Bread Zeppelin? This Texas chain plans to bring its ‘creative’ food to Kansas City

Bread Zeppelin is one of the latest chains looking to expand in the Kansas City market.

The fast casual restaurant serves signature and custom salad and grain blends in hollowed out artisan baguettes for a “creative chopped salad meets sandwich” concept. It also offers bowls. The company says the name comes from the zeppelin-shaped baguettes, not the pun off the rock band.

Customers can build their own by choosing green and grain bases, and then veggies from a choice of nearly 40 (artichoke hearts, beets, butternut squash, dill pickles, napa cabbage, jalapenos, Kalamata olives and more), fruit, crunch (such as candied pecans, house-made tortilla strips, croutons, and roasted pumpkin seeds) and cheese.

Proteins are marinated and cooked in-house — grilled flank steak, grilled chicken, crispy chicken, roasted turkey, poached shrimp, crispy shrimp, tofu and bacon. It has 22 house-made dressings.

Vincent Ginatta, vice president of franchising for Bread Zeppelin, said Kansas City is an ideal market for the company’s expansion. Areas such as Brookside and Waldo have the demographics it is looking for to start building brand awareness and “gain traction in the city.”

Kansas City could have as many as a dozen, Ginatta said, but it would start slowly with just a few locations once it signs a franchisee.

The company also is looking at expanding to other states close to its Texas home, including Colorado, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

Its current model calls for restaurants of 1,800-to-2,000 square feet, and seating for 40 to 50 people. Its kitchens have an assembly line setup.

Longtime friends Troy Charhon and Andrew Schoellkopf founded Bread Zeppelin in 2010. They wanted an alternative to “messy wraps that easily fall apart.” The first location opened in 2013.

They currently have six corporate-owned locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, along with a new franchise restaurant in Houston and another one under construction. One or two corporate-owned restaurants also are scheduled to open in the Dallas/Fort Worth area this year.

In addition to the build-your-own menu, it also has specialty salads such as the Shanghai with carrots, roasted almonds, mandarin oranges, currants, crispy wontons, Arcadian mix and spinach with a sesame ginger vinaigrette, and the Lone Star with grilled flank steak, avocado, tomatoes, crispy onions, jalapenos and iceberg lettuce with its “hangar bleu” or creamy horseradish dressing.

Signature grain bowls include the Autumn Harvest with roasted turkey, grains, butternut squash, dried cranberries, apples, roasted pumpkin seeds and kale.

Earlier this month, trade magazine QSR put Bread Zeppelin on “The 40/40 List for 2022: America’s Hottest Startup Fast Casuals.” The list recognizes 40 brands with up to 40 locations that it believes “can be the next big thing.” It said Bread Zeppelin’s digital sales have more than tripled during the pandemic and now account for 40% of its sales. Compared to the same period in 2019, it said 2020 sales had soared 18%.

Ginatta said fourth quarter 2021 sales were up 21.3% over fourth quarter sales in 2019.

Other chains that have been looking to expand in the Kansas City area in recent months include The Halal Guys, Chick N Max and Chicken Salad Chick. But no locations have been announced.

This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 10:02 AM.