As the second largest Applebee’s franchisee, Thrive Restaurant Group CEO Jon Rolph developed a strong friendship with the brand’s former president, John Cywinski.
With Cywinski now leading fast-casual brand Qdoba, it gave Rolph the confidence to franchise with the Mexican concept and sign on to develop 30 units in the Carolinas. The new agreement will build on Thrive’s portfolio, which includes Applebee’s, Bakesale, Carlos O’Kelly’s, HomeGrown and Modern Market Eatery.
Thrive, ranked No. 37 on the Franchise Times Restaurant 200 with more than $300 million in sales last year, operates 170 restaurants across 15 states. With its new deal, the group will open Qdoba restaurants in Greenville and Wilmington, North Carolina, as well as Myrtle Beach, Columbia and Greenville, South Carolina.
Thrive Restaurant Group CEO Jon Rolph
The agreement also deepens Thrive’s connection with Modern Market Eatery parent company Modern Restaurant Concepts, which also owns Qdoba. Led by Cywinski, Modern Restaurant Concepts formed as a portfolio company when Butterfly Equity purchased Qdoba in 2022, joining it with Modern Market Eatery.
Before Butterfly Equity, Qdoba was owned by Apollo Global Management, which acquired it from Jack in the Box in 2018. Today, the brand has more than 760 locations in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, with about 80 percent of them franchised.
Rolph said it’s a concept he’s kept track of for some time, and the purchase by Butterfly Equity was an encouraging sign.
“We were really laser-focused on Modern Market acquisitions when we bought three stores in Austin,” Rolph said of the buy in Texas. “Then we opened the two we’ve done in Kansas City, but all along, we stayed curious about Qdoba.
“We had a relationship with Butterfly and we were Modern Market’s first franchisee, so we had talked to them a lot during the Qdoba purchasing and upcoming opportunities,” said Rolph. “Then, they hired John, who I have a long relationship with. I’m a big believer in his leadership, and coupling that with what they’re doing at Qdoba made it a perfect recipe for our involvement.”
Geographically, Rolph said he selected the Carolinas because Thrive already has a presence there with its Applebee’s locations. The expansion into those markets coincides with a growth effort by Qdoba to open more than 50 locations this year and reach nearly 1,600 units over the next decade nationwide.
“The brand has a broad distribution,” said Jeremy Vitaro, Qdoba’s chief development officer. “We’ve grown throughout the country, reaching 45 states. We do have a presence in the Carolinas now, in Raleigh and Charlotte, but I’d define the area as under-penetrated for Qdoba.
“It’s an interesting market,” Vitaro continued. “They’re high-growth markets generally for population, income and employment. I think the brand itself can operate well across the geography, though. The most important thing we look for is the strength of the local operator, and with Thrive, we found a partner that’s really strong in the region.”
Qdoba Chief Development Officer Jeremy Vitaro
Rolph also sees the Qdoba team as a strong partner, and wants to be part of extending the brand’s reach.
“We’re thrilled at what Qdoba is doing and we think it’s a brand that hadn’t been the center of attention for a long time by its previous ownership groups and now it’s getting that,” Rolph said. “We’re also ramping up development for the brand Home Grown, so we already have a strong development arm in place. We think we can find locations and build leadership teams quickly.”
Those teams heading operations will be essential in making the development work, as Rolph said creating a good restaurant experience is key.
“We focus a lot of energy on that,” Rolph said. “You can have a great product in a great place, but if you can’t execute consistently, you won’t be successful. What we think we can do is develop teams that can execute at a high level. So, if you have the right brand and the right product combined with the right team, you can succeed. We feel we can do that.”
“From my perspective, they’re one of the premier operators,” Vitaro said. “They have a proven history for many years of running restaurants. They have systems and structures and are very professional while also having that family-owned business focus.”
Along with the Carolinas, Vitaro said Qdoba is looking at markets in Florida and Louisiana for expansion, as well as Atlanta. The initial investment to open a Qdoba ranges from $489,200 to $1.3 million.