Veteran Restaurant Franchisee Signs Deal with Raving Brands for 50 Restaurants in Michigan

Raving Brands announces today that veteran Restaurant franchisee Steve Smith has signed a 50-store deal to open 30 Moe’s Southwest Grill locations and 20 Mama Fu’s Noodle House locations throughout 16 counties in Michigan. Three year old, Moe’s Southwest Grill, the fastest growing fast casual, Fresh Mex concept in the country, was recently honored with the 2004 Hot Concepts! Award from Nation’s Restaurant News. The fast-casual Fresh Mex restaurant chain based in Atlanta currently operates 121 restaurants across the country. Mama Fu’s Noodle House, launched in June 2003, has six locations open with 50 locations scheduled to open by the end of 2004.

"Together, Moe’s and Mama Fu’s are moving at a pace of five store openings a week," explains Matt Andrew, Vice President of Finance, Raving Brands, parent of Moe’s and Mama Fu’s. "We anticipate hitting 350 restaurants collectively across the two brands by the end of 2004. ”For Steve Smith, this isn’t the first time he has moved quickly on brands with tremendous potential. With 35 years of restaurant operator/franchisee experience, Steve was the largest Arby’s franchisee in the country when he sold his company in the early 1980’s. With his recent deal with Raving Brands!, Steve is adding to his current portfolio of six Damon’s Grill casual restaurants in Michigan.

“It’s exciting for us to step into fast casual with both the Moe’s Southwest Grill and Mama Fu’s Noodle House concepts to our portfolio,” says Steve Smith. “Raving Brands! is one of the fastest growing franchisee companies in the country with its five restaurant concepts. It has been very focused and disciplined within the fast casual space and that reinforced our confidence in signing such an aggressive deal.”

Mama Fu’s Noodle House’s success stems from its eclectic, high-energy atmosphere and Pan-Asian offerings of Vietnamese, Korean, Thai, Chinese and Japanese cuisine. Authentic Wok-cooking is a standard and none of the menu times contain MSG. Moe’s Southwest Grill’s scored the “2004 Hot concepts! of the Year Award in part because of its atmosphere, which draws rave reviews from its fans who enjoy the eclectic, upbeat personality with music from The Grateful Dead and Jimi Hendrix along with artwork from local artists. Customers are also greeted with a loud “Welcome to Moe’s” upon entering, the trademark “call” you will hear on its web site and mimicked by adoring customers.

“Steve Smith is one of the most respected franchises/operators in the restaurant industry,” explains Martin Sprock, founder and chief, Raving Brands. “We are honored to have him as a franchisee and business partner with Moe’s and Mama Fu’s.” Smith’s first locations are slated to open in the Detroit area by years end. Additional locations will open over the next seven years throughout, but not limited to, the Detroit-Metro area, Genesse, Ingham, Livingston, Midland, Saginaw and Grand Traverse counties.

About Raving Brands

Atlanta-based Raving Brands! features a franchisee-centric portfolio of fun, healthy and fresh restaurant concepts. It includes Moe’s Southwest Grill, Mama Fu’s Noodle House, Planet Smoothie, PJ’s Coffee and Doc Green’s Gourmet Salads. Moe’s Southwest Grill has been awarded with the 2004 Hot Concepts! of the Year Award. “Hot Concepts! is presented by Tyson Foods, Inc. and managed and produced by Nation’s Restaurant News.” Moe’s, the quick casual Fresh Mex concept, was founded in 2000 and currently operates 121 restaurants in 14 states with 700 Franchises signed in 38 states. Mama Fu’s, a Pan-Asian restaurant that offers innovative Vietnamese, Korean, Thai, Chinese and Japanese food selections was founded in June 2003 and currently operates six restaurants with 205 signed. Planet Smoothie, founded in 1995, is the third largest smoothie company in the country with 136 franchises. PJ’s Coffee, founded in 1978, is the number one coffee concept in New Orleans and has 37 franchises. Doc Green’s Gourmet Salads, the newest concept in the portfolio, is slated to open in the summer of 2004. Corporate offices for Raving Brands! are on-site at the flagship Mama Fu’s Noodle House.