DALLAS Genghis Grill Franchise Concepts LP, parent to the 41-unit Genghis Grill Mongolian barbecue chain, and Mark H. Brezinski, founder of Bengal Coast Restaurants LP, will announce plans Monday for a joint venture in a fast-casual Asian restaurant to be called Bistro Babusan.
The first Bistro Babusan is scheduled to open by late April in Allen, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas.
Brezinski said the first unit will cover about 3,400 square feet and feature a menu with prices ranging from $4 for “openers” to about $11 for full plates. It will highlight southern Asian cuisine developed by Bengal Coast chef Neville Panthaky, including soup noodle bowls, wraps, curries, stir-fries, and skewer and salad combinations. The restaurant will have a full bar.
“Our mutual goal is to open this first restaurant together and assess how best to co-determine its future,” said Al Bhakta, president and chief executive of Genghis Grill Franchise Concepts. “Our shared opinion is that there is a great future in this segment and that a broader Asian cuisine gives us a real advantage in the fast casual niche.”
Bhakta’s Chalak Group of Dallas was a Genghis Grill franchisee before buying the chain’s franchising company in 2004.
Brezinski was a co-founding partner in the Pei Wei Asian Diner brand and created Bengal Coast two years ago. It offers both full-service and fast-casual service from a swath of Asian cuisines.
Brezinski said, “We are poised to apply the lessons we have learned these past few years, and I am very comfortable developing Bistro Babusan in the fast-casual segment, a segment I have been in for over 10 years.”
The first Bistro Babusan will be in a 1.1 million-square-foot mixed retail complex in Allen, called The Village at Fairview.
Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected] .
