Fresh Brothers pizza chain expanding beyond Southern California after sale to Craveworthy Brands

Fresh Brothers, the Southern California pizza chain, will expand into a national brand after being acquired this week by a Chicago-based company.

Founded in 2008, the popular pizza chain currently has 25 locations from Los Angeles to San Diego including shops in Manhattan Beach, Brentwood and Hollywood. The operation was appealing to Craveworthy Brands, which operates 15 restaurant brands with 225 locations nationally, said Chief Executive Gregg Majewski.

Majewski declined to disclose how much Craveworthy Brands paid to acquire Fresh Brothers. Under Craveworthy’s franchise model, new Fresh Brothers pizza locations will be independently owned, he said.

There are plans to open a Fresh Brothers in the Chicago area and begin franchising in other states by March, Majewski said. And while he eventually hopes to make some inroads in Florida and other states, Majewski said he doesn’t have plans to make an aggressive push into the Northeast.

“We’re going to work our way east from Los Angeles and west from Chicago, and we’ll meet somewhere in the middle when we’re done,” Majewski said.

He also plans to expand the Fresh Brothers footprint in California.

The restaurants’ affordable prices and use of higher-quality ingredients set Fresh Brothers apart in the crowded field of pizza chains, Majewski said.

“That’s a niche we want to be in,” he said. “We think Fresh Brothers is absolutely prime to be a higher level franchise concept in the pizza world.”

The expansion of Fresh Brothers is somewhat of an outlier in the fast-casual dining industry, where many chains have been struggling amid inflation and high labor costs. Average consumers are pulling back on discretionary spending, experts say, and may be frequenting their favorite restaurants less.

Mod Pizza, a fast-casual chain with more than 40 locations in California, was acquired by a Los Angeles-based restaurant group in July after teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Popular burger joint Shake Shack closed nine locations in September, including five in the Los Angeles area.

But Majewski is optimistic about Fresh Brothers’ future and said the brand is a perfect fit for his restaurant platform.

“Backed by a deep understanding of market dynamics and a commitment to operational excellence, Craveworthy is uniquely positioned to guide Fresh Brothers’ journey from its Southern California foundation to nationwide expansion,” the company said in a statement.