There’s a legendary tale surrounding Tim Gannon’s lucky saddle. To gather enough funds to drive to Tampa Bay and launch Outback Steakhouse, he sold it for a mere $250. Upon arrival, he had only $37 left. Decades later, after being initially asked for $22,000, Gannon repurchased the saddle for $2,200.
This very saddle was eventually presented as a gift to Gannon’s son, Chris, in a packed auditorium.
Coincidentally, it was the same year Chris needed some of that restaurateur magic himself. In 2015, Chris decided to more directly emulate his father’s path. He was already a franchisee of a fast-food brand, deeply “in the business.” However, the entrepreneurial spirit beckoned. Tim is renowned in restaurant circles for inventing the Bloomin’ Onion, widely considered the most iconic appetizer ever created.
Chris felt that strong family pull. He traveled to California and spent two weeks exploring various brands, taking 1,000 photos and sampling food across all categories.
“I went to my dad and said, ‘Dad, I think I’m ready to start a concept,’” Chris recalls. “He replied, ‘Let’s do it.’ I remember thinking, ‘Really? You’re 68 and still have that entrepreneurial drive? Let’s do it.’ That’s just his eternal optimism.”
Chris was aware of his heritage and had access to invaluable advice. Yet, the prospect of failure was daunting, financially risky, and a very real possibility.
According to Pentallect Inc., industry consultants, fast-casual sales growth had slowed to between 6 and 7 percent in 2017, down from around 8 percent the previous year. In the five years prior, growth had hovered between 10–11 percent.
Evidence suggested that the quick-service darling segment, which had surged post-Great Recession due to lowered barriers to entry—inspiring numerous new concepts while also causing overleveraged ones to retract—was beginning to face market saturation.
This context is important when considering Bolay’s name. What does “Bolay” mean? Interestingly, it doesn’t have a specific meaning. Chris, his wife, and his best friend brainstormed it on a napkin at an airport. “Try naming something these days,” he says. “Almost everything is taken or used as a hashtag or something.”
However, Bolay’s future was determined even before its name. Chris spotted a prime end-cap, main and main site opportunity. He entered the competitive arena, challenging established players and defying typical odds. New concepts rarely aim for A-plus locations initially. They usually start in B and C real estate, working their way up, or test the waters with a food truck or similar to build a brand reputation before approaching developers.
Chris had none of that established reputation. He met with the young landlord of the complex, shared his vision, and won him over with sheer passion. “I remember the defining moment,” Chris says. “He asks, ‘What’s the name of this concept?’ And I reply, ‘I don’t have it yet. But it will be great, and trust me, I won’t fail.’”
Chris believes that if he hadn’t secured that lease at that moment, Bolay might not have launched. Finding another suitable location would have taken too long. Chris was still employed at the time.
“Looking back, it was a combination of stars aligning and certain events unfolding. Yes, hard work and knowledge are crucial, but a bit of luck also plays a role,” he reflects.
Bolay opened in just six months, launching in Palm Beach Gardens in February 2016.
After opening a recent location in Kendall, Florida, the brand now boasts 17 stores in just under four years.
Chris gives significant credit to his father. Tim, who also co-founded the chicken fast-casual chain PDQ, provided more than just entrepreneurial drive and approval. He became “the uncle” in the room during Bolay’s early stages, Chris recalls. Tim offered anecdotes and advice but never dictated decisions. He was a supportive family figure, not an authoritative one.
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Chris quickly realized the intricate details involved in creating a restaurant. Everything from napkins to wall colors, cup sizes, portion control, pricing, and bathroom sink finishes required careful consideration. “There were times when I’d almost reach a decision and just needed to bounce the idea off someone,” Chris says. “Luckily, I had access to one of the greatest restaurateurs I know, my father.”
Just last year, Chris, 37, was recognized as an Entrepreneur Of The Year 2020 Florida Award winner by Ernst & Young LLP (EY US). Tim famously received this honor nationally in 1994, surpassing even AOL. Past recipients also include Starbucks’ Howard Schultz and Chris and Robin Sorensen, founders of Firehouse Subs.
“Having a father inspire a son, the son follow in his footsteps, and then to be humbly honored with this award is truly special,” Chris states.
Chris values the recognition because it wasn’t inherited; it was something earned, although entrepreneurship seems to run in the family. Tim didn’t simply hand Bolay to Chris. He wasn’t given the keys to a “family business.”
Instead, he built Bolay from the ground up, just as his father did with Outback. “You can give someone food, or you can teach them to hunt. My father taught me how to hunt, in a way,” Chris explains. “The best knowledge you can give your child is how to earn a living and be an entrepreneur, rather than just handing them a business.”
