Forklift Brands Builds A Strong Roster Of Restaurants
Operator of Go Roma has expanded its empire to include the famous Boudin’s, and is planning on bringing both its concepts to markets across the U.S.
Randall Shearin

Boudin SF is a new bakery-café concept from Forklift Brands.

If you’ve ever been to San Francisco, then you’ve probably seen or tasted Boudin’s Original San Francisco Sourdough French Bread. The loaves of bread have been a staple of the city since the Boudin family opened their first bakery in 1849. To this day, Boudin bakers still use a portion of the original “Mother Dough” to create Boudin’s distinctly flavorful bread. Leavened only with wild yeast “caught” from San Francisco’s fog-cooled air, Boudin’s original “Mother Dough” has been replenished with flour and water every day for over 150 years.

Now, the company, which is the oldest continuously operating business in San Francisco, is launching a fast casual dining concept, called Boudin SF, that it will spread throughout the country. In the meantime, Boudin’s parent company, Forklift Brands, has continued expansion with Go Roma Italian Kitchen in Chicago, Indiana and Southern California.

Shopping Center Business recently met with Dave Wolfgram, CEO of Forklift Brands, parent company of Boudin Bakery, Boudin SF and Go Roma Italian Kitchen at Boudin’s flagship location in San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf.

Boudin Bakery Is Back

Boudin is famous for its sourdough, and Boudin SF will have a selection of breads and pastries for purchase.

Since the Boudin family started the bakery in 1849, Boudin has been synonymous with San Francisco. The company is to sourdough bread what Levi’s is to jeans. Today, the bakery provides bread for more than 50 restaurants in the Bay Area, as well as its own restaurant and bakery operations.

“People in the Bay Area love Boudin Bakery,” says Wolfgram. “It’s not just a brand, it is more like a public trust.”

In a world where so much changes, one fixture that has never left San Francisco has been Boudin Bakery. In the 1940s, control of Boudin Bakery passed from the Boudin family to the Giraudo family. The Giraudo family held the bakery until the 1990s, when it sold control to a conglomerate. The Giraudo family, through GESD Capital, bought Boudin Bakery back in 2002. When that purchase was made, the family wanted to make sure that the world knew that Boudin Bakery was back. It made the commitment to build a new flagship bakery in the Fisherman’s Wharf area of San Francisco, which was opened in 2005.

Back in 1984, Boudin entered the fast casual dining segment of the restaurant business by developing Bakery-cafés. It is now expanding that concept with an eatery called Boudin SF, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, a much more extensive menu than is offered in the Bakery-cafés. It will locate the concept in urban areas, in malls and strip centers across the U.S. The first unit opened at South Coast Plaza in Orange County, California, in summer 2006.

One of the first Boudin SF locations.

Each Boudin SF location features an on-premises interactive bakery manned by Boudin’s expert bakers; a warm, lively and entertaining décor; and an array of San Francisco art and imagery reflecting Boudin’s more than 150-year San Francisco heritage. In keeping with French baking traditions, Boudin bakers mix, shape, score and bake Boudin’s bread at each Boudin SF restaurant every day. Each loaf takes 72 hours to create and is served fresh from the oven. A portion of the Mother Dough was transported 400 miles to the first Boudin SF in Southern California before baking began.

Wolfgram says that the company is locating in areas where the night time component is critical, and the lunch and dinner traffic are expected to be equal. Breakfast will be about 20 percent of the company’s business. The average check for lunch will be $8.75 and dinner will be $9.25. Breakfast is beyond the normal bakery fare. Hot breakfasts, like sourdough French toast and frittatas, are available.

Wolfgram has a lot of experience in the fast casual dining segment. In 1991, he co-founded Corner Bakery while working with Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. When the chain was sold to Brinker International, Wolfgram served as the chain’s president and grew the concept with Brinker until 2003.

Décor at Boudin SF includes images of San Francisco.

