Famous Toastery Grows in Popularity as Top Franchise to Watch in 2016

One of Charlotte, North Carolina’s favorite breakfast spots is on its way to becoming one of America’s biggest new chains. This year, Famous Toastery was named one of the top six food franchises in America by CNBC. And ever since, they’ve proven time and time again that they’re the brand to beat when it comes to dishing up better breakfast and lunch throughout the country.

This year’s recognition from CNBC signifies impressive momentum for the brand. In 2015, Famous Toastery was also named as one of the top 12 restaurants to watch by Technomic, a research and consulting firm servicing the food and food service industry. The brand’s CEO and founder, Robert Maynard, was featured on Fox Business to discuss Famous Toastery’s unique service model, and Entrepreneur Magazine featured their first-ever franchisee for grossing more than $900K in the first six months of business.

And most recently, Famous Toastery garnered national attention after appearing—once again—in Entrepreneur, along with mentions in esteemed publications like the Wall Street Journal and Forbes.

Famous Toastery’s growing list of accolades has been nearly 10 years in the making. Since 2005, the brand has won best breakfast and brunch for over a decade in Charlotte and the greater Charlotte market. And today, this small-home-turned restaurant in Huntersville, North Carolina boasts more than 15 locations throughout the Southeast. The brand recently celebrated another important milestone—Famous Toastery is poised to open an additional 25 new locations in 2017 alone, and they’re aiming to do so in both new and existing markets all over the country.

According to Maynard, the crux of the brand’s success is due, in large part, to their unmatched potential in the better-breakfast segment.

“More and more people are starting to hear about us. People are learning about our genuine passion for better food, served up in a welcoming and friendly culture. When they find out what Famous Toastery has to offer, people are either going out of their way to dine with us, or they’re wondering what it’ll take to bring the brand straight to them,” Maynard said.

“This tells us that there’s a real need for Famous Toastery. Better breakfast is still an untapped market, and we have so much opportunity to broaden our already-tremendous following of loyal and regular customers by bringing our brand throughout the country.”

Maynard also believes that much of Famous Toastery’s growing popularity can be attributed to the fact that it’s a lifestyle brand, too. Famous Toastery’s business model promises the same, high quick-service restaurant returns without the long hours (their stores are open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.). This increases their bottom line—franchisees find the shortened hours appealing and conducive to the growing demand for a better work-life balance. Ultimately, this helps boost the brand’s unit-level economics. To date, Famous Toastery boasts nearly $1.5 million in average unit volume,

“Our hours are very attractive to franchisees and their employees. This is a business opportunity that yields the same volume of sales as a quick-service restaurant that’s open 12-14 hours, but it allows employees a better quality of life—they’re able to wrap up their day and head home to their families by 4 p.m.”

As the nation’s only better-breakfast franchise, Maynard said being named one of the top six food franchises in the country is a testament to the growing demand for better, chef-inspired and healthier breakfast and brunch options in 2016—and Famous Toastery is fully prepared to heed that call. Over the past decade, Famous Toastery has emerged as the perfect storm. They’re setting and then exceeding the standards in an untapped market, they promote a quality lifestyle for their employees, and patrons are guaranteed better breakfast options with better ingredients.

In the end, it’s a business model that simply works.

“There’s a shift occurring lately in terms of what people look for when they’re dining out. People are shunning the idea of the greasy-spoon and artificial ingredients, and we are the antitheses of the greasy spoon. Instead, they’re craving foods that are fresh and natural.

We fly in fresh lobster every day, roast our own turkey and make our own salad dressing. They want meals that are made from scratch every single morning. We’re bringing that concept to the booming breakfast and brunch crowds, and we believe that our potential is currently unmatched,” Maynard said.

“From North Carolina to New York, people throughout the country all value those things—they want quality food without the pretention often seen in the brunch segment these days. And we’re excited to finally bring that option to them.”