Capriotti's Sandwich Shop has opened 12 new restaurants and awarded development rights for 30 additional locations through the first half of 2026, accelerating a buildout pipeline that stretches to a 750-unit target by 2032. The Las Vegas-based fast-casual chain is entering six new markets — Lake County, Illinois; Killeen, Texas; Tempe, Arizona; Southern Utah; Charleston, South Carolina; and Fort Wayne, Indiana — each requiring ground-up or conversion kitchen installations.
The Growth Program
The expansion is anchored by the brand's "50-50-50" franchise initiative, which offers qualified incoming franchise partners up to $50,000 in savings through reduced franchise fees and royalties as Capriotti's works to sign 50 new franchise partners during its 50th anniversary year. Each awarded development right translates directly into a planned kitchen build, with equipment packages centered on Capriotti's signature in-house slow-roasting program: the chain slow-roasts whole Butterball® turkeys daily and hand-pulls them each morning, a process that demands consistent oven capacity, refrigerated holding, and prep infrastructure across every new unit.
Kitchen Implications
For equipment dealers and foodservice consultants tracking fast-casual pipeline activity, Capriotti's current pace — 12 opens in roughly six months against a backdrop of 30 rights already awarded — represents a steady stream of commercial kitchen specification projects. Each location must support high-volume sandwich assembly, in-house roasting, and refrigerated storage for whole turkeys and finished product, making prep-and-storage equipment selection and cooking suite configuration central to the buildout conversation. Operators converting existing retail or restaurant spaces into Capriotti's units will face the additional complexity of adapting legacy ventilation and utility infrastructure to match the brand's cooking program — a dynamic that ventilation specifiers in fast-casual conversion projects know well.
The chain currently operates more than 150 U.S. locations and has ranked on Fast Casual's Top 100 Movers & Shakers list for six consecutive years, most recently at No. 12. CEO Ashley Morris framed the midyear numbers in terms of long-range brand positioning: "The growth we've seen through the first half of the year shows the strength of our brand and our franchise partners. We're excited to bring that to even more communities this year and beyond." With roughly 600 additional units needed to reach the 2032 goal from its current base, Capriotti's represents a multi-year equipment procurement and installation opportunity for the dealer and consultant community serving the fast-casual segment.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
