Craveworthy Brands, known for its diverse portfolio of brick-and-mortar restaurants and virtual brands, is offering consumers the chance to experience multiple concepts under one roof.
The company opened its first food hall inside the well-known “Big Red” skyscraper in downtown Chicago earlier this month.
Called “Craveworthy Kitchen at Hayden Hall,” the 25,000 square foot space has a food-court style layout designed for quick ordering and pickup. It features a handful of Craveworthy’s brands including Lucky Cat Poke Co., Pastizza Pizza & Pasta, Krafted Shamburgers, Budlong Southern Chicken and Scramblin’ Ed’s. Plans are already in motion to add additional concepts, including a full-service restaurant.
Since Hayden Hall’s debut, the restaurant group has opened another food hall, Craveworthy Kitchen at Lakeview, in Chicago, and plans to unveil a suburban location by summer’s end.
Gregg Majewski, Craveworthy Brands CEO, founder.
CEO Gregg Majewski views food halls as a “game changer” and “exciting new chapter” in the company’s evolution.
“We’ve been working on Craveworthy Kitchen for a while, and that’s basically how we run our virtual brands in our restaurants,” Majewski told Food On Demand.
“Each one of our [physical] restaurants gets three virtual brands—we call that Craveworthy Kitchen. Since we’ve been doing that, we decided to open up food halls under that name as well, and allow our brick-and-mortar and virtual brands to have a home,” he said.
Craveworthy’s portfolio encompasses legacy brands such as BD’s Mongolian Grill, Flat Top Grill, and Genghis Grill, alongside newer additions like Wing It On, Soom Soom, and Dirty Dough. The acquisition of Untamed Brands in May, which includes Taim Mediterranean Kitchen, further bolsters its offerings.
The company’s strategy focuses on acquiring and revitalizing brands to optimize efficiency, and expand market reach with franchisees.
Back-to-office workers spur potential
In Hayden Hall, Majewski saw an opportunity to breathe life back into the space, which first opened in 2020 and was operated by DMK Restaurants. It closed shortly after due to pandemic impacts.
However, with the return of office workers to the skyscraper and nearby offices, resurrecting a multi-branded food hall now appears rightly suited, particularly given the increasing popularity of catered lunches.
Craveworthy Kitchen at Hayden Hall is on the second floor of 333 South Wabash Ave.
The food hall is open Monday through Friday, from 11 am to 4 pm, with Scramblin’ Ed’s opening earlier at 8 am.
This marks the latest in Craveworthy’s national expansion plans, which projects significant growth over the next five years, with plans to add more brands, open 17 corporate locations, and over 60 virtual restaurants throughout 2024.
What’s driving the momentum? Majewski says it’s the consistency of quality.
“It’s the fact that we operate our own brands. So, the DNA that we put into our brands is the same DNA that we put in our brick-and-mortars. Our food quality, we are able to watch it and monitor it because it’s our brand. We have the systems in place to make sure the quality is always exceptional,” he said.
