Media Contact: Jennifer Mims
jennifermims@zoeskitchen.com

11/5/2003 - Zoës Kitchen plans to open Crestline Village site in '04

LINDA PARHAM
News staff writer

Zoe's Kitchen owners signed a lease last week to open a new restaurant in Crestline Village at the 225 Country Club Park space formerly occupied by the coffeehouse Liquid 360.

CEO John Cassimus said he expects to launch the latest addition to the Zoe's Kitchen chain around the beginning of February. The CEO is opening the new location along with his parents, Zoe and Marcus Cassimus, who founded the restaurant chain.

The cost to open the Crestline Village store should range between $150,000 to $175,000, Cassimus said.

"This store is in the middle of our core demographic," Cassimus said. "Our base customers, who eat with us all over the city, live within a one-mile radius of this store. We're expecting great things from this store."

Signing the Mountain Brook lease came as Cassimus prepares to open the new downtown Birmingham Zoe's Kitchen at One Federal Place on Monday.

Cassimus is moving the downtown Zoe's Kitchen to One Federal Place in the wake of the City of Birmingham's plans to expand a parking deck. The expansion would include the building that housed the original downtown Zoe's Kitchen at 2030 Fourth Ave. North.

The Crestline Village restaurant will introduce an expanded dinner takeout menu. Like One Federal Place, the Crestline Village restaurant will be among the first Zoe's to open for both lunch and dinner seven days a week.

Only the Zoe's at The Summit shopping center now holds to that schedule. The rest open only for lunch Monday through Friday.

The CEO said he plans to employ between eight and 10 workers at his Mountain Brook location.

"Some will come from within the organization, and we will be hiring some new ones," he said. Those interested in applying for the jobs at the Crestline Village or any other Zoe's Kitchen can find further information at zoeskitchen.com.

Bryan Holt of Southpace Properties Inc. management and leasing company negotiated the lease for County Club Park's owners, Scott & Scott Inc.

"We were able to work out a lease with favorable terms to allow John to make it a first-class launch of his new design," said Holt. The Zoe's Kitchens owners are introducing a new, more sophisticated and upscale interior. The Crestline Village restaurant will be among the first to display the new look.

The initial lease is five years, but Holt said he expects Zoe's Kitchen to stay in Crestline much longer.

"We're really happy he's coming over there," Holt said. "He's taking a prime spot in that shopping center. He's a well-known entity, and Zoe's is such a great operation."

Zoe's Kitchen has built its reputation on a Greek-inspired and Southern-influenced menu.

<-- Go Back