in any huge hurry,” he said.
Expansion not only requires the right location, but the right people, he said. “You’ve got to get the right people at the right place.”
Another element would help too, which is lacking at the beach. “Parking,” he said when asked if he had any particular concerns about a Beaches location.
Greg Saig, Salt Life Food Shack
Greg Saig, a part-owner the Jacksonville-based Harry’s Seafood, Bar, and Grille, with five locations, signed a licensing agreement to open the new Salt Life Food Shack in Jacksonville Beach at a former Harry’s location.
As managing partner in the Salt Life restaurant group, Saig said it was important to offer an appealing menu and to manage costs to offer the best products at the best price.
“We work hard on that. It’s a constant issue to
discuss because we are working to offer the best value we can on the menu,” he said. “We serve a lot of fresh fish and we fly fish in from Hawaii and the market does change throughout different times of the year, so it gets difficult.”
The menu features appetizers, a raw bar and sushi, salads, sandwiches and entrees, focused heavily on seafood but also offering chicken, ribs and burgers.
Saig said that Salt Life, the clothing, accessories and sticker company that has permeated the coast with its logo, is not involved in operating the restaurants. He said his group licensed the use of its name.
Saig said his expansion plans include evaluating two or three sites in St. Augustine. He expects to choose one in 30 days and to open the restaurant toward the end of 2011. He said his group also is looking at the greater West Palm Beach area. “It makes sense to follow the Salt Life footprint,” he said. Salt Life “caught on really big down there.”
Saig said Salt Life Food Shack’s first restaurant is about 5,300 square feet and has patio space, while the prototype restaurant would be 6,000 to 8,000 square feet, seating 180 to 225 people.
“We want to grow,” he said. “We could be a pretty substantial restaurant company.”