As states reopened, they have largely followed federal regulations that prevent traditional buffet service.įor buffet concepts, the regulations that buffets not be allowed to operate make the coming months a challenge, at best.īecause their service models are built on people dining in and serving themselves, takeout has been less of an option outside of pizza buffet concepts. The company has 4,400 employees who were furloughed in March when Garden Fresh temporarily closed its restaurants. We had a great owner, long-term owner, that made a tremendous investment in the concept. We had substantial improvement in all of our guest scores. The company does about $250 million in sales a year, serves 25 million customers and has 2 million loyalty program members.

It would have been the first new units for the company in seven years. The chain was in the middle of remodeling all of its locations and was planning to build two to four units next year. Perpetual Capital Partners, a Washington, D.C.-based investment firm, acquired the chain that year.īefore Garden Fresh temporarily shuttered its restaurants in March, the company had enjoyed three straight years of consistently increasing guest counts. That’s a disappointing result for a company that had been on the comeback trail since emerging from bankruptcy in 2017. While he wouldn’t completely rule out a reopen under a new model, Haywood said, “We don’t see a viable way to reopen.” “It just doesn’t work with the type of high-quality, fresh product we serve,” he said. Garden Fresh has spent the past eight weeks looking at “every potential modification” of its service model to enable the chain to reopen its restaurants. “The inability to reopen our service model for some time really doubles the challenge.” “We could have overcome a lot of obstacles,” Haywood said.

Sweet tomatoes