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KRIS HUNDLEYThe restaurants' Richard Gonzmart and partners plan to offer the bay area "adult fast food."
The president of the Columbia Restaurant Group is branching into tacos and Thai food.
Richard Gonzmart has partnered with two of his fellow Columbia executives to franchise a pair of fast-casual restaurant concepts from an Atlanta company, including one new to the Tampa Bay area.
The group's first venture, Moe's Southwest Grill, will open next week at the Clearwater Mall. A second restaurant, Mama Fu's Noodle House, is expected to open in the same retail complex in the spring.
Gonzmart and his partners plan to open as many as 10 of each concept - or a total of 20 new locations in the bay area - over the next couple years.
"My main business is always the Columbia Restaurant. It's my passion, my focus," said Gonzmart, the fourth generation of his family to operate the 100-year-old Tampa business. "This is an investment that meets the criteria of today's population. The food is healthy, freshly prepared, and it's a growing segment of the food service industry. And it won't impact the Columbia Restaurant one iota."
Joining Gonzmart in the new venture are Dennis Fedorovich, chief financial officer of the Columbia Restaurant Group, and Guy Campbell, chief operating officer of Cha Cha Coconuts, which is part of the Columbia enterprise. There are six Columbia restaurants and three Cha Cha Coconuts; another Columbia is planned to open this year.
The trio, operating as GCF Ventures, has signed franchise agreements with Raving Brands, the Atlanta originator of both the Mama Fu's and Moe's concepts. Raving Brands also owns Planet Smoothie and PJ's Coffee and Wine Bar.
Moe's, which already has four locations in the Tampa Bay area through other franchisees, is a cafeteria-style restaurant, offering tacos, burritos and fajitas made to order. Average ticket price is $6.
The fast-growing chain, started in 2001, has grown to 100 units, with plans for up to 250 stores nationwide by the end of 2004.
Mama Fu's is Raving Brands' newest concept, with the first opened in June. There are now three units: two in Atlanta and one in Charleston, S.C.
Mama Fu's has a Pan-Asian menu, with food from Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, China and Japan. Average entree price is $6.99. Raving Brands, which operates one store of each concept and franchises the rest, expects to have 50 Mama Fu's by year's end.
Joe Pawlak, senior principal with the Chicago restaurant consulting firm Technomic, said both chains target the booming market for "adult fast food."
"These are venues that provide better fast food in a more pleasing, upscale environment," he said. "Instead of taking 15 to 20 minutes to get your order, it takes five minutes. It's like a sit-down restaurant for people who have no time to eat."
Pawlak said the U.S. quick-casual market has been growing at 15 to 20 percent over the past five years, compared with less than 4 percent growth in the overall restaurant industry. In 2002, the segment, which includes chains like Panera Bread Co., had revenues of $6-billion of the fast-food industry's $141-billion. Total restaurant sales in 2002 were $270-billion.
Gonzmart said he expects to learn from the experience.
"I've been working in a restaurant since age 12, but this is an opportunity for me to see how others operate," he said. "It will help me as I look for new sites for the Columbia."
- Kris Hundley can be reached at hundley@sptimes.com or 727 892-2996.