Zoe's Kitchen

Zoë's Kitchen is a "fast casual" restaurant chain with 20 locations in Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Louisiana, Texas and Arizona. The restaurant features fresh-made Greek-inspired meals for dine in and take out. The company's offices are located at 2901 2nd Avenue South in the Martin Biscuit Building at Pepper Place.

The first Zoe's was opened in 1995 by Marcus and Zoe Cassimus in a 900 square foot space in downtown Birmingham, then relocated to Homewood. Within four years five additional locations had opened in Birmingham, Nashville and Tuscaloosa. The Cassimus' son, John took over the operation of the business in 1999 and began overseeing its expansion with the help of CFO Kasey Burleson.

The chain replaced its hand-painted chicken logo with a bright new corporate identity and prototype interior designed by Chute Gerdeman of Columbus, Ohio. Local schoolchildren provide artwork to decorate the interiors. The redesign debuted in the chain's flagship store in One Federal Place in 2003.

In late October 2007 Cassimus sold a majority stake in the business to Los Angeles-based Brentwood Associates. Cassimus will remain CEO while Greg Dollarhyde, formerly of Baja Fresh Mexican Grill, will become chairman. After the sale, Cassimus expressed hopes that the company would be able to open as many as 200 locations across the South and Southwest over the next five years.

Birmingham area locations

• Crestline Village (Mountain Brook)
• One Federal Place, 1819 5th Avenue North (Birmingham)
• Patton Creek Shopping Center (Hoover)
• SoHo Square, 1830 29th Avenue South (Homewood)
• The Summit, 323 Summit Boulevard (Birmingham)

References

• Goodman, Sherri C. (November 2, 2007) "Zoe's Kitchen selling big stake." Birmingham News.
• Michael, Brooke (November 20, 2003) "New look, same family recipes." Birmingham Weekly.
• Parham, Linda (July 29, 2003) "Zoë's Kitchen turns up heat with expansion plan, new look." Birmingham News.
• Zganjar, Leslie (July 21, 2003) "Zoë's loses the chicken, grows legs." Birmingham Business Journal.

External links

• Zoe's Kitchen website