ANGIE'S FOOD CONCEPTS CONTINUED...
EMERGING BRANDS
skill involved. “Those clamshell grills are a huge game-changer for us,” he said. Angie’s also saves on occupancy costs, he said. Stores are really busy, so occupancy cost as a percentage of sales is lower than a Salad and Go. Angie’s Lobster now boasts an average unit volume of $2.7 million, he said. “In the end, our four-wall mar- gin is about 21%,” said Christofellis. “We still get to the magic number everyone wants to get to right now. We just get there much differently.” With the Lobster brand under- way, next came Angie’s Prime Grill, the second brand, which now has two locations. Christofellis described Angie’s Prime Grill as “Chipotle meets Sal- ad and Go.” On the menu are warm bowls, grilled burritos and salads (made with organic lettuce, as was origi- nally the case at Salad and Go). But it’s not necessarily Mexican. Christofellis’ heritage is Greek, so he set out to create “the best Greek salad the world has ever seen.” But there’s also a warm Greek bowl, which he argues is even more flavorful, using healthful brown rice and extra virgin olive oil. A grilled chicken Greek bowl with Persian cucumbers, organic to- matoes, red onions, pepperoncinis, kalamata olives and feta is $7.79 with a drink, which Christofellis contends is even lower than Salad and Go, and better quality. In test now is a third concept called Angie’s Burger, which was created to use the trimmings from the USDA prime steak used at Ang- ie’s Prime. The menu is being tested out of the other Angie’s units. So far an eight-ounce Prime Steakhouse Burger has been a best-seller, priced at $9.99 with a drink. Last week, Christofellis also
started testing a three-ounce burg- er—designed to compete more di- rectly with brands like In-N-Out or Shake Shack—for $3.19. “Once we’ve figured out the burger business, we’ll do some standalone stores,” Christofellis said. Next up: Christofellis is taking on Chick-fil-A. In October, Angie’s plans to test a chicken concept that will offer a fried-chicken sandwich meal start- ing at $5 that will be designed to compete with a meal that would likely be about $11 at Chick-fil-A. “For a lower- to middle-income American, to spend $11 at lunch is not affordable, and they’re just not doing it,” he said. Fundamentally, his goal is to give inflation-stressed consumers better options. “We’re creating the juggernaut that will give lower to middle-in- come consumers high-quality food at the lowest possible price,” he said. "We want to create an eco- system where, if you're a front-line American and you want something to eat, you'll go to Angies, which, like Walmart, offers everyday low prices."
By the end of the year, Angie’s expects to reach 15 locations total. The company opened the first Ang- ie’s Lobster in Las Vegas earlier this month, where Christofellis plans to fill in that market—which can be served from the central kitchen in Arizona. Those production facilities can support up to 200 restaurants, he said. Christofellis has targeted Texas and Florida as the next markets in 2025. There, the company will like- ly build production facilities as it grows. Angie’s is projecting to open 20 restaurants next year, and all will be company-owned. (Christofellis be- lieves franchising is fundamentally not efficient.) “We are creating—not the next big thing, not the next Chipotle. But we’ve created the big thing that will define the industry for generations to come,” he said. “We’re the only ones that have cracked the code and have the infrastructure, culture and experience to solve the biggest problem facing fast food today, which is affordability. “And affordability isn’t going away,” he added.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANGIE'S FOOD CONCEPTS
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RESTAURANT BUSINESS OCTOBER 2024
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