“The Achilles heel of the bakery-café concept is dinner,” says Wolfgram. “Boudin SF is designed from the start to appeal to the dinner segment, not just breakfast and lunch.”

Boudin’s new flagship bakery store and restaurant, called Bistro Boudin, in Fisherman’s Wharf serves as an inspiration for Boudin SF. The flagship store has elements, like dark wood trim and an open feel that will be used in Boudin SF. As well, some elements from the restaurant menu will make their way, in some form, to the Boudin SF menu. Unlike the Fisherman’s Wharf flagship store, however, Boudin SF will be much smaller in format and much more casual in its approach – but with the hospitable spirit for which Boudin is known. In fact, Forklift Brands prides itself on bringing hospitality to fast casual dining. Even though guests of Boudin SF and Go Roma Italian Kitchen order their meals at the counter, servers bring the food to their tables and return to the tables several times throughout the meal to refresh & replenish diners’ drinks.

Go Roma Italian Kitchen

Inside Go Roma Italian Kitchen.

Forklift Brands, the operating company of Boudin SF, also has another concept, Go Roma, which is a fast casual Italian restaurant. Go Roma Italian Kitchen offers fast, fresh, individually prepared meals at a competitive price. That concept has five units in the Chicago area. The first Go Roma Italian Kitchen opened in 2004 in Warrenville, Illinois. It was founded by Wolfgram and restaurant veterans Jeff Drake, Russell Bry and Yorgo Koutsogiorgas — who all formerly worked for Brinker International and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. Go Roma Italian Kitchen provides an alternative to fast food, with hearty soups, seasonal salads, hand-stretched artisan thin crust pizza, flatbread sandwiches, tossed pasta, Italian classic specialties and dessert. All items on the menu are less than $9 and are served very quickly.

The chain’s sixth unit opened in late November in Merrillville, Indiana. In the spring, Go Roma Italian Kitchen will open its first unit in Southern California in The District at Tustin Legacy in Orange County, and it has another unit planned along Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, California. Forklift Brands is about to receive approval to begin franchising Go Roma Italian Kitchen, which will greatly expand the concept’s growth. Sales of franchises will begin in 2007. The company plans to double its current size in 2007 and add 10 restaurants per year beginning in 2008.

Sharing Plans

Inside Boudin SF.

With some future locations, Forklift may consider opening Go Roma Italian Kitchen and Boudin SF in adjoining spaces.

“We think that the two concepts will live together very well,” says Wolfgram. “Clustering the two restaurants together when the opportunity is available is the right thing to do. Having a high quality bakery café like Boudin SF next to a high quality quick casual Italian concept like Go Roma Italian Kitchen works beautifully.”

For Wolfgram, the creation of Forklift Brands allowed him to see both of his dreams come true. As a co-founder of Go Roma Italian Kitchen, he had avowed to see that concept to his success. When GESD approached him about Boudin, discussions arose about Go Roma Italian Kitchen and Wolfgram realized that he and his team could do both. GESD acquired Go Roma Italian Kitchen and created Forklift Brands to operate Go Roma and Boudin.

Boudin’s flagship store, which has been open for one year, has exceeded expectations. The store is located at the corner of Jefferson and Taylor Streets, in the heart of Fisherman’s Wharf. Most of the walls of the lower level are glass, providing onlookers views into the bakery and store. The Giraudo Family grew up in San Francisco along with other families who also craft gourmet treats, so Boudin’s flagship store offers everything a visitor needs for the perfect picnic along the shores of San Francisco Bay. In fact, two large maps indicate the best picnic spots nearby. The store attracts throngs of people everyday, and a number leave with a loaf of sourdough, a bottle of wine, a hunk of cheese and a bar of chocolate — all made by locals.

“The flagship store has been a great brand builder for us,” says Wolfgram. “It was important for us to come back in a big way and say with a bold statement that Boudin Bakery is back.”