Naples Flatbread - International Franchise Expo

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REDE
F
DINIINNING
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SM
Franchise Opportunities
Ralph Desiano
Owner & CEO
t h e Co n c e p t
Voted #34
100
of the TOP epts
nc
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n
Restaura
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id
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n
Natio
al
ternation
Mercato In tival
FoOd Fes
Winner
YEP, WE'RE THAT GOOD!
y e l p
Uniquely mainstream comfort foods served in an upbeat,
casual chic atmosphere. We’re not like anyone else… slightly
Italian, lightly Asian, but definitely All American. Our
customers expect the best, and we deliver. In fact, we’ve been recognized as #34 in the Top 100 Restaurant
Growth
Companies nationwide and chosen as the winner
of the Mercato International Food Festival and Tulsa’s
Iron Gate’s Cooking for a Cause Gala. The recognition is
flattering, but we are driven by one thing: the desire to
create loyal, raving fans—those who are compelled to tell
others about their Naples Flatbread experience.
Buzz P.
Our server knew the menu and was spot
on with her recommendations. Good wine,
good food, good prices and smiles all
around. Fun!!!
t h e F oo d
We started the flatbread craze back in 2009 when we opened
our first restaurant in Naples, Florida. Bold, sensual flavor
combinations served on our house made crust. While our
gourmet flatbreads made us famous, we are so much more.
Our menu is dynamic—changing and expanding to satisfy our guests’ palates with items
like our Neapolitan pizza, gourmet baked
pastas and mouthwatering mac and cheese.
Signature entrées such as boneless short ribs, award-winning Osso Bucco and roasted
Norwegian salmon. Oven-roasted wings, warm panini,cold deli sandwiches, overflowing
salads and scrumptious desserts. Sharing the spotlight is a fine selection of over 30
wines available by the glass, a unique variety of beers, and a full-service bar in most
locations. Everything served in-house, for take-out, or at your catered event.
t w i t t e r
SO MUCH
N
MORE THAADS!
FLATBRE
@ChelleAnderso Feb 14
Lobster thermidor flatbread pizza
@NaplesFlatbread downtown.
Happy birthday to me!!!
the brand
Naples Flatbread is a premium convenience flex-casual
restaurant that seamlessly provides authentic, innovative
food in a sophisticated environment while remaining
affordable.
Our flatbreads, pizzas, panini’s, deli sandwiches, wings,
pasta’s, entrée’s and salads are all comfort food with a
“unique twist”, making them craveables that you cannot
find anywhere else.
We use state of the art cooking equipment to lock in our
great flavor combinations without the use of fryers, sauté,
charbroilers, or any grease producing equipment. This
means cleaner, less expensive, more efficient operations.
We provide our guests a welcoming, comfortable, chic
atmosphere through a contemporary and upscale design that
reflects taste and style.
Currently operate 5 units in two states.
Cost effective to open.
Lunch check average of $11.48 and dinner check
average of $18.49.
Significant Catering Profit Center.
Enhanced Marketing and Merchandising.
Target audience includes:
- Adults 18-34 Without children
- Upscale Suburbanites of All Ages
- Metro Elites of All Ages
Our guests have the following characteristics:
-Higher Disposable Income
-More Sophisticated Food Preferences and Demands
for Variety
-Desire for a “Faster” Experience without
Sacrificing Quality.
- Buyers of Affordable Luxuries
Recognized nationally by several publications including
Quick Casual’s “Mover’s and Shaker’s”.
Site Ideals
Regional Retail Centers/Lifestyle
Centers
Minimum 600 Amp Service
2” and 4” Water Lines
National and Strong
Regional Co-Tenants
Gas supply of 2,220 mbh (Oven)
and 199 mbh (Water Heater)
3,000-4,000 SF
HVAC of 1 Ton per 150 SF.
Corners and Endcaps Preferred
Floor Loads of 175 lbs per SF
30’ Frontage
30,000 HH in Trade Area
10,000 Employees in the Trade Area
Minimum Daily Traffic Count
in Front of Site of 20,000
Above Average incomes
Outstanding Visability
Excellent Access
Convenient parking
Financial Requirements
To measure a candidate’s qualifications, we have established the following requirements:
Required liquid assets: Minimum of $150,000 per restaurant. Required net worth per restaurant of $500,000.
The Operator is an equity partner of at least 10%.
No more than 80% of the start-up costs be leveraged; 20% of any single store’s start-up costs must be in liquid assets.
the press
Naples Flatbread continues expansion, prepares to franchise
By KRISTINE GILL
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Since he opened the first Naples Flatbread &
Wine Bar in 2009, owner Ralph Desiano has wanted
to franchise his restaurant.
