Perkins American Food Co. and Huddle House have been around for five decades, but the past few years are arguably some of the best in company history.
Existing franchisees are reinvesting at a record pace. Not only that, but they’re agreeing to buy corporate restaurants in addition to building more locations—something these chains haven’t done before. This year alone, parent company Ascent Hospitality Management sold 88 franchise agreements, including a 10-unit deal for Perkins’ Griddle and Go fast casual in New Jersey, a 10-unit deal for Perkins in California, and a 20-unit deal for Huddle House in Texas—all of which were the largest in each brand’s existence.
“We’re not new but we’re re-energized,” says chief development officer Peter Ortiz. “We’re going through a rebirth right now, and they’re seeing that. So we are, in addition to these large deals, we’re probably talking to another 20 or 30 multi-unit groups that are out there that are expressing interest. We have fans on both Perkins and Huddle House. So once we started becoming less legacy and more legendary, they started coming in and that’s how we’re getting these larger deals. They were probably on the fence until they saw what was happening this year and they said, ‘OK, we’re ready to come in.'”
Private equity owner Elysium has given Perkins and Huddle House “carte blanche” to do everything necessary to move forward, Ortiz says. James O’Reilly, a former CEO of Long John Silver’s and Smokey Bones, took on the same role for Ascent in June 2023. Blain Shortreed, another former Long John Silver’s CEO, became Huddle House brand president in December 2023; and Little Caesars vet Toni Ronayne joined as Perkins brand president in February.
The group also revamped its franchise development program. The key was ending things that weren’t producing viable results. During COVID, operators didn’t want to attend Discover Days, so the restaurants built a different way of introducing the brand, like more videos and podcasts and an updated website.
The success isn’t necessarily coming from seasoned restaurateurs either. Ortiz likes business-minded individuals who are already in charge of a company. He has four boxes to check: Are they in business for themselves already and know what a 60 to 80-hour week feels like? Are they a fan of the brand? Is there a need in the market? And are the individuals respected in the market? For instance, a store in Greenbrier, Arkansas, experienced a record opening in its first week, and the franchisees own several insurance companies.
“My philosophy worked, and a lot of people didn’t buy into it when I started doing this, and now they’re seeing it,” Ortiz says. “Every record-breaking opening we’ve had are people I’ve sold to that checked those same boxes. That’s why it’s worked for me.”
A significant and more recent part of the rise was the name change from Perkins Restaurant & Bakery to Perkins American Food Co. Ortiz admits he was concerned about how it would impact people from a buying perspective, but results have been “phenomenal,” he says. People have accepted it to the point that Ortiz can’t recall a time when the name change came up as a negative during a sales negotiation.
“We didn’t just change the name, we changed the look of the name as well,” Ortiz says. “So I mean it’s been totally rebranded, and we haven’t gotten any pushback. It’s exciting. I’m getting contacted by so many people from my past that are congratulating us on this transformational year. This is definitely our Super Bowl.”
Perkins’ is also looking to grow faster and appeal to a wider, younger audience with its new fast casual Griddle and Go concept. The prototype features a smaller, state-of-the-art developed with the Aria Group. The first unit opened in Canada in November. Another deal has been inked in Calgary.
Ortiz views it as “the horse that we’re going to ride more than anything else” because it’s easier in terms of real estate and market selection. It’s simpler to sell a downsized quick-service footprint into New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, or Miami than a 3,000 to 5,000-square-foot sit-down spot. Also, since COVID, customers don’t eat in dining rooms as much as they used to.
Ortiz is also well aware of previous fast-casual spinoff failures. IHOP opened Flip’d by IHOP in 2021 only to pull the plug on it a couple of years later. TGI Fridays announced a quick-service concept in 2022, but the brand never got off the ground, and Hooters lost steam on Hoots Wings after signing some large franchise agreements during COVID.
To Ortiz, the main difference is that Griddle and Go doesn’t look or feel like a Perkins. It may be part of Perkins as of now, but in the future, he sees the brand having a completely separate identity.
“We did check out the different models that were out there, and we looked at all pictures of them and things like that,” Ortiz says. “That’s why we invested in this design. We spent a lot of money to make sure that we can attract the different customers out there. We want all of them. The menu took months and months and months to do. I’m not kidding. We were asking for this menu every day. The fact of the matter is, it took months because we wanted to get it right. Our philosophy was let’s not get it done fast. Let’s get it done right. And that’s what we did. The design is beautiful. The menu is perfect. The menu, of course, is a living document. It’s going to keep moving and shaking and whatever what works and what doesn’t work.”
Huddle House is seeing expansion opportunities too with 120 agreements signed over the past three years.
It’s a much different look than when Ortiz began his position nearly four years ago.
“In this segment, we’re just kicking everyone’s butt,” Ortiz says. “There’s no stopping our momentum. It is huge right now. Our pipelines are huge … It’s been an exciting year. It’s been a culmination of four years of me driving this bus, and now we’ve hit the mother lode and then I think the momentum is going to continue.”
