Beverages

Carrabba’s Italian Grill Corporate Office

Carrabba’s Italian Grill was founded in 1986 in Houston, Texas by Johnny Carrabba and his uncle Damian Mandola. The company operates a chain of casual restaurants with Italian – American cuisine. As of December of 2015, there were 247 locations, with most of these being located in Florida.

In 1993, the company joined with Outback Steakhouse (now part of Bloomin’ Brands) to expand and add more locations to the company. Ten locations were opened in Texas and Florida. The two original locations in Houston still belong to the Carrabba family. Carrabba’s Italian Grill continues to expand and grow. In addition to the usual Italian dishes, the company offers a gluten free menu.

Many of the recipes used at Carrabba’s Italian Grill came from Mandola’s mother and his sister Rose. The company has headquarters in Tampa, Florida.

Carrabba's Italian Grill

Many of the recipes used at Carrabba’s Italian Grill came from Mandola’s mother and his sister Rose. The company has headquarters in Tampa, Florida.

History

Bahama Breeze Island Grill Corporate Office

Bahama Breeze Island Grill, commonly called Bahama Breeze, was founded in 1996 by the Darden Restaurant Group. The company specializes in a chain of casual restaurants that offer Caribbean-style cuisine and fruity cocktails. There are currently 40 locations in 16 states in the US.

The company offers the usual burgers and fries, but its specialty is Caribbean-styled foods such as chicken and fried plantains, a variety of seafood platters, and empanadas. Most locations offer happy hour and live entertainment, usually on the weekends.

Bahama Breeze was involved in a racial discrimination lawsuit in 2009 after employees at the Beachwood, Ohio, location, claimed managers harassed black employees. In an out-of-court settlement, the company agreed to update its anti-discrimination policy, provide diversity training to its managers, and paid the plaintiffs $1.26 million.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic of 2020-2022, Darden Restaurants continues to open new locations.

Bahama Breeze Island Grill

History

Despite the coronavirus pandemic of 2020-2022, Darden Restaurants continues to open new locations.

Freebirds World Burrito Corporate Office

Freebirds World Burrito, commonly called Freebirds, was founded in Santa Barbara, California, in 1987 by Mark Orfalea. Orfalea wanted to design a restaurant similar to El Pollo Loco and deliver menu items to students at Santa Barbara college. After discovering he had leftover chicken, his aunt suggested making them into burritos. The company name comes from a favorite song “Free Birds” by the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The company offers Mexican style cuisine with a wide variety of fresh choices, sauces, and salsas. Restaurant locations are known for their ceilings painted like the sky and motorcycle theme, with the Statue of Liberty crashing through a wall in most locations. Currently, the company has 90 locations, most of them in Texas and California.

Freebirds World Burrito was sold in 2007 to Tavistock Restaurants and operates as a subsidiary of its parent company. The company moved its headquarters in mid-2015 from California to Austin, Texas.

Freebirds World Burrito

Freebirds World Burrito was sold in 2007 to Tavistock Restaurants and operates as a subsidiary of its parent company. The company moved its headquarters in mid-2015 from California to Austin, Texas.

History

Rita’s Italian Ice Corporate Office

Rita’s Italian Ice was founded in 1984 in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, by Bob Tumolo, a former firefighter. After purchasing a recipe from an elderly neighbor, Tumolo began playing with the recipe, adding fresh fruit and other ingredients to create a variety of flavors. He began by selling from his front porch, but the popularity of his product had him open a store in 1987. Tumolo named the company after his wife.

Today, Rita’s Italian Ice has more than 600 locations in 25 states, most of them franchises. Today, the company belongs to Falconhead Capital Partners. In addition to Italian ice, the company also sells ice cream, frozen custard, Misto, Blendini, ice cream cakes, ice cream sandwiches, and Gelati.

Rita’s Italian Ice has approximately 600 full time employees and recently partnered with Cadbury to create Sour Patch Kids Red Italian Ice flavored candy.

Rita's Italian Ice

Rita’s Italian Ice has approximately 600 full time employees and recently partnered with Cadbury to create Sour Patch Kids Red Italian Ice flavored candy.

History

Hobee’s Restaurant Corporate Office

Hobee’s Restaurant was founded in Mountain View, California, in 1974 by Paul Tabor. Tabor wanted to begin a restaurant that was unique by offering alternatives to the usual coffee, soda, and hamburgers. The original name of the company was Hobee’s Haven. The original building, a former Dairy Belle, had no tables, and only offered take out ordered from two windows.

Today, Hobee’s is known for its unique food items, including tofu burgers, cinnamon tea, blueberry coffee cake baked fresh at each location, eggs from local free range hens, and a gluten free menu.

The company has 8 locations in and around the San Francisco area. Hobee’s has won numerous awards from newspapers and magazines in the Silicon Valley area. Vice President Joe Biden visited the Sunnyvale location in 2013.

Hobee's Restaurant

Today, Hobee’s is known for its unique food items, including tofu burgers, cinnamon tea, blueberry coffee cake baked fresh at each location, eggs from local free range hens, and a gluten free menu.