Savory Fund has taken a strategic equity stake in Zao Asian Grill, the 23-unit pan-Asian fast-casual chain, pairing the investment with a $12.5 million debt facility through Columbia Bank to accelerate new-unit development. The deal marks the fourth portfolio entry under Savory Fund III, alongside South Block, Bonrue, and Hawkers.
The Numbers
Zao's same-store sales rose 18.2% — a comp figure that would turn heads in any restaurant segment, fast casual included. The brand has built its base across the Mountain West, and management is projecting 10-plus new locations through 2027 as the first wave of a broader national push. Savory Fund, which manages more than $750 million in assets and has spent 18 years scaling restaurant concepts, frames Zao as the brand most positioned to claim category leadership in pan-Asian fast casual.
Why It Matters
The investment is a signal worth tracking for c-store and foodservice operators alike. Asian-inspired bowls, wraps, and noodle formats have become one of the more durable menu trends in the away-from-home channel — a shift evident not just in standalone fast-casual but in the foodservice programs many convenience retailers are building to compete for lunch and dinner dayparts. When a well-capitalized PE firm with a proven scaling playbook bets on a concept at 23 units, it accelerates the timeline for that format to appear in non-traditional venues including travel plazas, airports, and fuel-and-food hybrids.
Zao founder Dave Duffin previously built Zuka Juice and Rumbi Island Grill, giving the brand a leadership team with genuine multi-concept experience. CFO Paul Killpack spent 13 years at Café Zupas, guiding that brand from 9 to more than 80 units — a comparable regional-to-national arc. COO Tom Hartman brings multi-unit systems discipline. The three executives collectively represent more than 75 years of restaurant-brand scaling.
What's Next
"He's one of the most instinctive brand builders I know," said Andrew K. Smith, managing director and co-founder of Savory Fund, referring to Duffin. "Getting to finally roll up our sleeves and build something together is the kind of partnership you don't pass up." Duffin, for his part, pointed to Savory's track record of growing brands without compromising what made them work at the unit level — a discipline that separates sustainable multi-unit expansion from growth for its own sake.
For convenience and travel-center operators monitoring which emerging fast-casual concepts might anchor a co-branded or licensed foodservice play, Zao's trajectory — clean ingredients, habitual visit frequency, and a menu format adaptable to smaller footprints — makes it worth watching as the brand moves beyond its current Mountain West stronghold.
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.
