Fat Brands Inc. has made a number of announcements in the past month.
For one, the Beverly Hills restaurant chain owner and franchiser announced on Oct. 9 that it signed a deal with franchise owner Valor Acquisitions Group LLC to bring five Fazoli’s locations to Utah over the next five years.
The day before that announcement, it said that it was opening four new co-branded Great American Cookies and Marble Slab Creamery locations in Georgia.
And on Oct. 1, the company announced it was opening a co-branded Fatburger and Buffalo’s Express in Puerto Rico, the first for the island territory. The restaurant is the first of 10 locations set to open on the Caribbean island in partnership with local franchisee Conceptos Restaurants LLC.
The first Fazoli’s location is expected to open in Utah next year in Saratoga Springs.
Taylor Wiederhorn, chief development officer of FAT Brands, said that since acquiring Fazoli’s in 2021, the company has been committed to growing the brand strategically and fueling its return to areas with loyal customers such as Utah.
“We look forward to bringing back our signature unlimited breadsticks to the state with our first opening in Saratoga Springs and future openings slated throughout Salt Lake and Utah Counties,” Wiederhorn said in a statement.
Adding to over 50 existing locations in Georgia, Great American Cookies and Marble Slab Creamery are now open in Cartersville, Athens, Bethlehem and Snellville in the Southern state.
Allison Lauenstein – president of the quick-service division, where she oversees Great American Cookies, Marble Slab Creamery, and Pretzelmaker – said that since starting in Georgia in 1977, the community has embraced Great American Cookies and that the company is pleased to continue to expand in the state with sister brand, Marble Slab Creamery.
“The synergistic nature of the two brands paired together has proved to be quite successful and these recent openings underscore both the strategic and bottom-line value they deliver together,” Lauenstein said in a statement.
The Fatburger and Buffalo’s Express is located in Plaza Carolina, Puerto Rico’s second largest shopping center on Avenida Jesús M. Fragoso, in the city of Carolina, adjacent to San Juan, the capital.
Jake Berchtold, chief operating officer of the fast casual division of the company, said that he was excited to kick off Fatburger’s growth in Puerto Rico with its first opening of 10 slated stores over the next several years.
“We continue to seek new growth opportunities that only further position Fatburger as a global leader,” Berchtold said in a statement.
