Mike Pallerino
August 2, 2018
When celebrity chef Hugh Mangum, financing veteran Micha Magid and experienced restaurant operator Christos Gourmos partnered to create Mighty Quinn’s, they had a bigger vision in mind than a few New York-based locations. The three brothers set out to create a global brand featuring chef-driven food born from the intersection of the Carolinas and Texas. Putting the details on the forefront, with a menu highlighting 18-hour smoked meats to decadent sides resembling the best of both BBQ meccas, they set out to change the way BBQ is experienced—slow cooked and fast served.
Today, that vision is taking another step forward, as the 15-restaurant brand is now preparing to franchise, taking its defined and successful Urban BBQ restaurant practice to major markets throughout the United States. Investors will be impressed with not only the chef-backed product, but also the engineered buildout, easily described as the Chipotle of BBQ, and unit-level economics that shatter QSR expectations. To understand the Mighty Quinn’s strength of story, one would not have to look much farther than the beginning.
The brand received its first taste of expansion in 2016, when international operators from three different countries traveled to New York City to seek out the food for themselves. Shortly after, the Mighty Quinn’s leadership team worked with the international developers to fine-tune the menu and operations to fit each international market’s needs to ensure success overseas. Now, the brand has five extremely successful international locations in Taiwan, The Philippines and Dubai.
With initial investments for satellite and flagship locations ranging from $581,750 to $1,113,750 and reported average unit-level economics as $2,246,412 to $3,273,192, Mighty Quinn’s is targeting entrepreneurial-minded, process-focused operators to expand the brand in key markets across the United States. That includes key markets like Boston, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and New Jersey that are on the East Coast and near Mighty Quinn’s flagship location. In the next five years, Mighty Quinn’s plans to open 60 stores throughout the country.
