Rapidly growing franchise redefines traditional parlors

By MARIE VASARI

Herald Staff Writer
There are no bikini-babe beer posters on the walls here, no inflatable footballs hung from the rafters.
Beer doesn't come by the pitcher, it rests on chipped ice -- and most is imported. And single-order deliveries are out of the question. RedBrick Pizza, the latest pizza franchise to fire up its ovens in Monterey County, is rewriting tried-and-true recipes.

Rupen Sheth opened his Del Rey Oaks restaurant two months ago, offering crisp-crust pizza and chopped salads, a trademark sandwich called a "Fhazani" and Italian gelato made on the premises. Each table has its own small flat-screen TV, and the pizzas, Fhazani dough and breadsticks are cooked in 1,000-degree brick ovens, allowing for what the company promotes as a 3-minute pizza. That speed -- and the promise of a healthier alternative to fast-food -- is the carrot that RedBrick Pizza Worldwide, Inc. is using to lure in customers.
A RedBrick franchise is to the pizza parlor what Starbucks, with its baristas and distinctive blends, is to the coffee shop, creating its own rituals, lexicon and landscape. The restaurant's 18 Del Rey Oaks employees are neither cashiers nor cooks -- they're "pizza ambassadors."
"In reality," says Sheth, "that's the whole driving force behind all our staff -- to educate all of our customers in our menu and to be able to guide them into picking something that would suit their taste."
And they're part of a company that wants to use that language -- and concept -- to change how consumers think about pizza.
Pizza maker and master developer are new titles for the Indian-born Sheth, who spent 13 years in Texas working in information technology. He now lives in south San Jose and has formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Kumar Swaminarayan, with big plans.
Their families bought the rights to own and develop restaurant franchises in Santa Clara, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. Two years ago, they opened in Pleasant Hill, marking the company's first foray into the Northern California market. Last year, a second RedBrick Pizza opened in Gilroy; a third cropped up this summer in Oakland. The Del Rey Oaks restaurant, which opened Sept. 19, is the franchise's first in Monterey County.
"We're just kind of starting to make our presence known here in Northern California," said Sheth.
He's opening a shop in Milpitas in January, another in San Jose in March, and several others are in the works for Santa Cruz County next year. And Sheth has plans for additional restaurants in Monterey and Salinas.
"I've been extremely captivated by this concept," said Sheth, who admits to initially having his doubts.
"At first, I thought 'Pizza?' There's pizza all over the place," he said. "Why would anybody want to do pizza?"
Then he started analyzing the market. Most of the major pizza players have migrated toward the delivery-oriented, coupon-driven market, said Sheth, and those that still seat customers, such as California Pizza Kitchen, provide more traditional restaurant experiences, which means they require an investment of time.
The gap in between -- what's being called "fast-casual" -- is the market upon which Sheth is betting.
Palmdale-based RedBrick was founded in 2000 by Lyn and Jim Minidis, who converted their Little Caesars pizza franchises into the new restaurant. RedBrick had four Southern California locations in 2003; by the end of 2005, Jim Minidis predicts there'll be 100 restaurants in six states, with one or two new ones opening every week.
Minidis doesn't shy away from making his goal known: He wants to turn his company into one of the largest pizza chains in the world. He's got his eye on a goal of 12,000 units, with the possibility of expanding to Europe and Asia. In July, RedBrick Pizza Worldwide signed an agrement with RBP of Florida, granting it exclusive rights to 400 more stores. In all, development agreements exist for more than 1,500 stores.
Last year, RedBrick Pizza reported a 750 percent growth, earning it a spot on Entrepreneur magazine's list of Top 50 New Franchises.

RedBrick Pizza
Where: 459 Canyon Del Rey Blvd., Del Rey Oaks
Phone: 899-4566