In a crowded restaurant market, Shawn Utke believes guests will cross a street to come to your business if they feel it’s a place where they belong.
That’s fundamentally the spirit that he feels is a differentiator for The Friendly Toast, a 14-unit brunch-all-day concept that he hopes to grow into a national brand.
Utke was named CEO of The Friendly Toast last month after serving for more than three years as president, CEO and a senior advisor of Tatte Bakery & Café. He is also part of the Panera Bread diaspora from the days of former CEO Ron Shaich (who sold Panera in 2017). Utke spent 12 years with the fast-casual bakery café chain, serving most recently as senior vice president, on-premise channels and digital commerce.
Unlike Tatte and Panera, however, The Friendly Toast is a full-service, casual-dining brand, albeit with hours from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and later hours on weekends.
Utke said he was drawn to the brand because of its potential.
“I just love the spirit of this brand, and where it’s going,” he said. “It has its own soul. It’s playful and welcoming. It’s definitely a little unconventional.”
The Friendly Toast has an eclectic and colorful design. |Photo courtesy of The Friendly Toast.
Founded in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1994 as a breakfast spot. It grew to two units and was acquired in 2014 by Goodwin Family Management, a family office led by Eric Goodwin and Scott Pulver. (The company is also behind Goodwin Recruiting.)
Under Goodwin, The Friendly Toast grew over the next decade to 14 units around New England.
In that time, the brand evolved. Goodwin brought in a bar element and the restaurants are known now for their mimosa (and other seasonal cocktail) flights. This winter, for example, a flight included a Rosemary Mimosa, a Holiday Sangria, a Gingersnap Martini and Spiced & Spiked Hot Cocoa.
About a quarter of sales come from beverages. | Photo courtesy of The Friendly Toast.
The menu also includes brunch appetizers, like a plate of shareable Churro Bites; Egg Rolls filled with scrambled eggs, bacon, home fries and cheeses; and jumbo fried “Some Like It Tot” tater tots with sauteed onions, bacon crumble and sriracha glaze.
And, of course, there are the breakfast-dish classics, giant Monster Pancakes, a line of eggs Benedict (“Bennys”) and burritos, as well as bowls and hand-helds, like a gochujang chicken sandwich, a Fire Burger smashburger and BLT. All dishes are made from scratch, and the average check is about $50 per person with beverages, Utke said.
The restaurants, which are typically about 4,000-square feet, are colorful and bright. (It achieved some measure of national fame last year when a deer crashed through the front window in Portsmouth, going viral. Nobody was hurt, even the confused deer.)
“People don’t just come for brunch. They come because it feels like a place they belong,” he said. “And, to me, as we grow, preserving that is so important.”
Sales topped $33 million in 2024, up more than 11%, according to Restaurant Business sister brand Technomic.
Utke has put growth on pause for a bit while the chain focuses on nailing operations. But growth is definitely in the plans.
“It’s about getting the operational discipline and accountability to scale. That’s what’s missing now, and that’s what we’re going to work on,” he said.
The company, for example, is working on its website and developing an app, as well as exploring the use of paid media to build brand awareness.
When The Friendly Toast first started, elevated brunch concepts stood out easily from mid-scale chains like Denny’s, IHOP or Waffle House. Since then, though, chains like the rapidly growing nearly 700-unit First Watch, Snooze A.M. Eatery and Another Broken Egg have expanded and battle for market share.
The chain had 15 units around New England, but one in Massachusetts closed last month to relocate. | Photo courtesy of The Friendly Toast.
The Friendly Toast does not franchise, and Utke said the chain is still exploring the best path for growth outside New England.
But Utke does see the concept as a national chain that will offer something different, he said. Other national chains out there now “play it down the middle.”
Utke wants to give people a reason to cross the street and come to The Friendly Toast instead.
“We’re a regional brand that needs to be fortified to grow national, and that’s what we’re going to do,” he said.
“We’ll definitely take this to other markets in the future,” Utke said. “My dream and passion is to make this a premier national brand, and really a differentiator in the brunch segment.”