 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2006 |
| Founders |
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Number of locations | 115 (2023) |
Area served |
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Key people |
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| Revenue |  US$175 million [1] (2023) |
| Website | www |
WaBa Grill is an American fast casual restaurant chain specializing in healthy foods. Based in the Southwestern United States and founded in 2006, it has been called "one of the nation's leading healthy rice bowl chains". [2]
WaBa Grill was founded in 2006 by Kyle Lee, Brian Ham, and Eric Lee, who still are involved in the business as of 2021. [3]
During the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, in April 2020, employees of the chain, along with other restaurant workers, went on strike demanding protection equipment against the virus, hazard pay, and to be paid while on quarantine. [4]
The majority of WaBa Grill's menu items are rice bowls, with toppings like chicken, plant-based steak, rib eye steak, salmon, shrimp, and tofu. Salads are offered, along with "Boom Boom Tacos", which are covered with a sesame dressing, green onions, and a mayonnaise-based boom boom sauce. Sides include dumplings, wontons, sliced avocados, edamame dipped in kimchi, and jalapeños mixed with carrots. [5]
As of 2023, the chain has 115 restaurants in two states, Arizona and California. In Arizona, it has two restaurants, in Avondale and Tempe. California has the other 113, primarily concentrated in the southern part of the state. [5] It plans to expand into Nevada, with eight proposed stores in Clark County set to open by 2027. [2] Other expansion projects encompass a ten-unit deal in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, a thirteen-unit deal in Central California, and a ten-unit deal in Maricopa County, Arizona. [6]
Nation's Restaurant News included WaBa Grill on its list of the top 500 restaurant chains in America, placing it at #208. [1] It also debuted at #45 on Fast Casual's Top 100 Movers & Shakers List in 2021. [7]
Steak 'n Shake Operations, Inc. is an American casual restaurant chain concentrated primarily in the Midwestern United States with locations also in the South, Mid-Atlantic, Western United States, Europe, and the Middle East. The company is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Biglari Holdings. As of 2018, 628 Steak 'n Shake restaurants were in operation; of those 414 were corporate-owned, and 214 franchised. The company has since attempted to convert to a fully franchised model.
Baja Fresh is an American chain of fast-casual Tex Mex restaurants founded in Newbury Park, California, in 1990 and headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. It is owned by Canadian franchisor MTY Food Group. The chain emphasizes fresh ingredients, each restaurant featuring a self-serve salsa bar.
Qdoba is a chain of fast casual restaurants in the United States and Canada serving Mexican-style cuisine. After 15 years as a wholly owned subsidiary of Jack in the Box, the company was sold to a consortium of funds led by Apollo Global Management in March 2018. In October 2022, Qdoba was acquired by Butterfly Equity. At the time of the acquisition, Qdoba had nearly 750 locations across North America. It is the No.2 player and No.1 franchisor of Mexican fast-casual dining in North America.
D'Angelo Grilled Sandwiches is a chain of 83 neighborhood-style sandwich shops found in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. D'Angelo Grilled Sandwiches was founded in Dedham, Massachusetts in 1967. It serves various kinds of grilled and deli sandwiches, rice and grain bowls, lobster rolls, grilled topped salads, wraps, and hot soups. The company's grilled sandwich Number 9 was called "the finest fast-food sandwich in the land" in a Bloomberg News column.
Rubio's Coastal Grill, formerly known as Rubio's Fresh Mexican Grill and Rubio's Baja Grill, is an American fast casual "Fresh Mex" or "New Mex" restaurant chain specializing in Mexican food, with an emphasis on fish tacos. As of 2013, Rubio's operates, licenses, or franchises more than 200 restaurants in Arizona, California, Florida, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. It is headquartered in Carlsbad, California.
Extreme Pita is a Canadian-based fast-casual chain, owned by MTY Group. Headquartered in Richmond Hill, Ontario, the company has more than 175 units throughout Canada and the United States.
Daphne's Greek Cafe or, Daphne's California Greek is an American fast-casual Greek restaurant operating in California. The restaurant name refers to Daphne of Greek mythology whom the god Apollo desired.
