After a fast launch in 2021 and a more cautious 2022, the family restaurant venture of Boris Mitrev and Dessi Sarabosing is preparing to more than double its portfolio in 2023.
The two siblings founded Mitrevi Restaurant Group LLC in June 2021 and within six months opened two locations for its Mediterranean food concept, Zesty Olives Mediterranean Grill, in Lake Forest and Irvine.
A third location is expected to open at the Crown Valley Mall in Laguna Niguel in May, with two additional locations on the menu this year and a goal to open 55 restaurants across seven states over the next five years through a new franchising program.
Zesty Olives was one of five honored at the Business Journal’s 23rd annual Family-Owned Business Awards last June. The company won in the Up-and-Coming category.
The Laguna Niguel location will debut an updated menu for Zesty Olives with new options designed by the newest member to the restaurant team, Chef Jamie Moir, who first met Mitrev in the United Kingdom in 2010.
“He is looking to elevate the brand from a culinary perspective,” Sarabosing told the Business Journal.
Moir’s appointment allows the siblings to focus on the next phase of growth for the restaurant chain.
Zesty Olives will add its first out-of-state restaurants in Las Vegas and Austin, Texas this year.
The former will be located in a mixed-use office campus while the latter unit will be a part of a redevelopment project.
Mitrev and Sarabosing registered the Mitrevi Franchise Group LLC in late 2022 and gained licensing to franchise in California, Texas and Florida for now, with recruitment efforts underway for franchise partners.
The company aims to have 10 new restaurants under contract by the end of 2024 through both acquisitions and franchising. Average annual store sales are about $1.1 million per location, with an average ticket of $32.
The average restaurant footprint is less than 2,000 square feet with an initial investment range between $50,000 and $150,000 with the expectation to open a minimum of three stores.
California will remain a priority market with sights on San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Zesty Olives is also boosting its tech efforts, noticing demand for self-ordering kiosks at its Irvine location at Diamond Jamboree.
Customers can also order their food through scanning a QR code at any table. Waiting times during lunch and dinner have gone down significantly since the addition of such tech upgrades, with kiosks also added to the Lake Forest location.
“This helps us to reprioritize and repurpose our resources in the right areas,” Sarabosing said. “We have the infrastructure, now the culinary. It’s just the matter of execution.”
