Wonder if the cockroaches will still be there too...
No more Daphne's? Greek chain diminishing as store locations convert to broader Yalla Mediterranean menu
Jan. 24, 2016 Updated 7:28 p.m.
Fans of Daphne?s California Greek might see fewer options to buy their favorite kebab plate.
Several Daphne?s locations, including three in Orange County, are being phased out and replaced by a fast-casual upstart with a broader Mediterranean menu.
Yalla Mediterranean, which opened its first restaurants in late 2014, is owned by Mediterranean Cuisine Operating Co. Mediterranean?s parent company is Victory Park Capital, a Chicago-based investment firm that bought Daphne?s in 2014. Over the last 12 months, a handful of Yallas have opened in former Daphne?s locations ? mostly in the Bay Area.
Next month, a Daphne?s is Seal Beach, which closed late last year, will reopen as a Yalla. The modern fast-casual restaurant offers Mediterranean wraps, salads and platters inspired by cuisine and flavors found in Greece, Morocco, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Tunisia and Egypt. Daphne?s foods are not part of the Yalla menu.
?Going forward, we feel Yalla is the right (brand) for its time,? said Chief Executive Dave Wolfgram, who helped grow fast-casual pioneer Corner Bakery to 80 locations in the late 1990s.
Daphne?s locations in Newport Beach and Irvine also are slated to become Yalla restaurants later this year. They are part of at least eight new Yalla restaurants expected to open in 2016 as it focuses on growth in Southern California. Other locations are planned in Torrance and West Hollywood.
By the end of the year, Yalla will have doubled in size to 13 restaurants.
With so-called ?clean? eating trends focused on flavorful platters packed with vegetables and hormone-free proteins, Wolfgram said Yalla is poised to do well. He said the brand?s food philosophy is similar to slow-food concepts such as Tender Greens and Lemonade.
?Mediterranean works perfectly with what people are looking for in foods today,? said Wolfgram, who was instrumental in building the Boudin SF cafe brand.
Like Chipotle Mexican Grill and Subway, Yalla?s service is assembly-line style. Customers build their own meal, starting with the type of entree ? salad, wrap or a plate with three sides. Next, diners pick from a handful of proteins: chicken, steak, ground lamb or salmon skewers; and chicken shawarma. There?s a vegetarian falafel and mashup option called shalafel (half chicken shawarma/half falafel.)
Yalla?s seasonal side dishes are also popular, especially the Moroccan Carrot Salad, Wolfgram said.
While Yalla is taking over several key Daphne?s locations, Wolfgram said it is not Victory Capital?s intention to close and convert every location. Some will remain.
However, the company has no plans to grow Daphne?s. In 2011, a year after emerging from a 2010 bankruptcy, Daphne?s Greek Caf? rebranded and remodeled restaurants under the new name, Daphne?s California Greek. At the time, Daphne?s had about 18 restaurants in Orange County.
No more Daphne's? Greek chain diminishing as store locations convert to broader Yalla Mediterranean menu
Jan. 24, 2016 Updated 7:28 p.m.
Fans of Daphne?s California Greek might see fewer options to buy their favorite kebab plate.
Several Daphne?s locations, including three in Orange County, are being phased out and replaced by a fast-casual upstart with a broader Mediterranean menu.
Yalla Mediterranean, which opened its first restaurants in late 2014, is owned by Mediterranean Cuisine Operating Co. Mediterranean?s parent company is Victory Park Capital, a Chicago-based investment firm that bought Daphne?s in 2014. Over the last 12 months, a handful of Yallas have opened in former Daphne?s locations ? mostly in the Bay Area.
Next month, a Daphne?s is Seal Beach, which closed late last year, will reopen as a Yalla. The modern fast-casual restaurant offers Mediterranean wraps, salads and platters inspired by cuisine and flavors found in Greece, Morocco, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Tunisia and Egypt. Daphne?s foods are not part of the Yalla menu.
?Going forward, we feel Yalla is the right (brand) for its time,? said Chief Executive Dave Wolfgram, who helped grow fast-casual pioneer Corner Bakery to 80 locations in the late 1990s.
Daphne?s locations in Newport Beach and Irvine also are slated to become Yalla restaurants later this year. They are part of at least eight new Yalla restaurants expected to open in 2016 as it focuses on growth in Southern California. Other locations are planned in Torrance and West Hollywood.
By the end of the year, Yalla will have doubled in size to 13 restaurants.
With so-called ?clean? eating trends focused on flavorful platters packed with vegetables and hormone-free proteins, Wolfgram said Yalla is poised to do well. He said the brand?s food philosophy is similar to slow-food concepts such as Tender Greens and Lemonade.
?Mediterranean works perfectly with what people are looking for in foods today,? said Wolfgram, who was instrumental in building the Boudin SF cafe brand.
Like Chipotle Mexican Grill and Subway, Yalla?s service is assembly-line style. Customers build their own meal, starting with the type of entree ? salad, wrap or a plate with three sides. Next, diners pick from a handful of proteins: chicken, steak, ground lamb or salmon skewers; and chicken shawarma. There?s a vegetarian falafel and mashup option called shalafel (half chicken shawarma/half falafel.)
Yalla?s seasonal side dishes are also popular, especially the Moroccan Carrot Salad, Wolfgram said.
While Yalla is taking over several key Daphne?s locations, Wolfgram said it is not Victory Capital?s intention to close and convert every location. Some will remain.
However, the company has no plans to grow Daphne?s. In 2011, a year after emerging from a 2010 bankruptcy, Daphne?s Greek Caf? rebranded and remodeled restaurants under the new name, Daphne?s California Greek. At the time, Daphne?s had about 18 restaurants in Orange County.