Now, with three Southwest Florida locations and
a second restaurant in Tulsa, Okla., opening this fall,
Desiano said he’s ready to do just that.
“I just continue to pray things will go as they
have,” Desiano said.
Beginning in January, Desiano and his Tulsabased business partner, Jim Wilburn, said restaurateurs
will be able to open their own Naples Flatbread
restaurants around the country for between $250,000
for a renovated space and $800,000 for a new build.
Desiano believes that if they can make it in
Tulsa, they have a good shot at franchising elsewhere.
“It’s kind of a mainstream proving ground,” he said,
meaning the types of people who live and dine there
are similar to those in many other parts of the country.
So far, he said he’s eying New York and Texas for
future restaurants.
Naples Flatbread sells “entrees on pieces of
bread,” as Desiano puts it, with a range of cuisines
from Indian to Asian foods plus the expected pizza
flatbread varieties.
Desiano opened his first Naples Flatbread on
Naples Boulevard in February 2009. The second
opened in November of the same year in Miromar
Outlets in Estero. The Mercato location opened in
June 2012.
Desiano said the first location had a weak start,
having opened when the economy was at a low point.
Neighboring restaurants in the same plaza closed
months after Desiano opened his. But he and his wife
were determined to build a customer base in the off
season.
“Things started off slowly, but because we have a
fairly unique product and because my wife and I were in
there every day talking with each customer, we built that
business one customer at a time,” he said.
The first Tulsa restaurant opened in September
2012 when the Southwest Florida locations had
established themselves.
Wilburn partenered with Desiano after Desiano did
consulting work at his failing Tulsa restaurant. Desiano
declined a job at the Tulsa restaurant, but agreed to a
partnership with the Naples Flatbread brand.
“The business has done well,” Wilburn said.
“(Desiano is) a great guy, he’s really hard working and
he’s been a great partner.”
Desiano said patrons in Oklahoma who hear
“Naples” either recognize the Southwest Florida city or
else think of Naples, Italy. Both, he said, are fine by him.
“At the end of the day, Naples, Italy, brings up
great food imagines and Naples, Florida, is known as
a tourism destination,” he said.
The second Tulsa location is the only restaurant
to open in a building across from the popular Bank of
Oklahoma Center, a convocation center with major
concerts and sporting events each weekend.
“It’s a little bit of a gamble but we think it’s a
great location,” Wilburn said.
Wilburn said he expects the restaurant’s biggest
draws to be lunch for the 600 employees of the office
building. Catering along with evening and weekend
hours are also expected to bring in good money, he said.
The new Tulsa restaurant is also the first location
Desiano has built from scratch. Each of his other
restaurants is a converted building with quirks he’s
had to deal with. The new build has an island bar in
the center for a more social feel and better flow in and
out of the kitchen for staff. It will boast the largest
outdoor patio of all five restaurants.
The new restaurant will feature a firewall with
real flames along with the restaurant’s signature
waterfall cascading in front of big TV screens.
“Ultimately, we’re here for food and service,”
Desiano said, “but it’s nice to have things people can
talk about.”
Whether or not he’s successful, Desiano will join
a small list of Naples-based restaurants that have
franchised outside of Florida to mixed results.
Gyrene Burger, which opened two locations in
2012 and closed the next year in Naples, just opened
its Knoxville, Tenn., location in September. A
spokesperson for the company said the chain has
plans to add more.
Naples Tomato, which closed its area restaurant
in 2010, had opened a franchise in Connecticut.
the press
Flex Casual
By: Jean Gruss | Editor/Lee-Collier
February 28, 2014
Ralph Desiano, co-founder of Naples Flatbread, says
he’s ready to franchise the concept after successfully
opening five restaurants.
Don’t box Naples Flatbread.
The fast-casual chain of pizzas, panini
sandwiches and salads offers tableside service and a
liquor bar, two things that set the chain apart from
others in the category.
Maybe that’s because owner and veteran
restaurateur Ralph Desiano birthed the chain in early
2009 during the depth of the recession. He knew the
recipe for success wouldn’t come by using the same
old strategy. “We’ve found our little niche,” says
Desiano, whose restaurants average about $1 million
each in sales annually.
In fact, Desiano has termed his restaurant “flex
casual” because of the ability to switch from counter
ordering to tableside service depending on the time of
day or the demands of his customers.
With five Naples Flatbread locations in operation,
Desiano is now ready to start selling franchises in 48
states. He’s aware there’s plenty of competition in the
fast-casual segment of restaurants (see accompanying
article), but he shrugs it off. “I try not to worry about
things I can’t control,” he says.
In the last year, Desiano says 40 to 50 people
have approached him about buying a franchise. “It’s
flattering, but it’s not the way I want to do it,” he says.