Outback’s early influence is evident throughout Bolay. Firstly, the lucky saddle is at Bolay’s corporate office, rubbed for good fortune. More importantly, Chris has strived to replicate Outback’s culture.
In its first three years, Bolay treated team members to partner trips to the Bahamas. He aims to budget for similar excursions each year.
Bolay has also grown without selling to private equity or conducting fundraising rounds, scaling through bank debt and internal cash flow. “The beauty is I got to watch Outback grow and understand their regional management teams, systems, processes, and checklists,” he says. Outback is now part of Bloomin’ Brands, a publicly traded company. However, its managing partner system and early culture were legendary in the restaurant industry.
Chris mentions studying the histories of Chipotle and Chick-fil-A as well. All to develop a people-first playbook that enables forward-thinking. Chris plans three to five years ahead for every decision, hiring for Bolay’s future vision, not just for immediate needs.
His wife sometimes questions if they should be generating more revenue at this stage. “Hey, no, we’re building,” he tells her. “It’s a constant reinvestment in our people and our physical expansion.”
Bolay aimed to scale from the start. It expanded from one to two restaurants in nine months. The following year, three more opened, then four the year after. Each year, Bolay doubled in size. After reaching five restaurants, they opened seven more the next calendar year.
The goal was Chick-fil-A-like in ambition—to replicate a successful model and maintain culture throughout expansion.
A Bolay tradition is to dump buckets of ice water on new leaders’ heads, like a Super Bowl victory celebration, when they open new stores. Chris calls it a fun practice, a “hidden gem of Bolay,” that reflects the brand’s deeper culture as it expands. “It’s a sign of our culture deep within Bolay’s roots,” he says, “…not just a culture, but a winning culture.”
After a challenging year due to COVID-19, Bolay plans to aggressively expand in 2021. Chris anticipates opening 5–7 restaurants and entering new markets in 2022. Bolay has remained exclusively in Florida so far, but that’s set to change. While a specific region hasn’t been chosen, they are considering Southeast options from Atlanta to the Carolinas, D.C., and Nashville.
“But we’re moving north in [2022] and seeking talent,” he says, noting Bolay is hiring for various positions, from technology and construction to operational partners and area managers, as they strategize for the future.
“I encourage everyone to check us out because we are growing,” he says. “We offer that fantastic Outback culture with a modern fast-casual work-life balance.”
COVID Puts Bolay Food to the Test
The past year presented Chris with both the peak and the trough of his professional journey. Even Tim couldn’t provide a playbook for navigating the coronavirus pandemic.
“The best advice he gave me was, ‘Chris, just make this company the company you’ve always dreamed of. Take this time to address some issues you didn’t have the courage to before,’” he recalls.
Like many mid-sized and emerging brands, Bolay consolidated resources. Leaders became grill cooks, construction workers became painters. Employees took salary cuts to manage cash flow and sustain operations. Bolay offered discounts to hospitality workers and provided meals to first responders.
Being a fast-casual establishment, Bolay weathered the storm better than many restaurants. It had a digital presence and systems for off-premises service. Florida also had relatively fewer restrictions and was among the quickest states to reopen and remain open.
Still, Chris often faced choices between bad and worse options. He would write down his decisions and consider their impact over three to five years to avoid knee-jerk reactions. “Take a moment, step back, and think about three to five years from now and how much worse things could get,” he advises.
As conditions improved, Bolay repaid employees their salaries, even adding an interest payment into everyone’s 401Ks.
Chris adopted this approach from Chick-fil-A founder Truett Cathy’s example. “I’m not sharing this to brag,” Chris clarifies. “I tell you this because it was the proudest moment of my career so far.”
Chris believes this experience strengthened Bolay as an organization because it was their first true test. The brand had experienced relatively smooth growth until then. COVID forced Bolay to refine systems and protocols, emerging as a more resilient company.
Bolay remained open throughout the crisis to avoid the disruptive start-stop cycle that plagued many businesses. This allowed them to maintain vendor relationships, and Chris states they have repaid “everything that was owed.”
“We likely have 100 vendors per restaurant, each relying on a small portion of our business,” he explains. “That’s why we pushed hard to keep some flow going, to give them hope that something, however small, was still coming. Small is better than nothing.”
Emerging from COVID, Bolay’s growth strategy remains unchanged: to emulate the slow-and-steady growth model of culture-first brands.
“We’re back in the game,” Chris affirms.
