Restaurateur Gregg Majewski and football player Ndamukong Suh have something in common.
They both have something to prove.
So says Majewski, explaining how Suh, a defensive tackle for teams like the Philadelphia Eagles, the Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins, came to be an investor in Majewski’s Craveworthy Brands.
“Suh and I both have chips on our shoulders,” said Majewski in an interview with Restaurant Business. “And we want to prove ourselves. We both had incredible careers our first run. Now we want to do it a second time.”
For Suh, now a free agent, that second go-round refers to his growing reputation outside football as an entrepreneur and investor. Originally from Portland, Oregon, Suh is co-founder of several restaurant concepts there, including the indulgent cinnamon roll concept Kinnamōns, which has been acquired by Craveworthy, it was announced this week. In Craveworthy, Suh has found a partner who can operate and grow restaurants.
Majewski’s second act refers to the launch of Craveworthy in 2023, which followed his years as CEO (and at times CFO and COO) of Jimmy Johns. His Act II began with his acquisition of Mongolian Concepts (Bd’s Mongolian Grill, FlatTop and Genghis Grill), which he parlayed into Craveworthy with the acquisition of four more brands (Wing It On!, Krafted Burger, The Budlong Hot Chicken and Lucky Cat Poke).
Over the past year, the acquisitions just kept coming, including concepts like Taim Mediterranean, Fresh Brothers Pizza, Dirty Dough cookies and more. Now Craveworthy has more than 16 brands, if you count the two additional concepts that came into the portfolio with Kinnamōns. Suh brings financial backing to the table, but also some interesting concepts.
When he came on as investor, Suh also owned the two-unit BAE’s Fried Chicken in Portland, and two-unit Fat Kitty Ramen. Both will join Craveworthy as part of the Kinnamons deal. Majewski said he doesn’t plan to franchise BAE’s, but Fat Kitty could become a franchise brand for Craveworthy.
“This was done more strategically so Suh and I could be one entity, instead of multiple,” said Majewski. “Suh wholeheartedly believes in what we’re doing and the path, and he wanted to be part of something to make his reputation outside of football as successful as an investor and partner and operator, as he was on the field.”
Last week, Craveworthy announced the acquisition of the fast-casual brand Big Chicken, which brought another athlete-turned-investor into the fold, Shaquille O’Neal, as an investor.
That deal brought more than 40 restaurants into the portfolio, with another 350 in development, along with Big Chicken CEO Josh Halpern, who will continue to lead that brand.
Fundamentally, Majewski’s goal is creating efficiencies with a shared infrastructure and proven systems across operations, purchasing, culinary development with an eye on franchising.
But, despite the size of the Craveworthy collection, franchising is only just getting started.
It takes time, Majewski said.
“When I take a brand, we don’t push franchising until my playbook and box fits perfectly,” he said. “I’m very, very deliberate in making sure, if I’m franchising something, the system works and I’m proud of what we do.”
At the end of 2024, Craveworthy sold a handful of Wing It On and The Budlong Southern Chicken franchises—two of Craveworthy’s early acquisitions—and Majewski said he expects to sell about 30 to 50 of each of those brands in 2025.
The franchising documents for Sigri Indian BBQ are expected to be finalized in May, and Majewski said there’s already a lot of demand for that brand, estimating they will sell 50 to 100 this year. (“It’s the first real Indian franchise opportunity,” he said.)
Big Chicken may sell 20 to 30 franchise units this year, but Majewski said that will go at a slower pace because he wants to evaluate the brand’s operations.
“I can go out and sell 200, 300 stores, like some of the competitors out there do overnight, but that’s not how I feel franchising works,” he said. “I want to make sure I have them opening restaurants and that they can build out their territories. I don’t want to go after people when they don’t hit their territories and have huge chunks of the nation tied up.
“I will never have a 400-, 500-unit year, like some of these brands, or sell out in a matter of two or three years,” he added. “I don’t believe in that.”
Still, Majewski has big aspirations for Craveworthy.
Estimating systemwide sales of $175 million this year, Majewski projects the portfolio will surpass $1 billion in systemwide sales in five years, with 1,000 units open, according to an investor presentation on the company’s website. (Majewski now puts 2025 sales projections at $300 million.)
Which brings us back to this week’s Kinnamōns acquisition.
One of the Craveworthy brands with huge growth potential is the Dirty Dough stuffed-cookie chain, which has eight company owned and 64 franchised locations, and about 450 units in development.
Majewski sees co-branding potential with Kinnamōns. Craveworthy has been working on expanding Dirty Dough offerings to include a broader selection of sweet treats, Majewski said.
The cookie chain is currently rolling out a line of Dirty Drinks, a cookie-inspired beverage line on the menu, for example. Coming in May is Dirty Ice Cream, which will include frozen dessert blends with cookies. And in test is a line of Dirty Doughnuts, which in the two stores testing have demonstrated remarkably good incremental revenue, Majewski said.
“We created that as a treat concept,” he said of Dirty Dough. “Cookies was a fad, but you have to be ready for the next thing.”
UPDATE: This article includes updated sales projections for 2025.
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