He’s looking for seasoned restaurant operators,
preferably ones interested in buying a territory of
multiple stores in Florida or the Southeast.
A Naples Flatbread franchise costs $40,000. A
development agreement for a wider area would cost
an additional $10,000 per restaurant. “I’d love to sell
a state,” he says.
Desiano and his business partner, Tulsa, Okla.based entrepreneur Jim Wilburn, have spent in excess
of $50,000 to hire Monroe Moxness Berg, a Minnesota
law firm, to draft franchise documents that spell out
the details explicitly. “We sought out the best legal
minds,” says Desiano.
After five years and more than $2 million
building the restaurants and perfecting the operations,
Desiano says he’s ready to shift his attention to selling
franchises. “I’m feeling really good, but we have a lot
of work to do,” he says.
Efficiency and a bar
Desiano gains an advantage by equipping his
kitchen with easy-to-operate equipment, including a
wood-burning stone oven, panini presses and
sophisticated ovens. There are no charbroilers, fryers
or flat grills that are messy and more costly.
That means the restaurant can run with just two
people in the kitchen: a manager and an employee.
“My underlying thing is to keep things simple,” says
Desiano.
So far, Desiano and Wilburn own three
restaurants in Naples and two in Tulsa. There are no
regional variations on the menus and prices are the
same in both markets, proving the concept can work
in the heart of the country and in a resort area.
One of the things that make Naples Flatbread
different from other fast-casual chains is the bar,
which takes up about one third of the total space of
the restaurant. For example, at the newest Tulsa
restaurant, the bar has 32 seats and the restaurant
has room for 150 people inside and another 60 on
the open-air patio.
Desiano initially served beer and wine, but he
says he added liquor to the menu when customers
requested it. He says the average checks and margins
are higher at the bar than they are at the tables and it
creates a fun, upscale atmosphere that draws the
dinner crowd. Beer, wine and liquor now account for
about 25% of the restaurant’s total sales.
Selling the franchise
Desiano says the challenge now is to step away
from the operations of the restaurants so he can focus
on selling franchises. “I’ve got good young talent that
I’m nurturing,” he says. “I’ve learned that I need to
step back a little bit,” he smiles.
Continued >>
the press
Flex Casual—Continued
By: Jean Gruss | Editor/Lee-Collier
February 28, 2014
But finding good managers who will work
alongside the staff is tough. “There’s a lot of office
managers out there,” Desiano says. “They don’t want
to work hard.”
Still, handing off the sales of franchisees to
someone else could be costly, too. One prospective
franchise salesman who has experience in this field
asked him for a six-figure salary, an expense account
and royalties in perpetuity, Desiano laughs.
But Desiano isn’t in a rush and he’s not worried
another flatbread chain might try to beat him. “There’s
plenty of room for us,” he says. “I think we’re primed.”
Desiano is particularly concerned about
expanding too fast. He prefers to expand the franchise
in Florida or in areas such as Atlanta or Charlotte,
N.C., where success is most likely. “California would
be a recipe for disaster,” he says, citing the high costs
of doing business there.
“I’ve seen great concepts self destruct,” he says,
citing Boston Market and Krispy Kreme as examples
of rapid expansions that went wrong. “It’s hard to say
no to someone who gave you a million-dollar check,”
he says.
Fast and furious
One of the hottest sectors of the retail market is
the fast-casual restaurant.
It’s an establishment that offers counter ordering
like fast food, but it promises higher-quality food in an
atmosphere of a casual restaurant. Often, staff will
bring your meal to your table after you order it at the
counter. Panera Bread is one example of this kind of
restaurant.
Many fast-casual chains that expanded to the
major cities of Florida such as Tampa and Orlando
during the real estate boom put their expansion plans
for the Fort Myers and Naples markets on hold during
the recession.
Now, restaurateurs in Southwest Florida are
dusting off those plans.
Commercial real estate brokers say some names
scouting the area are easily recognizable, others not
so much: Culver’s, Chipotle, Ker’s Wing House,
Genghis Grill, Zaxby’s, Noodles & Company, Pollo
Tropical, Moe’s, PDQ, How Do You Roll, Papa
Murphy’s and Carlos ’n Charlie’s.
“For a long time we didn’t even see a new
Starbucks,” says Karen Johnson-Crowther, managing
director and principal with Colliers International
Southwest Florida in Fort Myers.
“I think the confidence in the Southwest Florida
market is returning,” Johnson-Crowther says. “There
was a lot of money waiting to find a home.”
The success of fast-casual restaurants mirrored
the recession, when diners became more conservative
about their spending. Typically, someone might pay
$7 to $15 at a fast-casual restaurant.
