Even a pandemic such as COVID-19 can’t completely take away emerging chains’ appetite for growth. Moving forward, though, these multiunit operators will continue to adjust their designs and equipment packages to deliver brand-defining experiences  for customers, whether they choose to dine on- or off-premises.

Curry Up Now

This Indian concept presents traditional flavors in crowd-pleasing formats. It’s looking to double down on how itapproaches growth in the wake of COVID-19.

It’s not surprising for a chain that got its start as a food truck to have a street food-style menu. Tacos and burritos are easy to eat on the go, even if they’re filled with Indian food, like the offerings from Curry Up Now.

This fast-casual chain out of California is not a fusion concept, though. Its flavors are authentically Indian, according to co-founder and CEO Akash Kapoor. The burrito approach just makes these flavors fun and accessible, he says.

“We didn’t want to get into the education business, we wanted to get into the food business, so what should we do? We started doing burritos,” says Kapoor. With dishes like saag paneer burritos and tika masala quesadillas, Curry Up Now became a hit. In less than two years that one food truck grew into three, along with the concept opening its first brick-and-mortar location.

Today, the chain has 11 locations, with half franchised and half company owned. The ambience of these restaurants, says Kapoor, brings the food truck experience indoors. Each restaurant has a Bollywood-inspired mural painted by a local artist. Though the chain provides high-touch service, with employees bringing out food, refilling drinks and bussing tables, the space features an intentionally lively, even chaotic vibe that helps impart fun and energy to the dining experience.

Growth Pivot

This approach works for Curry Up Now. The chain entered the year expecting to more than double its store count to 21 total locations. With the pandemic, Kapoor now expects to have 15 to 16 locations in operation by the end of 2020.

That’s not the only impact the pandemic will have on Curry Up Now’s business, of course. Kapoor sees an impact to the restaurant’s footprint and possibly new avenues for growth. Like other operators, he sees off-premises dining remaining a strong force, even after the economy opens up. To better address off-premises customers, Curry Up Now will explore developing a separate pickup area with its own POS and queueing system. That should not only make pickups easier, Kapoor notes, but the dine-in experience better.

To better address off-premises customers, Curry Up Now will explore developing a separate pickup area with its own POS and queueing system.

“You get people with food bags and a lot of activity,” says Kapoor of the off-premises component. “It goes with us because we are kind of a chaotic, forward brand, but it turns me off. When I go to a dining establishment and experience this, it’s not a good feeling.” By making changes to consider the off-premises experience as well as the on-site dining experience, he feels the chain can better serve both customer sets.

Beyond impacting the restaurant’s design, Kapoor sees this as an opportunity to expand into real estate that may not have been available before. He’s had calls with landlords to see what spaces may become available in the properties they have around the nation.

As the chain grows, so do the inquiries from interested franchisees. In February and March, the chain received more calls from potential investors than it did the six months prior. “There are optimists and pessimists, bulls and bears. The bulls are out there looking for opportunity. This doesn’t scare me. I’m looking at ways to double down becauseI know rents are going to be cheaper and second-generation restaurants are going to be available,”
he says.

Kapoor also sees the slowdown as a time to refocus on his brand. With the addition of franchisees, growth of company-owned stores and management of a large system, it’s easy for a brand to get diluted. Now, he says, is a good time to “get intimate” with your brand and company and find ways to improve.

This sort of self-examination, Kapoor says, has already led him to decide on new technology implementations, including the rollout of new accounting software. In the end, these changes should help strengthen Curry Up Now, he says. “It looks really bad, but there is some good that will come out of this,” he says. “It’s not going to be all bad.”

When restaurant industry veterans Mark Setterington and Paul Reas started Island Fin Poke in 2017, they never envisioned it being a fast-growing chain. Just the opposite, in fact, says Setterington, the chain’s president and CEO. “When we started things, we were just going to have a couple of restaurants, work with our kids, play golf and go to the beach. But when we opened up, it just kind of took off.”

Island Fin Poke Co.

Island Fin executives feel its low-overhead model will help it weather the storm.A low-cost model draws in franchisees and may help the chain survive in a COVID-19 world.

When restaurant industry veterans Mark Setterington and Paul Reas started Island Fin Poke in 2017, they never envisioned it being a fast-growing chain. Just the opposite, in fact, says Setterington, the chain’s president and CEO. “When we started things, we were just going to have a couple of restaurants, work with our kids, play golf and go to the beach. But when we opened up, it just kind of took off.”

Took off it did. The first Island Fin Poke opened in Winter Springs, Fla., in March 2017 and was a hit. The company opened a second location a few months later and by the end of 2018, the two owners started selling franchises. Even with COVID-19-related lockdowns, the chain expects to open about 10 new restaurants in 2020. This would put Island Fin in the neighborhood of 20 stores total.

