Note: A version of this story was originally published on Franchise Times, a sibling publication of Food On Demand.
The team at The Toasted Yolk, a 58-unit southern brunch franchise, always envisioned a smaller-sized spinoff.
But it was the pandemic restrictions and regulations that actually got the ball rolling, with research for what would become The Twisted Egg Shack starting in 2021.
“We literally could not find any … regional chain that featured made-to-order breakfast, and particularly breakfast and lunch, with premium coffee and energizers and everything else on any scale,” said Clay Carlson, the co-founder and chief development officer of Twisted Egg Shack.
Chris Milton founded Twisted Egg Shack with Clay Carlson, Bret Baumgartner and James Gray.
The takeaway-focused brunch spot has sandwiches, salads, bowls—think tater tots topped with sausage, eggs and cheese—and more. It also serves espresso drinks, milkshakes, mimosas and smoothies.
As drive-thru coffee places, like 7 Brew or Dutch Bros, have skyrocketed in popularity, Twisted Egg Shack wanted to elevate that idea with an expanded food menu.
“We wanted to do something that was different,” said Chris Milton, owner of Toasted Yolk and the co-founder of Twisted Egg Shack. “Obviously, everybody’s in the coffee and the energizer space, but the thing that I always hear is that man, it’s great, but man, I want some decent food—not something necessarily out of a microwave, but some actual really good food with my coffee.”
As of September, Twisted Egg Shack had two corporate stores, the first of which opened about a year ago. Behind this brand are four restaurant veterans: Milton; Bret Baumgartner, a top Toasted Yolk franchisee; head of corporate operations James Gray; and Carlson.
Milton and Mathew DeMott opened the first Toasted Yolk Cafe in 2010.
Joey Eguia plans to develop Twisted Egg Shack in Texas.
Joey Eguia and Collins Orr, through their company 1836 Brands, signed an area development agreement for most of Texas, which has space for more than five dozen Twisted Egg Shack restaurants.
1836 Brands also has a development management agreement for Zalat Pizza, a Dallas-based brand, in the Houston metro. It owns La Viva Cantina, a full-service Mexican restaurant that it’s planning to expand. Eguia has experience as the chief operations officer at Fajita Pete’s, a Mexican franchise based in Texas.
Eguia and Orr were looking at breakfast concepts to add to their portfolio and ultimately chose Twisted Egg Shack because of its modernity.
“In a busy world that we all live in today, people appreciate how quickly The Twisted Egg Shack produces great quality food,” Eguia said. “It seems like everybody’s in a hurry all the time, and so we like the idea of being able to put out a good quality product in five minutes or less.”
Many restaurant brands are introducing smaller store prototypes to adapt to higher real estate costs and consumers’ affinity for getting their meals to go. Famous Dave’s launched a fast-casual model for the barbecue chain, compared to its traditional full-service restaurants. Schlotzsky’s Deli introduced a smaller unit model with self-order kiosks and a grab-and-go station to reduce buildout costs. Mellow Mushroom, a pizza franchise, opened its first fast-casual restaurant in 2024 to accommodate off-premises ordering.
“What I’ve learned over the last 10 years in the restaurant business is everybody’s shrinking,” Eguia said. “A lot of these brands are getting smaller, or they’re coming up with another quick-service retail concept that is a spinoff of their full-service original brand, because real estate is getting expensive.”
With just two stores open, Eguia said Carlson and Milton’s combined restaurant experience was a major selling point in signing such a large development deal.
“Even though the brand itself is young, those guys are not, in the sense that they’ve been doing this for a long time,” Eguia said. “They’re always looking for ways to improve the brand.”
Twisted Egg Shack also has deals signed for Florida, other Texas markets and Denver. Thomas Bell signed an agreement for Central Florida, with his first location expected to open in December outside of Tampa. Danny Juarez signed a two-unit deal for the Austin, Texas, metro.
The cost to open a Twisted Egg Shack ranges from $410,500 to $657,000, according to its website. Buildout costs for second-generation spaces can be less than $310,000, per the company.
Twisted Egg Shack has two corporate stores, the first of which opened about a year ago. Three more restaurants are in the works.