Sometimes a fast-casual restaurant will have a
drive-thru window and special parking while you wait
for the meal to be delivered to your car. “Everybody’s
in a hurry,” says Walt Nelson, senior associate with
Trinity Commercial Group in Naples, who has helped
Culver’s locate sites throughout the region.
One of the challenges is that municipalities
sometimes confuse the fast-casual restaurants with
fast-food chains, especially if there’s a drive-thru
window, Nelson says.
That definition can create confusion when it
comes to municipal taxes on new construction, also
called “impact fees.” For example, in Collier County,
such one-time taxes are based on traffic count and
could amount to $400,000 for a busier fast-food
restaurant, but $200,000 for a fast-casual restaurant.
“We had a deal die in Collier County because of impact
fees,” says Dan O’Berski, Trinity’s managing director.
the press
Naples Flatbread: First eatery to open in downtown’s One Place offers tasty variety
By SCOTT CHERRY World Restaurant Critic
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Managers Gary Greene (left) and Andrew Palazzo are
combining to get the new downtown Naples Flatbread
& Wine Bar off the ground.
The round lights hanging at differing levels from
the ceiling and the flames from the long gas fireplace
popped out at us as we made one pass past the new
Naples Flatbread & Wine Bar downtown.
The restaurant sits directly across the street from
the BOK Center in the One Place Building, and there
is no parking on Denver Avenue, so the first step was
finding a place to park. A pay garage and a pay lot
adjoining the restaurant and nearby street parking
provided plenty of options.
We sat in the dining area with the fireplace,
which gave the room a warm and cozy feel on a
blistering cold night.
As its name suggests, Naples Flatbread offers a big
variety of flatbreads to go with a few entrees, appetizers,
soups, sandwiches, wings, desserts and pizzas.
We shared the apple-goat cheese bruschetta
($8.99) appetizer while we made up our minds about
what entrees to order. The dish included warm,
chopped apples, crumbled goat cheese, caramelized
pecans and a drizzle of balsamic dressing reduction,
served with naan-style triangles. It was loaded with
pecans and apples, and it had just enough cheese to
balance the sweetness of the nuts.
We decided to get an entree and a flatbread, and
we settled on a new flatbread, the Pietro ($15.99),
and the 10-ounce boneless short ribs ($17.99).
The serving of slow-braised short ribs seemed
larger than 10 ounces and was tender and flavorful
like Mom’s roast beef. I paired the meat with a new
side, tricolor roasted potatoes, a mix of russet, Yukon
gold and sweet potatoes, chopped into small pieces
and cooked to a perfect tenderness. Other sides
available are Asiago farro (basically mac-and-cheese)
and spicy, balsamic-marinated roasted vegetables.
The flatbreads, like almost all of the dishes here,
are cooked in a hearth oven open to the dining room.
The crust on our Pietro was ultra thin and crispy and
topped with prosciutto, goat cheese, black mission
figs, arugula, grape tomatoes, caramelized onions,
pine nuts and garlic butter with a balsamic glaze.
The chewy texture of the dark-skinned figs might
not be to everyone’s liking, but I thought the unique
sweet flavor of the figs made this dish special. The
prosciutto, goat cheese and pine nuts didn’t hurt, either.
For $1.99 extra we added a garden salad that
we could share with our entrees. It was a fresh, simple
mix of lettuce, carrots, tomatoes and diced cucumber
in a creamy ranch dressing.
Vegetarians and gluten-free diners have many
choices off the regular menu.
Naples Flatbread has full bar service, including
a nice selection of wines and specialty cocktails.
Marty Solis, familiar to many Brookside regulars, is
head bartender.
The bartender the night we were there, Haylee,
and our table server, Heath, both did nice jobs meeting
our needs in an efficient and friendly manner.
Florida restaurateur Ralph Desiano and local
businessman Jim Wilburn opened the first Tulsa
Naples Flatbread more than a year ago at 71st Street
and Yale Avenue. Three more are located near Naples,
Fla., where it was founded.
The new Tulsa restaurant features a 360-degree
bar with six televisions, a wall water feature, seethrough wine cellar and floor-to-ceiling windows to go
with the hearth oven.
“It will be the model for any new franchise
restaurants,” manager Andrew Palazzo said.
Palazzo and Gary Greene, most recently of the
now-closed Wolfgang Puck Bistro, are combining to
get the downtown restaurant off the ground. Greene
eventually will move to the 71st Street store, where
Palazzo had been working. Chefs are Robert Mares
and Aaron Snoddy.
The downtown restaurant seats 160 and will
have additional seating on the patio when the weather
warms.
VISIT US AT WWW. NAPLESFLAT
BREAD.COM
6434 Naples Boulevard, Suite 408, Naples, FL 34109
239.784.8088