According to Setterington, one of the keys to Island Fin Poke’s early success was its location. While poke was well established on the West Coast, there weren’t nearly as many places in Florida that served the dish.

To make its menu work in an area with a low poke IQ, Island Fin adopted the widely used cocreation method, with guests walking down the assembly line and pointing out what they’d like to add to their bowls. In addition, the company trains team members to give first-time customers a primer on poke, and guests can sample any ingredient on the line.

The dining room features what Setterington calls a “five-star beach shack” design, with stained concrete flooring, reclaimed wood on the walls, and decor of surfboards and beach photography. For furnishings, the chain went simple. “At one point we had $500 hand-painted table tops that were really brightly colored. You know what people like better? Picnic tables.”

Understanding how customers actually enjoy their poke bowls reinforces the decision of a low-key design. According to Setterington, 70% of the chain’s business comes in the form of off-premises dining, either through online or to-go orders.

As a result, the chain can operate in a small — and hence inexpensive and franchisee-friendly — footprint. The ideal Island Fin Poke footprint, says Setterington measures between 1,000 and 1,200 square feet and has roughly 25 indoor seats.

A Low-Cost Model

Furnishings are intentionally minimal at Island Fin. The chain is considering eliminating the dining room altogether in some markets, such as dense urban areas, in anticipation of off-premises growth.Operational simplicity further extends the savings. Other than electric rice cookers, Island Fin Poke has no cooking equipment, and hence no pricey hood system or utility setup.

The chain’s costs may get even smaller in a world impacted by COVID-19, Setterington adds. In certain markets, such as dense urban areas and college campuses, Island Fin may drop the dining room altogether in response to the increased shift to off-premises dining.

“Take 500 or 600 square feet in New York City and do nothing but takeout and delivery, would you do it? You’d be paying 75% less in rent than your neighbors,” says Setterington. “I’d do that all day long.”

While those are decisions for the future, the chain has taken steps in the here and now to generate sales. Working with its POS vendor, Island Fin quickly integrated curbside delivery into its POS system. It also started offering coupons for 10% off app orders, with the goal of shifting business away from third-party delivery.

These steps, combined with its low-labor, low-overhead model, are helping Island Fin weather the storm, says Setterington. “We have restaurants that are still relatively close to making money. We aren’t losing our butts right now.”

Based in New York City, fast-casual concept The Little Beet aims to provide healthier food and, in turn, help people live better lives.

The Little Beet

This veggie-centric chain rethinks customer behavior in the age of COVID-19.

The Little Beet portfolio includes its traditional fast-casual stores, seen here, a full-service sister concept and a delivery/carryout site. The latter was already in play pre-pandemic, and the lessons learned operating that format may guide growth going forward.

Based in New York City, fast-casual concept The Little Beet aims to provide healthier food and, in turn, help people live better lives.

“Our mission is to inspire the pursuit of wellness and help people make choices that help them live healthier from a body and mind perspective. That is filtered through everything we do,” says CEO Becky Mulligan.

The chain does this through a vegetable-focused, though not vegetarian, menu. Using the pick-your-ingredients approach, The Little Beet offers bowls with bases like quinoa and greens, sides like roasted carrots and shaved Brussels sprouts, along with proteins ranging from braised pork to salmon poke to spicy tofu. This approach allows customers to design meals that match their dietary preferences, including vegan, vegetarian, keto, paleo and Whole 30. The menu, notes Mulligan, is also gluten free.

A light, bright design features a large mural of fruits and vegetables. Throughout the space, produce-inspired colors match the veggie-centric mission, like blueberry blue and green-bean green.

This approach serves the chain well. Founded in 2014, the concept opened six locations last year. It closed 2019 with 12 stores and 4 full-service locations of its sister concept, The Little Beet Table, which offers a full bar and a different, though still vegetable-centric, menu.

The business, which was founded within restaurant incubator Aurify Brands in New York, has become successful enough that it is outgrowing that organization’s platforms. The owners are developing infrastructure to meet the chain’s specific needs, including its own teams for human resources, store development and construction.

Unfortunately, the economic slowdown to help slow the spread of COVID-19 significantly impacted The Little Beet’s growth plans. The company planned to open 10 new stores in 2020, with a focus on its home market of New York City, one of the areas hit the hardest by the pandemic.

Now the company expects to open just three NYC restaurants, all of which were under construction pre-COVID-19. While traffic at those locations will likely be lower than originally expected for a while, The Little Beet will use these restaurants to expand its delivery/carryout footprint in the city, Mulligan says.

A New Look at Suburbs

While COVID-19 slowed the chain’s growth, The Little Beet still plans to take root in other areas. In fact, the chain will look to take advantage of a more lessor-friendly real estate market, Mulligan adds.

