The 23-unit fast-casual brand was founded by veteran restaurateur Dave Duffin and recently posted 18.2% same-store sales growth.
Savory Fund’s latest investment target is Zao Asian Grill, a pan-Asian fast-casual concept that was founded in 2013 and has since grown to 23 locations across the Mountain West region. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Zao was founded by Dave Duffin, who previously founded Zuka Juice and Rumbi Island Bar. The team also includes CEO Tom Hartman, who has multi-unit operations experience across multiple brands, and Paul Killpack, who spent 13 years as CFO of Café Zupas, helping to grow that brand from nine to more than 80 locations.
“Dave Duffin and I have been circling each other’s orbit for years, always with a nod of mutual respect in this industry,” Savory Fund Managing Director and Co-Founder Andrew K. Smith said in a statement. “He’s one of the most instinctive brand builders I know, and I’ve spent years admiring Zao from the outside. Getting to finally roll up our sleeves and build something together, instead of just cheering him on from a distance, is the kind of partnership you don’t pass up. We can’t wait to show the country what the Mountain West already knows about Asian fast casual.”
Zao features a chef-driven menu with bowls, salads, wraps, tacos, and soup with a variety of proteins, noodles, rice, vegetables, and scratch-made sauces.
“We’ve spent years proving that this concept works. When you offer guests approachable, flavor-forward Asian food, they’ll come back for it again and again. Watching this brand earn that loyalty, location by location, has been one of the great honors of my career,” Duffin said in a statement. “What we needed was a partner who could match our ambition without losing sight of what makes Zao special. Savory gets it. They’ve scaled brands before and they know the difference between growing fast and growing right. They are exactly the kind of partner we were looking for.”
Zao’s recently registered same-store sales growth of 18.2% driven by the rising demand for clean eating, a surging catering business, and a limited-time-offer cadence. To fuel that growth, Zao partnered with Columbia Bank on a $12.5 million debt facility designed to accelerate new location development, including 10-plus new locations projected through 2027.
“We’ve built something at Zao guests genuinely love, and the foundation has never been stronger,” said Tom Hartman, CEO of Zao. “That success is a direct reflection of our incredible unit-level operators and our support center, who show up every day to take care of our guests, develop our people, and bring the Zao experience to life. Now, with Savory’s operational firepower behind us, we’re ready to build on that strong foundation.”
Zao Asian Grill marks the fourth investment in Savory Fund III, joining South Block, Bonrue Bakery, and Hawkers Asian Street Food in a portfolio created to support emerging restaurants.
Savory Fund’s previous investments include fast-growing, founder-led brands like Swig, Via 313 Pizzeria, Houston TX Hot Chicken, Mo’Bettahs, and more.
