Nearly five years ago, STACKED: Food Well Built opened its first restaurant in Torrance, California, followed by additional locations in Cerritos, Thousand Oaks, and San Diego. Guests were able to customize entire meals by choosing from dozens of high-quality and flavorful ingredients, toppings and sauces to build burgers, sandwiches, salads, mac ‘n’ cheese, shakes, appetizers, desserts and cocktails, and more.

On January 18, residents in Orange County will have one to call their own, as STACKED opens its first area location in Huntington Beach, where it will debut a breakfast menu featuring fully customizable pancakes, French toast, scrambles, breakfast burritos, bloody Mary’s, mimosas, and more. 

The brainchild of industry veterans, Paul Motenko and Jerry Hennessy who built BJ’s Restaurants into a national chain, the STACKED experience uses ingenious technology to enable guests to customize meals by simply swiping left and right on tabletop iPads. Guests build meals by choosing among scores of premium ingredients, toppings and sauces, or if preferred, can choose from creative signature items that can also be customized.

STACKED’s menu allows guests to build literally millions of combinations of meals, such as burgers. For example, to build a burger at STACKED, guests choose from Angus beef, turkey, salmon or vegetarian burger patties. To “STACK” their burger, they select from five different buns, and numerous cheeses, toppings and sauces that range from roasted shallot mayo and chipotle mayo to caramelized onions and jalapeno bacon

In addition to stacking burgers, sandwiches, salads, mac ‘n’ cheese, appetizers, shakes, and desserts, guests at the new Huntington Beach restaurant will enjoy an entirely new breakfast menu. Guests can stack pancakes, French toast, scrambles, and egg burritos in limitless combinations. Pancakes are available in buttermilk, whole grain and nut, and gluten-free options and can be piled high with fresh fruit, nuts, various dry toppings, sauces, and syrups. French toast is available with cinnamon swirl, Challah or Kings Hawaiian bread, and can also be topped with various toppings, sauces and syrups.

Guests can build Scrambles and burritos with various proteins, such as Applewood smoked or jalapeno bacon, Andouille sausage, grilled or blackened chicken, pulled pork and honey-smoked salmon, plus eight different cheeses, 18 vegetables, pastrami hash, country potatoes or hash browns, and several flavorful sauces.

Guests will also be able to stack breakfasts, like choosing from several toast options, pancakes, eggs, proteins, potatoes, fruit, vegetables, and topped with various sauces and syrups.

Customizable yogurt bowls are also on the menu, as are kids breakfasts that can also be customized.

STACKED in Huntington Beach will also offer several signature items in each breakfast category, such as Caramel Apple Pancakes and Blueberry Ricotta Pancakes, Fresh Berry Cinnamon Swirl French Toast, and Sweet Hawaiian Berry French Toast, Southwestern Scramble, and Chorizo and Black Bean Egg Burritos.

Eggs Benedict also takes its place on the menu with four signature item options including Classic Eggs Benedict, Honey Smoked Salmon Benedict, Short Rib Benedict, and Chilaquilis Benedict.

STACKED in Huntington Beach will also feature a Bloody Mary bar and customizable Mimosas.

“What a perfect way to start the day, with a breakfast built by you, just the way you want,” Motenko says. “Whether it’s a sky-high stack of pancakes made from scratch and topped with caramelized apples, caramel sauce and whipped cream, Eggs Benedict complemented by a Bloody Mary built by you, or two eggs simply made to perfection, STACKED is the place to enjoy the morning with friends and family.”

While friendly servers attentively wait on guests through the entire meal, the innovative ordering approach lets guests control the order. And, for those guests who prefer traditional service, STACKED’s hospitality team is very glad to personally take the order.

“STACKED is a completely judgment free dining experience, where you can order your meal any way you want and where you have the ability to order and pay when and how you want,” Motenko says. “At STACKED, we offer today’s more food-knowledgeable guest a new type of contemporary dining experience where they are in complete control of their meal, built around the ability to customize their entire meal with the best quality ingredients. We are delighted to open in our hometown of Orange County, bringing not only the best of build-your-own dining to Huntington Beach, but also a brand new breakfast menu that is also totally customizable.”

STACKED’s proprietary technology also lets guests choose the timing and delivery of the meal, when to pay, and how much to pay by displaying the cost of each ingredient as the meal is built. The technology also benefits guests with dietary preferences, who want to build meals that fit lifestyles and diets, such as vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free, or who want to count calories via an optional calorie counter that lists calories as ingredients are added or removed.

The architecture and interior design of STACKED-Huntington Beach combine industrial elements of metal and concrete along with abundant reclaimed wood to add an organic feel and artistic touches. A medley of colored glass in yellows, oranges, and ambers on the facade bring a sunnier element to accompany the new breakfast menu for STACKED. Guests enter through a massive reclaimed wood door to enjoy the combined experience of cozy dining room or laid-back open-air patio.

Custom tables combine steel, wood and stained concrete to reinforce the reclaimed industrial vibe. 

Fully upholstered booths and chairs add a softer element and splash of color. Design features include a massive steel mesh liquor cabinet and a floor-to-ceiling wall of stained reclaimed wood blocks. Colored and antiqued wall mirrors reflect the signature light grid of hand-blown frosted glass pendants.

The unique metal-topped bar spans between the dining room and open patio as the ideal place to meet friends, family and co-workers for one of STACKED’s famous Happy Hours featuring hand-made cocktails that are made-to-order, a wide selection of craft and domestic beers, and a quality selection of wines.