Cafe Rio, or Cafe Rio Mexican Grill, is an American fast casual restaurant chain based in Salt Lake City, with branches in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming. The company specializes in Mexican cuisine. Its menu includes appetizers, tostadas, salads, burritos, desserts, enchiladas, tacos, quesadillas, soups, and beverages. The company also provides catering services. In October 2017, the chain had 120 locations. In April 2022, it has grown to 146 locations.
Shane's Rib Shack is an American fast casual BBQ franchise, serving slow-cooked baby back ribs, hand-chopped chicken and pork, and Southern style side dishes. As of January, 2024, they are located in eight states, with most of their restaurants located in the state of Georgia.
Kahala Brands is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canada-based MTY Food Group Inc. of Montreal, Quebec. Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Kahala is one of North America's largest holding company of franchise fast food restaurant companies. In May 2016, the publicly traded Canadian MTY Food Group announced a friendly takeover deal with the Kahala Brands. MTY agreed to pay about US$300 million to acquire Kahala. The two companies generated nearly $2 billion in revenues in the previous year. Jeff Smit was chosen to lead the US operations of MTY.
SPB Hospitality is a multi-brand restaurant operator headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company owns several casual dining restaurant chain brands, including Logan's Roadhouse, Old Chicago Pizza + Taproom, J. Alexander's, Stoney River Steak House, Krystal Restaurants, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurants, and Rock Bottom Restaurants Breweries. As of November 2019, CraftWorks owned and operated over 390 restaurants in the United States, but all of its owned-and-operated locations closed by March 2020, after a Chapter 11 bankruptcy followed immediately by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, and CraftWorks and terminated its 18,000 employees, leaving fewer than 25 employed. On June 12, 2020, SPB Hospitality purchased Craftworks businesses out of bankruptcy for $93 million.
Genghis Grill is an interactive Mongolian Stir Fry fast casual restaurant. Customers choose their own proteins, vegetables, spices, sauces and side options from a Fresh Bar which includes over 80 ingredients. The customer then passes their selection to the Grill Master who places it on a huge round open grill. Genghis Grill has over 50 locations across the nation and offers a loyalty program, Genghis Rewards, for their frequent guests.
Pie Five Pizza is an American fast casual restaurant chain specializing in personal pizza. The brand is owned by Rave Restaurant Group, which also owns Pizza Inn. As of July 2021, Pie Five operates 33 restaurants with locations in the following states: Arkansas, California, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Texas.
Burger Lounge is an American fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in hamburgers made from American grass-fed beef, salads, shakes, French fries and onion rings. Burger Lounge is headquartered in San Diego, California. In 2007, J. Dean Loring and Michael Gilligan founded the company in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego. J. Dean Loring is the President and CEO of Burger Lounge.
The Habit Burger Grill is a California-based fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in chargrilled hamburgers. The company also sells other typical fast-casual fare. It was founded in 1969 at Santa Barbara, California and its headquarters are in Irvine, California.
Blaze Pizza is a Pasadena, California–based fast-casual pizza restaurant chain. Founded in 2011 by Elise and Rick Wetzel of Wetzel's Pretzels, the chain is known for serving made-to-order pizzas.
Rod Silva is an American restaurateur. He was the nominee of the Nutrition Party, which he created for the 2016 United States presidential election.
Salsarita's Fresh Mexican Grill is a chain of fast casual Tex Mex restaurants in the United States serving Mexican-style cuisine. Restaurant service consists of: dine-in, take-out, online ordering, 3rd Party Delivery with some locations offering Drive Thru options. The company is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and operates over 80 company-owned and franchised restaurants throughout United States.
Salad and Go is a drive-thru restaurant chain that specializes in salads, wraps, and breakfast. The brand is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona with a second office in Addison, Texas, and two food production facilities in Phoenix and Dallas. Salad and Go is a privately held company with more than 100 locations operating across four states including Arizona, Texas, Oklahoma and Nevada.