America’s largest premium QSR Italian chain prepares to open three franchise locations throughout the Panama City area
Fazoli’s – the Lexington-based brand known for serving up premium Italian dishes at a great value – is continuing to ramp up expansion and is set to bring its acclaimed Italian dishes to Panama City!
Fazoli’s CEO Carl Howard announced today that the company has executed an area development agreement with Bob Amin of Shiv 8 Panama City, LLC to open three locations throughout Panama City. The first new restaurant is slated to open in the third quarter of 2021.
Amin began his career in the convenience store industry. In 2015, he sought to diversify his portfolio by starting his venture as a franchisee in the restaurant business. Currently, Amin owns 17 convenience stores in the Florida Panhandle, as well as seven Marco’s Pizza restaurants and four Checkers and Rally’s restaurants in the Panama City area.
“Fazoli’s first caught my attention when I was a college student in Atlanta; I would always eat a ton of their craveable unlimited breadsticks,” Amin said. “So while I was looking to expand my brand portfolio, Fazoli’s was an obvious choice. I reached out to a few of my friends who own Fazoli’s restaurants and they all had the same feedback: The brand’s back-end corporate support is really strong, and access and supply of products is super easy. I was sold. Open communication between corporate and their franchisees is a huge win-win.”
In addition to Fazoli’s impressive franchise support, the brand’s indulgent, high-quality food served as another selling point for Amin.
“There’s nothing like Fazoli’s in Panama City, we don’t really even have many Italian restaurants,” Amin said. “When you’re in a small town, people are always waiting to try new restaurants, so we believe Fazoli’s will be a home run for the community. Fazoli’s is the only restaurant in the area that people will be able to enjoy premium Italian dishes at an incredible price. The hot, fresh breadsticks alone will make them go crazy! I couldn’t be more excited to join this all-around incredible brand.”
For more information about franchise opportunities visit ownafazolis.com or contact Senior Director of Franchise Sales Steve Bailey steve.bailey@fazolis.com.
Founded in 1988 in Lexington, Ky., Fazoli’s owns and operates nearly 220 restaurants in 28 states, making it the largest premium QSR Italian chain in America. Fazoli’s prides itself on serving premium quality Italian food, fast, fresh and friendly. Menu offerings include freshly prepared pasta entrees, Submarinos sandwiches, salads, pizza and desserts – along with its unlimited signature breadsticks. Fazoli’s is a winner of FastCasual and Steritech’s 2020 Excellence in Food Safety Award and was named one of the “Top 200 Franchises in 2020” by Franchise Business Review, a FastCasual “Brand of the Year,” and an Entrepreneur 2018 “Franchise 500.” CEO Carl Howard was named among the most influential restaurant CEOs in the country in 2020 by Nation’s Restaurant News, was recognized as one of the top 25 industry leaders on FastCasual’s 2020 Top 100 Movers and Shakers list, and he and his team were recipients of the 2020 American Business Awards Gold Stevie Awards in Food & Beverage for Company of the Year, Achievement in Management and Human Resources Team of the Year.
bsundermier@championmgt.com
