The Franchise: Naf Naf Grill is a national chain of Middle Eastern fast-casual restaurants based in Chicago. Founded in 2009 by the late Sahar Sander, the company has grown from a single location in Naperville to now nearly 40 company-owned and franchised locations across 12 states.
2021: Entrepreneur Danny Madanes was living in Utah figuring out his next career move when he heard about an opportunity to take over an existing corporate-owned Naf Naf Grill location in Brookfield. The Chicago-area native was well familiar with the brand.
“Having always been an entrepreneur that started something from scratch … the idea in a franchise that somebody gives you the business model, tells you what to do and you need to execute it was really interesting to me.”
January 2022: With no prior experience operating restaurants, Madanes teamed up with Dustin Gasper – who had spent the past 16 years climbing the management ranks at Chuck E. Cheese – to launch Mama’s Restaurant Group.
“(Gasper) has so much operational experience. … He knows structures. He knows training programs. He came in with a lot of institutional knowledge that another franchisee would have had to develop along the road.”
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April 2022: Mama’s Restaurant Group acquired Naf Naf’s Brookfield location and signed a separate seven-unit franchise agreement for the southern Wisconsin territory. Three months later, the group reopened Naf Naf Madison, another previously corporate-owned location, that had closed during the pandemic.
“We’re focused on building the Naf Naf brand in Wisconsin. We believe building more locations around the same area will help us strengthen brand recognition and let people become familiar with us. A lot of Wisconsinites aren’t exactly familiar with us or Middle Eastern food, but we know that when they get a taste, they’ll love the food.”
January 2024: Mama’s opened its newest location in Greenfield, following a six-month interior buildout project. Targeting spring of 2025, the group is now looking at Germantown, Menomonee Falls, Whitefish Bay and Oak Creek for its next openings.
The franchise fee: $30,000
