Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
South Florida chain goes back to its roots
LIME Fresh Mexican Grill charts return to growth
It’s not often a restaurant brand can hit the reset button after being acquired and then abandoned by one of the nation’s biggest chains.
Yet that’s the goal for a team of owners looking to breathe new life into LIME Fresh Mexican Grill, a South Florida chain that expects to expand by seven locations in the tricounty region over the next two years.
The first new franchise is slated to open by mid-May in Palm Beach Gardens, followed in the months to come by stores in West Palm Beach, Dania Beach, midtown Miami, North Miami, Aventura and the Brickell Avenue district in Miami.
The owners are betting they can continue winning over Mexican food fans who crave the affordability and convenience of quickly prepared “fresh Mex” but still want the service, cocktails and proprietary flavors found in a traditional restaurant.
Sound familiar? Well, this isn’t the first time the chain was poised to conquer the world. Back in 2012, LIME seemed bound for food courts and suburban corners everywhere after national chain Ruby Tuesday bought it from its local owners for $24 million. But that promise soon fizzled.
After adding eight locations to the 11 it had following the sale, Ruby Tuesday decided by 2015 that it needed to devote its full attention to the 734 locations of its flagship brand — and has since revamped its menu and “endless” salad bar.
By 2016, Ruby Tuesday closed or sold its 19 LIME locations it built in Central Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, Washington D.C., Chicago and elsewhere.
Normally, this failure would have relegated the LIME Fresh Mexican Grill brand to a “defunct restaurants” trivia game category, alongside Steak and Ale, Chi-Chi’s and Kenny Roger’s Roasters.
Except for one important fact: Six franchise restaurants, never owned by Ruby Tuesday, still thrived in the South Florida metro area, its owners say.
In Miami-Dade County, a franchisee group called Left Field Holdings LLC owns and operates LIMEs in Dadeland, Doral and West Kendall.
Farther north, another franchisee group, Salsa Management Inc., has locations in Pembroke Gardens and Plantation in western Broward County and the West Boca area of Palm Beach County.
The two franchisee groups had bought in prior to the Ruby Tuesday deal, when founder John Kunkel still ran the company. Kunkel, a prolific area restaurateur with several current operations in South Florida, founded LIME in 2004 as an 800-square-foot taco shack on South Beach’s Alton Road.
“He kind of pioneered the concept of ‘fast casual’ in South Florida, before Chipotle and Moe’s were here,” says Salsa Management partner David Pettit.
With its stores gone, Ruby Tuesday sold the remaining LIME assets — namely the intellectual property and franchiser rights — to the Pembroke Pines-based EverFresh Endeavors LLC for $4.6 million.
The company’s roster underscores its belief in the brand and its commitment to restoring its growth potential.
Team members include CEO Joey Belmont, a former shopping center operator who has completed sales, leases and construction of more than 50 restaurants, according to biographical information provided by EverFresh.
Chief Operating Officer Mike Outlaw has also operated shopping centers and overseen 78 locations owned by HardRock Cafe.
Chief Financial Officer Lee Babcock directs finances of Surekha Holdings LLC, Ever-