Hopdoddy to double unit count this yearHopdoddy to double unit count this year

Hopdoddy Burger Bar Inc. of Texas will enter Southern California this year, doubling the unit count for the burger-and-craft-beer concept, the company said this month.

Austin, Texas-based Hopdoddy, which has seven high-volume units in Texas, Arizona and Colorado, plans to open three units in California this year, as well as four in existing markets, said president and CEO Dan Mesches.

“Our biggest advantage is the craft nature of what we do,” Mesches told Nation’s Restaurant News. “We might have done this in 2000, and it might not have been so successful.”

Primetime burger. Photo: Hopdoddy

Hopdoddy offers a service style between fast casual and casual dining, along with a menu of 14 burgers made with hormone- and antibiotic-free meat and house-cut fries. Buns are baked in house throughout the day, and the bar features local craft beers and, oftentimes, local spirits and milk shakes.

Hopdoddy, which gets its name from the hops of its craft beer program and doddy, a term for cows in Aberdeen, Scotland, first opened in 2010 in Austin with a founding pedigree.

The four founders are Guy Villavaso and Larry Foles, who created Z Tejas and Eddie V’s, the latter of which they sold to Darden Restaurants Inc. in 2011. They teamed with Larry Perdido and Chuck Smith, who had worked with Villavaso and Foles and created the popular Moonshine Patio Bar & Grill in Austin.

Mesches said Hopdoddy got an investment last year from Greenwich, Conn.-based Catterton, which has holdings in restaurant companies including Bloomin’ Brands Inc., Cheddar’s Casual Cafe, Noodles & Co., Piada Italian Street Food, Primanti Bros., Protein Bar and Snap Kitchen.

Mesches said Hopdoddy’s will open this year at The Runway at Playa Vista and The Point at El Segundo in Los Angeles, as well as at Fashion Island in Orange County. Four more locations are planned for existing markets in Austin, Denver and Phoenix.

“We love to have specialty retail around us, as well as other restaurants,” said Mesches, who joined Hopdoddy in 2010. He previously led the Star Restaurant Group in Washington, D.C., which has Red Sage, Zola and other restaurant holdings.

Hopdoddy looks for locations of 3,800 square feet to 4,000 square feet, with patios, he said. The average check, including beverages, is $14 to $15.

A top-selling menu item is the Goodnight Burger, with a black Angus beef patty, Beeler’s bacon, Tillamook Cheddar cheese and sliced jalapeños, with hickory barbecue sauce, tomato, lettuce and signature “Sassy” sauce on an egg bun. Mesches said salads sell well, as does the
Ahi Tuna Burger, with sushi-grade tuna, sprouts, teriyaki, honey wasabi, crisp nori chips, pickled ginger and mayo.

One area of differentiation from other better-burger concepts is Hopdoddy’s combination full-service and fast-casual service model, which “makes it nice not to have to fight it out for a table,” Mesches said.

“We’re serving a white-tablecloth-level product in a combination full-service-fast-casual environment,” he said.

“We don’t take your order until we have a table for you,” he explained. “At that point, once you sit down, it becomes full service. In line, we offer you cocktails or sodas. That makes for a great social environment.”

Hopdoddy is testing iPads for faster ordering in one Austin location and expects to roll them out systemwide, Mesches said.

When an order is placed, Hopdoddy expects the scratch-made food to get to the table within nine to 10 minutes.

While Mesches said the concept has broad demographic appeal, the main target group includes those ages 21 to 34.

“They go out in groups, so the social part of it is a lot of the fun,” he said.

In addition, Mesches said Hopdoddy will continue its sustainability efforts both in menu and design. When available, the brand chooses renewable-energy power plans and collects its used fryer oil for conversion to biodiesel. Materials in the décor also embrace ecologically conscious materials, Mesches said.

While it will grow this year, Mesches said Hopdoddy remains intent on keeping its employee culture intact.

“We’re not going to grow for growth’s sake,” he said.

Dan Mesches, Hopdoddy president and CEO. Photo: Hopdoddy

This story has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: March 23, 2015  An earlier version of this story included an incorrect name for Catterton. The firm's full name is Catterton.

Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @RonRuggless