Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: An emerging brand pairing global flavors with the fast-casual service model sees opportunity to ride the consumer-trend wave to fast growth across the country.
You’d be forgiven if you thought this statement was from 2010 and not 2024. That’s because, much like a decade-and-a-half ago, the fast-casual category is exploding out of an economic shakeup — in that case the Great Recession, and today the Covid-19 pandemic — by capitalizing on trends toward more adventurous, high-quality foods served conveniently and at a value.
But while a number of brands that rode that first fast-casual wave in 2010 couldn’t maintain the momentum through the proceeding decade, Piada Italian Street Food quickly claimed ownership of the fast-casual Italian sector and held fast year after year.
Now it’s ready to ride the second wave, too.
The Columbus, Ohio-based concept closed 2023 with 55 locations in six states, but leaders believe it’s perfectly positioned for more substantial growth in the coming years.
“I think people want more sophisticated, they want better food, they want better flavor profiles, they want it fast and they want it at a value, and they want the whole experience to be great,” said Chris Doody, founder and CEO of Piada.
Doody cofounded the Bravo! Cucina Italiana and Brio Tuscan Grille concepts (later the Bravo Brio Restaurant Group) with his brother, Rick, before selling the company in 2006. Piada opened in 2010, the byproduct of an inspired trip Moody made to Italy, where he discovered the piadina flatbread that inspired the concept.
The menu today features a range of hand-rolled piadas (think Italian burritos) plus salads, grain bowls, and pastas. Those are complimented by sides like piada sticks, garlic dough, and calamari, as well as house-made beverages and even a couple dessert options.
When Piada first opened 14 years ago, Doody said, Chipotle had already done a lot of the heavy lifting in introducing fast casual to the American consumer and setting the tone for how guests would build their own dish and pay at the end. And from the early days Piada has had a second make line for off-premises orders, plus an app and digital ordering. Initially Piada had 70% dine-in business, Doody said, but that flipped after the pandemic.
“The markets evolved towards us more than we've changed,” he said of the brand’s evolution. “We did start out … more create-your-own early on, and then we went into curated chef items because nobody knows what a piada is and they sure as hell don't know what Italian street food is.”
With a decade-and-a-half under its belt, Piada is looking to raise capital for growth. Doody said too many brands grow too fast without taking time to establish brand awareness — something that was particularly important for Piada to do.
“Here we are in fast-casual Italian, there was nobody else doing it,” he said. “And so we're kind of the first mover. So it took us a while to get trial and to get results, frankly, in some of these new markets. … There's so much white space out there. And our focus, very importantly, is to penetrate the existing markets.”
He added that he didn’t want to step on the accelerator until Piada could go toe-to-toe with the best brands like CAVA and Chipotle.
“We finally earned the right to grow,” Doody said. “I'm a stickler for all the restaurants being self-sufficient and performing at a high enough level in multiple markets that says this concept is worthy of additional capital for growth. We've proven that out.”
Contact Sam at [email protected]