Chris N’ Eddy’s Burger Expands in LA
Smash burger restaurant Chris N’ Eddy’s is expanding its Los Angeles presence with two new locations planned for Glendale and Van Nuys. The expansion will bring the popular restaurant's signature burgers to a wider audience in the San Fernando Valley.
- The company was founded by childhood friends Chris Karimian and Edgar Poghosyan, who started the business as a pop-up in a parking lot during the COVID-19 pandemic before launching their first brick-and-mortar location on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood. - Chris N' Eddy's employs a lean operational model with a focused menu centered on two main slider options, fries, and tots, which allows for streamlined kitchen operations and inventory management as it scales. - The brand's growth strategy has been heavily influenced by social media marketing, which generated significant buzz and allowed the founders to test their concept and build a customer base before committing capital to a permanent restaurant. - The Van Nuys location is a second-generation lease in a former Menchie's frozen yogurt space at 14523 Sherman Way, a common real estate strategy for quick-service restaurants (QSRs) to reduce initial build-out costs and capital expenditure. - This expansion into the San Fernando Valley is occurring within a strong growth period for the fast-casual sector, which saw sales grow 11.2% in 2023, outpacing the growth of quick-service (7.9%) and casual-dining (4.7%) chains. - Financing for expansions like this in the QSR space is typically secured through vehicles such as SBA 7(a) loans, business lines of credit, or equipment financing, designed to support scaling without diluting equity. - While many small restaurant groups grow through debt or internal cash flow, a successful multi-unit expansion could position the brand as a target for private equity, which actively seeks scalable concepts with strong unit economics in high-growth categories.
