Hungry? Famous Toastery opens in Indian Land

In the world of breakfast chains, the panhandle is gaining a new contender – Famous Toastery, formerly known as Toast Café, opened its latest location at the intersection of S.C. 521 and 160 East.

If you are familiar with either of Toast’s other locations in Tega Cay or in Blakeney, then you know that Famous Toastery is a somewhat different experience for breakfast.

The first thing that you’ll notice upon visiting is that one server is not assigned to you. Instead, the entire team works together to ensure that your glass never goes empty, your food arrives as soon as it’s made and your every want attended to, thus their trademark term: “Every server is your server.”

CEO Robert Maynard has ensured that the answer to the question, “What do you do at Famous Toastery?” is the same at every location and for every staff member: “We make people’s days.”

The second major difference at Famous Toastery is the food. In addition to the standard eggs, breakfast meat and biscuits, you can also find a rotating menu that includes chef creations including fresh lobster and crab, flown in from Maine the night before, to a special called Pig Candy, which is essentially fried bacon that is hardened into a candy-like substance.

The mission at Famous Toastery is to offer a completely different experience for breakfast.

“We’re the next generation of breakfast chains,” Maynard said.

The story of how Famous Toastery came to be is almost as unique as the restaurant itself. Maynard’s childhood best friend, Brian Burchill, ran multiple successful restaurants in New York and relocated to the Charlotte area and was disappointed at the lack of breakfast offerings. So, he decided to open his own and called Maynard, who came from the real estate world, and pitched him the idea of creating a breakfast restaurant half a country away.

Maynard initially laughed him off until Burchill put him on a plane, rented him a car and made him experience the lack of breakfast offerings in the Charlotte area at the time. Maynard quickly was sold on bringing a better breakfast to Charlotte and in 2005, the first Famous Toastery opened in Huntersville, N.C. The duo opened two more small restaurants in the northern Charlotte area and in 2013 became a franchise. Not long after that they opened in Tega Cay’s Stonecrest center.

Fast forward to 2016, Famous Toastery has 18 additional restaurants opening up that span from Myrtle Beach to Long Island, N.Y. In the Charlotte metro area, locations in Davidson, Dilworth, University and Uptown are all planned. Additionally, CNBC recently ranked Famous Toastery sixth in its list of Best Franchises in America.

When asked if that level of exponential growth worried him, Maynard laughed and said, “We’ve had 11 years to get it right, we’re finally on the right track for growth and plan on continuing to add new items to our menu and more ways that we can provide an even better experience for our guests.

This story was originally published February 8, 2016 at 1:36 PM with the headline "Hungry? Famous Toastery opens in Indian Land."