What is Salt Water Social, as part of Benihana's ONE Hospitality platform?
Benihana Franchise · 2024 FDDAnswer from 2024 FDD Document
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We own and operate 25 Kona Grill restaurants within 17 states in the United States. Our Kona Grill restaurants average approximately 7,000 to 8,000 square feet. In 2022, the average restaurant revenues were $5.3 million and average spend per transaction was $61. We believe we can grow the Kona Grill brand to 200 restaurants over the foreseeable future. We expect to open three to five Kona Grills annually.
ONE Hospitality
Our ONE Hospitality platform is composed of our F&B hospitality management and consulting agreements with hotels, casinos, and other high-end locations as well as our other brands and venue concepts, which are described below:
- F&B Services. Our F&B services for hospitality venues provide attractive and comprehensive tailored food and beverage solutions to our hospitality clients. Our fee-based hospitality food and beverage solutions include developing, managing and operating restaurants, bars, rooftops, pools, banquet and catering services, private dining rooms, in-room dining services and mini bars on a contract basis. Currently, we operate five venues pursuant to F&B hospitality management agreements with hotels and casinos in the United States and in Europe. Historically, our clients have provided the majority of the capital required for the development of the facilities we manage on their behalf.
- ANGEL. ANGEL Rooftop bar and Dining is a sophisticated Southern-Mediterranean restaurant with two indoor and outdoor bars, a floral garden patio, and a plunge pool located within the Hotel Calimala in Florence, Italy.
- Bao Yum. A fast-casual concept that offers a whimsical twist on classic bao. Bao Yum serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert bao along with a variety of salads, soups, sandwiches and snacks. Bao Yum currently operates within the Westminster Curio Hotel in London and in Austin, Texas through a licensing agreement with Reef Kitchens.
- Heliot. Heliot Steak House is an award-winning steakhouse and bar within the Hippodrome Casino in London that offers impressive views of the main casino gambling floor.
- Hideout. The Hideout by STK is an outdoor, poolside restaurant and bar within the W Hotel in Westwood, California, which complements our owned STK and F&B hospitality services also offered within the W Hotel in Westwood.
- Radio. Radio Rooftop is a premier rooftop restaurant and lounge bar concept boasting striking city views with a signature location on top of the ME Milan hotel.
- Rivershore Bar & Grill.
Source: Item 22 — CONTRACTS (FDD pages 73–74)
What This Means (2024 FDD)
According to Benihana's 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document, Salt Water Social is a restaurant venue concept that is part of the ONE Hospitality platform. As of March 2024, there was one company-owned Salt Water Social restaurant under construction in Denver, Colorado.
The ONE Hospitality platform is composed of food and beverage hospitality management and consulting agreements with hotels, casinos, and other high-end locations, as well as other brands and venue concepts. These concepts include F&B Services, ANGEL Rooftop bar and Dining, Bao Yum, Heliot Steak House, Hideout, Radio Rooftop, and Rivershore Bar & Grill.
For a prospective Benihana franchisee, understanding the ONE Hospitality platform and its various venue concepts like Salt Water Social is important. While the FDD excerpt does not provide specific details about the Salt Water Social concept itself (e.g., menu, ambiance, target demographic), it does indicate that Benihana is expanding its portfolio of brands and exploring different types of dining experiences beyond its traditional teppanyaki restaurants. This may present opportunities for franchisees to diversify their investments or cater to different market segments.