Chopt Creative Salad Co. is buying Dos Toros Taqueria and forming a new holding company to oversee both of them, and possibly purchase other concepts, Chopt CEO Nick Marsh said Thursday.
The new company, Founders Table Restaurant Group, is being financed by private equity firm L Catterton, which is already an investor in Chopt. Marsh will be the new company’s CEO. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
A release announcing the formation of Founders Table said the holding company would “focus on creating, acquiring and growing innovative, founder-led, line-out-the-door restaurant companies,” leaving the founders in charge while the parent company works to build digital and other operational platforms to expand the business.
“We have always believed that the core strength of a restaurant brand is driven by the passion and authenticity of its founders,” Marsh said in a statement announcing the formation of Founders Table. “They remain focused on the quality of the food and the hospitality of each and every customer interaction. It is our mission to build the operating platform that allows them to do that at a much larger size and scale.”
Chopt was founded in 2001 by friends Tony Shure and Colin McCabe, who remain hands-on managers and who have grown the company to 66 restaurants in New York, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Connecticut, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. The chain focuses on high-quality ingredients with seasonally changing special salads and other bowls.
Dos Toros was founded by brothers Leo and Oliver Kremer in 2009. The Berkeley, Calif., natives sought to bring better-quality Mission-style burritos to their adopted home of New York City and have since expanded to 21 locations in New York and Chicago.
Both fast-casual chains are based in New York City.
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