There’s a simplicity in how Costa Mesa-based Flame Broiler Inc. operates—something founder Young Lee says has allowed it to grow consistently into its next chapter: a new headquarters.
The 148-unit Flame Broiler—known for its rice bowls topped with chicken or beef along with vegetables—is set to move to 9,800 square feet of space in Santa Ana.
The space will serve as the executive offices and training ground for franchisees, with a meeting hall and functioning restaurant open to the public.
The new space is currently under construction, with office staff expected to move in by the end of the month.
The restaurant, which Lee expects to be open Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., should be ready in early April.
Lee started the chain in Fullerton in 1995 based on his own desire for more healthy restaurant fare.
He’s grown it primarily through franchisees, with only one company-owned store.
“For the past 19 years we’ve always done the same thing,” he said. “We haven’t changed anything, really, other than improving the quality of the product. Trends are always out there—we’re simply about providing healthy food to the public. We don’t really look at any other factors than keeping our price point as low as possible.”
Sales, Workers
The average guest check is $8.50 at Flame Broiler, with preliminary results showing the privately held chain’s systemwide sales up 28% to $78 million last year.
The company has five workers on the corporate side and another 10 at a Flame Broiler in Fountain Valley, the lone company-owned restaurant.
“We work very efficiently,” Lee said. “We don’t like to get our hands in everything—let franchisees make a living operating restaurants.”
Flame Broiler franchisees opened 23 restaurants last year, and the company expects to open another 30 franchised locations this year, according to Lee.
Most of the company’s stores are in California, with a few in Arizona, Oklahoma, and a recently opened location in Orlando that brings the company’s total to three in Florida.
Expanding
Lee declined to get into specifics on future locations.
“When it happens, it happens,” Lee said of growth outside the four states it currently has a presence in.
Expanding outside the U.S. is something “that’s always on my mind,” with the company seeing interest out of China and the Philippines, among other countries.
“We do not push for opening additional stores elsewhere,” he said. “We just wait for the right individual to come to us, but we are prepared to open anywhere in the U.S.”
