Debbie RoxarzadeLaunched in 2006 and franchising since 2010, Rachel’s Kitchen touts itself as a “fresh casual,” bringing health-forward, locally sourced ingredients into the fast-casual restaurant segment. Rachel’s Kitchen has eight locations open and operating in Nevada, all in and around Las Vegas, and has recently branched out and opened its first out-of-state location in Frisco, Texas.
The menu is a mix of breakfast staples, salads, soups, sandwiches and wraps as well as pasta and bakery items. Beverages include fresh-squeezed juices, coffee and tea drinks, and smoothies.
Here, Debbie Roxarzade, founder and CEO, addresses the state of play at Rachel’s Kitchen.
What's happening at Rachel's Kitchen right now?
DR: We currently have nine open. We are working on a couple in development but we’re not really sure where we are with them because there’s a lot of changes going on with the economy right now. Everybody is a little bit afraid of what’s happening. So, in the near future, I’m not 100% sure what we’re going to be doing next. But for now, we just opened our first out-of-home-state location in Frisco, Texas. So, a lot of energy is on that right now. We’re in the middle of a soft opening with a grand opening scheduled for the end of September. We’re going to see how things come along with that, and we’ll see how we can grow in the Dallas-Ft. Worth market after that.
What was behind the decision to expand into Texas? Sometimes new markets present real challenges!
DR: So, we’re going through the challenges and learning as we go along, but Texas is a great restaurant market and Dallas is such a big city with so many opportunities. We felt like it was a good market to grow and develop, and it’s a place we could have multiple Rachel’s Kitchen locations without cannibalizing ourselves. Oddly enough, a lot of people move to Texas from Las Vegas and back and forth, so we had a decent amount of brand awareness there, which was great. We met a nice couple who are our franchise partners. I really liked them and found that it would be a good next step.
We’ve worked through a lot of our early challenges. Our main distributor, US Foods, also serves Dallas, so that wasn’t an issue. There are certain menu ingredients we had to source differently, but they are similar enough that they are okay. We went through those items, got samples, made sure they met our specs and worked with a new produce company that has become a great partner. And then some of our items are proprietary, and we ship those within Las Vegas already, so we just ship to Texas as well now.
What’s the breakdown between corporate and franchised locations?
DR: I am the owner of two of the eight, and I do have a couple of partners, but we run them as franchisees. We have general managers that oversee them for us. We’re small and when I started franchising, I wanted to make sure the model works. And it does, so that’s good.
Is there a standard Rachel’s Kitchen prototype?
DR: They all have the same look and feel but as far as the real estate, there are differences. Some are slightly bigger, some smaller, but look and feel, furniture and fixtures are all the same. Overall, we handle design internally, but we work with architects during the building process. For example, on the last one, our architect brought up some sound issues they found concerning and then came up with an acoustical solution that I never would have thought of, but I love it.
Though Rachel's Kitchen doesn't have one set prototype, each location has the same vibe and drives home the idea of "fresh casual" service and cuisine. Image courtesy of Rachel's Kitchen
What’s the ideal real estate site for Rachel’s Kitchen? You recently added a drive-thru location, correct?
DR: The drive-thru is new for us, and I love the concept and the idea of the drive-thru. We have one open in Nevada. It’s easier to operate but it’s a different model for us, a new idea altogether. We’re looking at adding drive-thrus in the DFW area, and we call them Rachel’s Kitchen Express. There is a small dining room at that location, however. There’s a grab-and-go area for takeout and online orders where people can just grab their food and go. We are also encouraging regulars to order ahead and pickup at the drive-thru window.
The menu is more limited than at traditional locations, with an emphasis on items that can be made and eaten quickly.
Meanwhile, what we’ve been looking at for traditional locations is a smaller footprint. Our stores in Vegas are anywhere from 2,000 to 2,600 square feet and moving forward we’re looking at 2,000 square feet or less.
One thing that’s really important to us is the opportunity to have some patio seating. Those areas do really well for us and gives us a fresh feel with fresh air. We always look for patio opportunities.
You’ve worked to streamline efficiency via technology. Can you explain what that means at Rachel’s Kitchen?
DR: Throughout the brand, we’re probably about 70% takeout vs. dine in. So, in the past we’ve put efforts into online ordering via our app. We have a preferred guest program, which is our loyalty program. We want to make it as easy as possible to order. We have our own delivery system, so if you order from us directly, you don’t have to pay the exorbitant fees we see with third-party delivery systems. We use a vendor for that, but it gives us greater control. For example, if there’s a problem with an item or delivery with a third-party vendor, we have to instruct the guest to contact their delivery platform to resolve the issue. Guests get upset because they order our food, but we don’t have any of the information needed to resolve the issue. When they order from our website, we have their order, we know who they are, we have their phone number and address, so if there’s a mistake or an issue, we can act on it.
Technology is obviously a driver for Rachel’s Kitchen. At one location, you even have a server robot, is that right?
DR: Yes, Servi is our server robot used at a location that has a lot of dining in. We added her during the pandemic to help our team that was stretched thin. I found the server robot, and I thought it was kind of cool, but especially during COVID I thought this could be a helping hand. When we first put it in, the majority of guests loved it, because it was less people-facing, so no team member was lingering over food. People thought it was cool. She’s nice and polite and says, “have a nice day” and kids love it. They take videos of her. We had a few guests look at it negatively, but we explained that it wasn’t taking away jobs because we needed it to help our team. I never thought we would keep it, but it’s been three years and she’s just a part of the team at that location.
We’re also working on adding some AI technology for our phone system and drive-thru, too.