Crescent City: fast-casual bakery-cafe chain sweetens the scope of Louisiana-style cooking

Nation's Restaurant News, May 17, 2004 by Amy Garber

After successfully introducing the city of Houston to New Orleans-style coffee and doughnuts, known as beignets, Wayne and Tucker Bunch are determined to bring those specialties and other authentic Louisiana dishes to the rest of the country with a burgeoning fast-casual concept called Crescent City.

The 15-unit chain, as part of an aggressive expansion plan, is extending its reach beyond breakfast and building sales in three other dayparts. To emphasize its lunch, dinner and dessert offerings, Crescent City debuted last year a revamped prototype designed to lift unit volumes, improve customer service and drive dinner business with a more upscale ambience. In connection with the change, Crescent City launched several new products and officially dropped the word "Beignets" from its original brand name.

"As the menu expanded, we became more than just a beignet shop," says Wayne Bunch, president and chief executive of Crescent City. He is an attorney who co-founded the counter service concept with his brother Tucker Bunch, a classically trained chef.

Crescent City, after getting its start in 1997, took the plunge into franchising in 2000, expanding throughout Texas and then making the jump to Atlanta and Salt Lake City. This month openings are slated for Orange County, Calif., and Memphis, Tenn., with development deals in the works for such markets as Denver, Indianapolis and Kansas, City, Mo., according to Wayne Bunch.

"I think they have proved that they can have many units and be successful," says Monica Pope, chef-owner of a fine-dining restaurant called Tafia in Houston. Tucker Bunch previously worked as Pope's sous chef at her now-defunct Boulevard Bistro. She describes him as a "very good cook," whose strong point always has been execution.

Crescent City's stores are operated entirely by franchisees, except for the original Houston location, which generated nearly $700,000 in sales in 2003. Last year the chain's average unit volumes were $500,000, according to Wayne Bunch, who oversees the company's business administration. He says the chain's average check ranges from $6 to $8, including beignets and coffee. The beignets sell for 95 cents each, and the specialty coffee drink, cafe au lait, starts at $1.95 for the smallest size.

A typical unit is about 2,000 square feet to 2,300 square feet with 50 to 60 seats, Wayne Bunch says. The new decor package features a large mural depicting an old map of New Orleans' French Quarter. The design also incorporates black-and-white images of the city's landmarks as well as replicas of gas lamps that are similar to those seen in the French Quarter, Wayne Bunch says.

As part of the redesign, Crescent City officials say the restaurants improved the flow of the counter-service format by delivering completed orders to customers at their tables. Many stores in the chain are open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Some have extended their closing times on weekends by an hour or two in order to drive dessert business.

Even though several locations offer catering and delivery, franchisee George Stacey, who operates one unit in Richardson, Texas, says his store's strongest daypart is lunch, and nearly 80 percent of his business is derived from dine-in customers.

Crescent City has inked development deals with 27 operators who have experience with such brands as Pizza Hut, Papa John's, KFC and Golden Corral, according to Wayne Bunch. He projects that the chain will have a total of 21 restaurants by the end of 2004 and says most of the growth will come from franchising, although the company would like to open a few more corporate stores over the next several years.

The initial startup investment ranges from $300,000 to $400,000, according to Wayne Bunch, who points out that costs vary by market.

The operator of the new Orange County, location spent months on researching concepts before deciding to work with Crescent City.

"We wanted something different, something unique--not your average taco joint or bakery," says Terry Ubl, vice president of operations and co-owner of DU2 Hospitalities Inc., which has exclusive rights to develop Crescent City in Orange County.

During the research phase Ubl and his partner, who is also his brother, flew to Houston to get a closer look at the chain.

"I fell in love with the food," says Ubl, who has worked in restaurants all of his life and formerly was a general manager of one of Brinker's Corner Bakery Cafe units. "The experience was fun, and that was something that I was looking for. I knew immediately that we had a tremendous opportunity with Crescent City."

Meanwhile, Tucker Bunch continues to upgrade the menu with such items as fried- and grilled-seafood platters, bread pudding and po' boy sandwiches, like blackened catfish or fried crawfish, served on bread from a local New Orleans bakery. The bread is delivered to restaurants pre-baked and frozen so that it can be finished off daily in each unit. The chain's lunch and dinner specialties include red beans and rice, crawfish etouffee, gumbo, shrimp Creole, jambalaya and muffuletta sandwiches.