The Des Moines Debut
Cousins Maine Lobster is entering the Des Moines market with a franchisee-operated food truck launching Aug. 22, marking the fast-casual seafood brand's first footprint in Central Iowa. The grand opening runs 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 3610 8th Street SW in Altoona, where co-founder Sabin Lomac is scheduled to appear alongside the local team.
Franchisee Karan Singh, an existing operator within the Cousins Maine Lobster system, is leading the Iowa expansion. Singh's truck will rotate across community events, local businesses, breweries, and neighborhood venues throughout the greater Des Moines area — the mobile foodservice model that has driven the brand's national growth since its 2012 launch.
What's on the Menu
The Des Moines truck will carry the brand's core lineup: the Maine Roll served chilled with mayo, the Connecticut Roll served warm with butter and lemon, and the Garlic Butter Roll finished with Parmesan and seasonings. The menu extends to lobster tacos, lobster grilled cheese, lobster bisque, New England clam chowder, and whoopie pies — a full repertoire that positions the truck as a premium foodservice destination rather than a single-item novelty.
The brand sources lobster directly from Maine's coastal communities, a supply-chain story it uses to justify premium pricing in markets far from the New England coast. That provenance narrative has proven durable across more than 50 locations nationwide.
Franchise Growth Context
Cousins Maine Lobster began franchising in 2014, two years after founders Lomac and Jim Tselikis appeared on Shark Tank and secured a partnership with Barbara Corcoran. The brand now operates through a mix of food trucks and brick-and-mortar units, along with a shore-to-door e-commerce channel. The mobile truck format remains the primary growth vehicle, allowing franchisees to enter new markets with lower capital outlay than a fixed restaurant build-out.
For convenience and foodservice operators watching the competitive landscape, the food truck channel continues to attract franchise investment in mid-size Midwest markets where fast-casual seafood has historically had limited representation. Des Moines, with its event-driven community calendar and growing brewery scene, fits the brand's established playbook for truck deployment.
Lindsay Herberger, Director of Franchise Development at Cousins Maine Lobster, said Singh "understands the hospitality, energy and quality that define the CML experience," and called Des Moines "a strong community-driven market." Customers can order ahead and earn loyalty rewards through the CML Mobile App, which also tracks the truck's real-time schedule.
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.
