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Not everyone is a fan of franchises.  There are some small town locals who fear that their favorite eateries might open new restaurants in other locales and forget about what made them popular in the first place.  Local eateries, no doubt, dream of adding to their restaurant, first in the neighboring towns then later through the region then U.S.–wide.

These franchise-phobes believe that some fast-growing restaurants lose sight of the local flavor and ingredients, and focus only on making profits.  Guilty or not, these restaurants somehow lose some of what endeared them to the locals.

This is not so with some franchises that specialize on local culture and taste.  While they became popular and later expanded to other areas, they chose to retain the local color in their menu.  Three growing restaurant chains – Culver’s, VooDoo BBQ & Grill and Wahoo’s Fish Taco – are such franchises and they intend to continue doing just that.  As they expand and add more restaurants, they continue to source their ingredients locally.

Wahoo’s in particular, has even retained the surfing motif in its store concept.  It standardized its salsas, sauces and spice blends by finding the right suppliers in various locations.  Culver’s, known for its ButterBurger, flavored custard and beef that is never frozen, has made arrangements with its distributor in Baraboo, Wisconsin, to ship its products to its regional branches.  VooDoo BBQ & Grill, on the other hand, established to address the love of barbecue of the New Orleans locals.  Tony Avila and partner Dino Arvanetes created their own special barbecue sauces and side dishes which became a hit.  The partners have no qualms about expanding their restaurant, even in other areas with their own local barbecue flavors.  Entrepreneur.com touches more on the formula of success of these three restaurant chains.

Culver’s
In many small towns across the Frost Belt, you’ll find small restaurants selling frozen custard (a creamier version of ice cream made with eggs), along with fresh burgers and specialties like fried fish and fried cheese curds. Culver’s took that model and added consistency and variety, with dozens of flavors of custard and burgers made from beef that is never frozen. The combo struck a chord with Wisconsinites, and throughout the ’90s, Culver’s grew organically, moving out in a concentric circle from Sauk City to counties throughout the state. Soon requests for franchise applications began showing up from neighboring Illinois and Minnesota, and the company had to make a decision about its future. It was a challenge, but Culver’s began working with its distributor in Baraboo on shipping its unique products out of state, and regional expansion began.

VooDoo BBQ & Grill
In 2002, Avila and partner Dino Arvanetes, a Crescent City culinary veteran, developed a new take on barbecue, creating sauces with a New Orleans flair and a special emphasis on side dishes like corn pudding, gris-gris greens and sweet potato soufflé.

They seem to be well on their way: VooDoo recently signed a 26-unit deal for Florida and, surprisingly, has deals to open in Austin, Texas, and South Carolina–areas with very stubborn ideas about barbecue. “We’re unique, so we’re not afraid to go into places with such huge barbecue cultures,” Avila says. “We embody New Orleans. Our product will make you feel like you’re there for a 30- or 40-minute vacation.”

Wahoo’s Fish Taco
Lee, who founded the concept in 1988 with his brothers Ed and Wing Lam, simply wanted to open a restaurant that served the type of Baja/SoCal/Filipino fusion cuisine they enjoyed at home, and that also embraced their love of surf culture.

“We sat down and decided that our product could exist outside its SoCal borders,” Lee says. “So many of our salsas, sauces and spice blends are made daily in our stores, so suppliers weren’t an issue. Except for tortillas. We have a very high standard for those, and we have to go into each market and find the right supplier.” …

Photo by Bill on Capitol Hill