Fare has 10 units in Chicago and is about to open in Charlotte, N.C. | Photo courtesy of Fare
Kasia Bednarz started working in restaurants when she was 17 (when she was underage, but don’t tell) to pay for college.
A Chicago native and the child of Polish immigrants who “lived around the dinner table,” she got sucked into the fabled Gibsons Restaurant Group (Gibsons Steakhouse, The Boathouse, Gibsons Italia and more), the family-owned operator of some of the country’s highest-grossing restaurants.
For Bednarz, who for over 15 years climbed the ladder to end up as head of sales for the group, it was a “restaurant MBA” that couldn’t be beat.
But at the time, Bednarz dreamed about creating a healthful fast-food concept that was accessible to the masses.
“I felt like there wasn’t anything [in Chicago] where I wanted to eat, that I actually believed was healthy, but that I wanted to eat because it tasted delicious,” she said. “There’s a big market need for that.”
And so she and a colleague from Gibsons, Britni DeLeon, created the concept Fare.
They first opened in a food hall in 2018, and it was a hit from the get go, she said, with lines out the door. So they opened a second in Chicago’s Time Out Market, and were working on a third.
But then, of course, COVID-19 hit.
The two outlets closed permanently and the third, then under construction, was scrapped.
Bednarz pivoted quickly to do wholesale, selling packaged meals to grocery stores under the Fare brand, to keep awareness alive. It also kept the team employed, working at a commissary kitchen.
But it wasn’t easy.
“Restaurants are hard,” said Bednarz. “But that was harder.”
There was pressure to produce at volume, for example. Margins were lower. And there were many 4 a.m. days packaging food that was to be distributed later that morning to stores, she said.
But it paid off. When Bednarz began reopening the restaurants in 2022, people knew the brand across town, and they came back.
This time, however, Bednarz saw Fare as more of a standalone brand, though there are outlets in food halls and other nontraditional locations.
Now Fare has 10 restaurants/outlets in Chicago and is moving outside that market for the first time. On Friday, Fare is scheduled to open its first non-Chicagoland location in Charlotte, North Carolina, which will be unit No. 11.
Three more are planned for next year (another three in Chicago, and a second unit in Charlotte). All locations are company owned, and Bednarz is about to launch a series A fundraising effort to raise capital for the growth planned over the next two years.
Fare hits on several industry trends — though Bednarz notes the brand preceded those trends, “so the trends caught up with us.”
It’s a from-scratch concept, with all food prepared in each restaurant. Fare uses no seed oils, for example, and no refined sugar.
“Every single sauce, every protein, every baked good is made in house,” said Bednarz. “We cut every single piece of produce. We husk the corn. We don’t really get anything in that’s bottled or packaged, outside of olive oil and vinegar.”
The menu changes seasonally, with a focus on customizable plates (or bowls), with options like smoked chicken, turkey meatballs and Bluehouse Atlantic Salmon with sides like Harissa Sweet Potatoes, Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower or Beets with Pistachio Dukkah. Meals also come with a cornbread muffin, and guests walk a makeline to build their plate.
“Essentially, we’re serving the type of food that you would get at a farm-to-table, sit-down restaurant, but in a convenient format fast,” said Bednarz.
Fare also serves breakfast all day, with options like egg sandwiches and overnight oats. And there’s a coffee program with organic milks, as well as smoothies, and baked goods like tahini brownies or chocolate chip cookies.
It may sound like a complex operation, but Bednarz said she learned a lot about efficiency at Gibsons. The kitchens use “no black iron,” flames or expensive exhaust systems. Cooking is done mostly in ovens that are pre-programmed by ingredient for consistency, so the sweet potatoes, for example, or the beets are always cooked the way they want.
The average check ranges from about $15 to $18, and units are roughly 1,500-square feet, though Bednarz said in future they will look for 1,800- to 2,000-square feet because they are finding the volume outgrows the spaces in which they operate currently.
Catering is a big emphasis, accounting for about 30% of sales at locations in business districts, said Bednarz.
Fare’s average unit volume is more than $2.3 million, with operating margins above 24%, and, she added, “We’re really proud of that.”
Co-founder DeLeon sold her stake and Bednarz has carried on. The Lombardo family members behind Gibsons Restaurant Group have been investors since the beginning, and Bednarz said both Steve Lombardo II, who founded the Gibsons group, and his son Steve Lomardo III have been mentors.
Bednarz sees Fare as having potential as a national brand. That’s something she hopes to prove out with the debut in Charlotte, where Bednarz has moved, to ensure it gets off to a good start.
The brand is ready to expand beyond its hometown of Chicago, she said.
“We’ve optimized it for scale,” she said. “Whenever we make decisions, like, hey, is this going to work across 100 stores, 200 stores? Because, if it’s not, then we can’t implement it.”
Lisa Jennings is a veteran restaurant industry reporter and editor who covers the fast-casual sector, independent restaurants and emerging chain concepts.
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