Chutney Joe’sChutney Joe’s

Mark Brandau

Chutney Joe’s Indian Diner

HEADQUARTERS: Chicago

SEGMENT: fast-casual Indian

NO. OF UNITS: 2

AVERAGE CHECK: $9.85

ANNUAL REVENUE: approximately $650,000 in flagship store

LEADERSHIP: Vijay Puniani, founder and chief executive; Aatish Puniani, vice president of franchise development

YEAR FOUNDED: 2009

METHOD OF GROWTH: franchising

TARGET MARKETS: Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C.

FOOD COST: 25 percent at flagship, 28 percent at food court

LABOR COST: 20 percent at flagship, 15 percent at food court

COMPETITORS: independent Indian restaurants, other growth-oriented fast-casual concepts

Sitting in a booth at Chicago’s Chutney Joe’s Indian Diner with founder and chief executive Vijay Puniani, Fransmart chief executive Dan Rowe says he envisions a potential growth trajectory for the fast-casual Indian concept similar to some big brands his consultancy has helped expand.


But Rowe is even more bullish about Chutney Joe’s because “nobody is doing Indian” in a franchise model, he noted, whereas with Five Guys Burgers and Fries — which Fransmart helped grow from a handful of restaurants to hundreds — there was a lot of so-called “better burger” competition.


“I got hold of Qdoba when they had just one store, and I think Chutney Joe’s is going to be bigger faster,” Rowe said.


“I know you want to go slow the first year,” he said to Puniani, “but after that, we’re going for it.”


The brand’s first franchise opened in April in a 96-square-foot food court location in Chicago’s Ogilvie Transportation Center. The initial focus for expansion will be Chicago and Washington, D.C. Opening costs will range between $250,000 and $450,000, depending on real estate, although the first franchise at the railroad station cost only $100,000 to build, plus a $30,000 franchise fee.


Puniani said a still-anemic credit market would require potential franchisees to bring more equity to a franchise deal than in years past, but “people still need to go into business, and in every environment you can find a way to do it.”


Chutney Joe’s will target multiunit operators of other franchised brands for its growth push. Puniani expects to award two to three more franchises in the next two months, and new units should open by the end of 2011 or early 2012.


He opened the first Chutney Joe’s in February 2009 with the intent to franchise, but he spent the past two years fine-tuning systems for the menu and operations that would make the concept scalable. The biggest challenge was ensuring consistency of the food, especially since the restaurant uses no butter or cooking oils in its meat dishes and sparingly uses oils for its vegetarian items.


“Indian food cannot be cooked to order in 15 to 20 minutes,” Puniani said. “It takes hours to cook, and it’s a complex, tedious process. … The idea was to simplify the complexities of Indian food without compromising the flavor and texture. We spent a good two years and thousands of dollars just doing that.”


He added that “even my mother thinks I’m crazy” to cook Indian food using only the meats’ natural juices.


“How do you create ‘diet chicken masala’ with no cream?” he said. “Our sauce is creamy, but there’s no cream. All our dishes are high in protein, and it’s a healthy meal.”


Chutney Joe’s latest culinary development has been its “Urban Masala” menu, which features portable dishes such as the BombayRrito for $4.99, the Naan Sandwich for $5.99 and the SamosaChaat for $3.99. The items are selling well at the food court location but not as fast at the flagship State Street location because that restaurant can only serve them after 2 p.m. That hitch results from the fact that Chutney Joe’s original unit did not have a cold station, but future restaurants will be built with one to sell “Urban Masala” items all day.


“It’s the beginning, I think, of Indian food getting more and more popular in the United States,” Puniani said, noting that Indian dishes such as naan or chicken tikka masala have gone from niche grocery stores like Whole Foods to Walmart and upscale restaurants everywhere.


“We have a lot more confidence now after opening at Ogilvie,” Puniani said. “In spite of space challenges, we have a very smooth operation running there, so we’re ready.”

Contact Mark Brandau at [email protected].