What exactly makes for a good location in this market, Mulligan notes, may change. While the chain previously looked for locations near large office buildings, those buildings may not be full again for some time. At the same time, the suburbs, already in The Little Beet’s plans, may play a more prominent role going forward. “I think there’s an opportunity for us to land in more residential suburbs where we’re able to determine people are working from home. That shifts my thinking a little bit away from looking for those high-density office buildings,” she says.

The types of locations The Little Beet opens may change as well. The future of its full-service concept, The Little Beet Table, is uncertain, Mulligan adds.

Suburban locations may play a more prominent role for The Little Beet.Going in the opposite direction, the chain will move forward on delivery/carryout locations and even ghost kitchens. Already operating one delivery/carryout restaurant should make it easier for The Little Beet to accelerate its growth using this format as it can leverage the lessons learned to this point.

The Little Beet’s evolution doesn’t stop with ghost kitchens, though. Additional new and/or elevated experiences are constantly being explored, says Mulligan, to consider what else the chain can provide customers in the months and years ahead. “I wouldn’t see it as unreal for us to open a juice concept or to add it in one of those restaurants,” she says. “We’ve created components for The Little Beet
brand that we could pick and pull from to create the right experience for whatever market or whatever compliance situation we find ourselves in the future.”

There are plenty of emerging chains. Rarer are reemerging chains, those concepts that have seen a dip in store count only to get back on track and surpass previous heights.

MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes

After a dip in total stores, this better-burger location remains on track to pass its previous store count as it adjusts to a new dining environment.

MOOYAH rearranged its assembly line approach from a single straight line to dedicated hot and cold sides.

There are plenty of emerging chains. Rarer are reemerging chains, those concepts that have seen a dip in store count only to get back on track and surpass previous heights.

MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes finds itself on the verge of becoming the latter.

At its height in the mid-2010s, MOOYAH had about 100 locations. At the start of 2020, that number had dipped to 84, possibly due in part to overeager franchising, says Tony Darden, MOOYAH’s president since April of last year.

While decline is never good, the chain spent much of 2019 working to right the ship. Even with the economic and logistical slowdowns caused by COVID-19, MOOYAH should open between 8 and 10 stores this year, with more coming in 2021, Darden says.

According to Darden, part of this turnaround involves MOOYAH’s more thorough franchisee selection process, something he believes is key for a concept that’s almost entirely franchised. The chain, he says, now ensures franchisees’ goals align with the company’s plans and strategy, allowing for stronger, more lasting growth. Franchisees are also responding positively to the new prototype design, he adds, which comes with a lower initial cost and greater operational efficiencies. The first two stores with this new design opened early in 2020.

The design team continues to consider tweaks to MOOYAH’s latest prototype to accommodate the anticipated growth in off-premises sales.

While the restaurant’s fun, relaxed approach to design remains, the new prototype includes several changes to the kitchen. The assembly line moved to the back of the house, creating a calmer, elevated dining experience. Along with that came the implementation of a kitchen display system, replacing the practice of having cashiers call out orders to the kitchen team.

Finally, the assembly line was rearranged from a single straight line to dedicated hot and cold sides. This, says Darden, reduces employee steps and lets the restaurant operate efficiently with lower labor costs.

“We saw a 50% improvement in speed of service during our peak periods. It’s a small sample size. We’ve got [this kitchen] in two new restaurants and one existing restaurant that we tested it in. What we found the single-store test held true in the two other stores,” Darden says.

While successful, some of the kitchen space will likely undergo further refinements in a world impacted by COVID-19.

The design team continues to consider tweaks to MOOYAH’s latest prototype to accommodate the anticipated growth in off-premises sales.

Adding to the Back of the House

The demand for off-premises dining will still be high even when dining rooms are open again, Darden predicts. With that in mind, MOOYAH and its design firm continue to work on plans for a prototype with a smaller dining area, larger back of the house and more accommodations for delivery and to-go orders. Since receiving the first draft of these plans as April came to an end, MOOYAH’s team is now refining them.

While this revised design may be several months away from implementation, the chain continues to take steps to protect its franchisees. These efforts include direct financial support, with the company paying delivery fees for all franchise owners. It is also deferring royalty payments, along with helping franchisees navigate the various relief programs set up by the federal government.

Finally, MOOYAH is working to drive business to its stores through promotions such as free delivery and buy-one-get-one-free deals. The chain has also instituted a grocery program which allows customers to order bread baked in-store, potatoes and even two-pound packs of its ground beef. All items are available for delivery.

Darden hopes these programs will help its franchise partners get through the pandemic period more or less intact, possibly with a stronger franchisee-franchisor partnership as a result. “The mission is to take all of our restaurants to the other side of this. We are going to do anything and everything in our power to do that.”