Compared to a lot of other growing restaurant concepts, Piada Italian Street Food is practically ancient. The fast-casual brand was started by Bravo Brio founder Chris Doody way back in 2010 — pre-dating by six years buzzy national concepts like 7 Brew and Dave’s Hot Chicken and launching the same year as CAVA.
While those concepts have already opened hundreds of locations from coast to coast, Piada has methodically grown to 62 locations over its 16 years. But as co-CEO Lance Juhas said, Piada was biding its time until it had “earned the right to grow.”
That time, it seems, is now. Piada announced earlier this year that it was looking for a strategic growth partner that could help it achieve national expansion, which company leaders believe could be as many as 1,000 locations.
Juhas joined the latest episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches to talk about why now is the time to grow and how Piada has set itself apart from its fast-casual competitors.
In this conversation, you’ll learn more about why:
Your customers will tell you what your star menu item is
Hospitality is the ingredient that brings customers back
You should never take the crab out of the crab cakes
Customization is not for everybody
You’ve got to earn the right to grow
A guest’s endorsement is gold — and harder and harder to get
Contact Sam Oches at [email protected].
Dining and Cooking