Bringing Healthy Eating to the Masses: The Veggie Grill Founding Story

T.K. Pillan grew up in Boston as the son of Indian immigrants who came to the U.S. in the early ‘60s. While both of his parents were devout vegetarians and his mother was a registered nutritionist and holistic medicine practitioner, they wanted Pillan, who was a star athlete and the captain of the high school baseball, basketball and soccer teams, to easily assimilate into American culture. So, they didn’t impose any culinary restrictions onto him and like most people, he grew up eating meat. Little did this average, meat-eating American know he would one day become the co-founder of the largest plant-based QSR restaurant chain in the country, Veggie Grill. Here’s how it happened.

The Origins of Veggie Grill

In the early ‘90s, Pillan graduated from MIT with an engineering degree and moved to Los Angeles to begin his career in computer systems and consulting. He earned an MBA from UCLA in 1996 with the goal of moving into the business side of the tech industry. From there, he co-founded Guidance, an ecommerce development firm riding the first wave of the internet boom. The company grew rapidly, and around 2005, Pillan decided to sell his stake in the company and move onto something new.

“After stepping away from that company, I had a lot of time to think about what I wanted to do next,” said Pillan. “Six months in, I had the itch to get started. I was 37 at the time, and I always tried to eat healthy given my family influence, but I never felt great about my options. Subway was the healthiest option you could find back then. I started reading about all of the issues that were impacting health and wellness in the U.S — obesity, diabetes, pharmaceutical dependence. My mother had always tried to help her patients with food rather than medicine, and she had a lot of success stories. I knew there had to be a better way and that is where my passion for plant-based eating was born.”

As a savvy businessman, Pillan said he also recognized the potential to tap into a lucrative niche. “All of the biggest franchises offered burgers, pizza, chicken — why can’t there be something that is healthy, convenient and delicious? That really hit me. I knew it could be great if I could create a business that helped move the country in the right direction,” he said.

Pillan shared this idea with an investment banker, Kevin Boylan, and to his surprise, found that he wasn’t alone in his newfound passion for healthy eating.

“Kevin agreed that this was a big problem and said he would love to be involved,” said Pillan. “The health food segment was growing 20% year-over-year. Super Size Me and Fast Food Nation were super popular at the time. It wasn’t just me. There was a big need for this.”

So, Pillan started doing his research on whether or not a healthy restaurant concept could be  popular, scalable and convenient. “I didn’t have any restaurant experience or know how to cook, but I visited every healthy restaurant in SoCal,” he said. “I found a couple hole-in-the-wall vegan restaurants and the food tasted great. They were using different versions of veggie proteins and were making their own salads, deserts, dressings, etc. That was a big lightbulb moment for me.”

During his research, Pillan says he started to learn more about the health benefits of veganism.  Plant-based diets have been proven to lower the risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, cancer and other chronic diseases. “Protein, calcium, nutrients — you can get everything you need in a plant-based diet,” he said. “It also helps you stay protected against diseases.”

Never one to only go halfway, Pillan decided to try it out for himself. He became a plant-based eater and within three months, he had lost 20 pounds and his cholesterol went from over 200 to under 140. “I felt way more energy and I had an easier time keeping my fitness goals,” he said. “It was like I was back to where I was in my 20s. I became a big believer.”

But veganism wasn’t just beneficial for the people who were eating healthier, Pillan found — it also had the potential to save the planet. According to a study by the Good Food Institute, plant-based meat both emits 30% to 90% less greenhouse gas and causes 51% to 91% less aquatic nutrient pollution than conventional meat.

“I read the book Diet for a New America, which shed light on the inhumane practices of factory farms and how destructive the meat industry is on the environment,” he said. “That was powerful.”

Armed with all of this knowledge, Pillan came back to Boylan with a plan to make Veggie Grill a reality. “Our overall mission was to make plant-based eating fun, friendly and approachable,” he said. “We wanted to do for vegetarianism what Whole Foods did for natural, organic food or what Starbucks did for specialty coffee.”

Driven to take a stand and change American food culture for the better, the two investors knew they needed someone who understood how to craft delicious and satisfying plant-based food. They enlisted the help of culinary expert Ray White to mastermind the innovative menu, which included soups, salads, bowls, sandwiches, burgers and desserts — all made using 100% vegan, plant-based products. With this, Veggie Grill was born.

The Start of Something Big

The first Veggie Grill location officially opened in Irvine, California, in 2006. “The biggest challenge at the time was really just getting the general consumer over that hump of understanding the product,” Pillan said. “Vegan was a foreign word at the time. We did everything in our power to come up with a brand and a menu that would overcome that stereotype and really deliver on the promise of great food.”

While the first location opened up across the street from U.C. Irvine and next to a Trader Joe’s, which meant a lot of foot traffic, the second location was a little more off the beaten path.

“We opened that location in January of 2008 in a little corner spot that wasn’t visible from the road,” said Pillan. “We were worried that people wouldn’t seek us out, but by April, we were doing more volume than the first location. That was a big moment for us. We have something that people want. It is a concept that really works.”

Fueled by this local momentum, Pillan says it was time to start growing. “We knew we could achieve our vision of creating a national restaurant chain that empowers plant-based eating,” he said. “We didn’t want to go too fast. We opened one or two locations a year and slowly introduced the concept to new regions.”

By 2011, Veggie Grill had seven locations open across Southern California. Around that time, the team brought on a CEO with strong restaurant chain experience and spearheaded growth up and down the West Coast. Today, 14 years later, Veggie Grill has expanded to include 35 corporate-owned locations in California, Oregon, Washington, Illinois, Massachusetts and New York City.

“We are still standing while many other peers have not,” said Pillan. “It is hard enough to build your own restaurant chain, let alone a vegan and vegetarian restaurant chain. We’ve learned a lot of lessons over the years, and now that the world is more aligned than ever with our offering, we feel we are ready to take the brand to the next level.”

Franchising: A New Era of Veggie Grill

While all locations have been strictly corporate-owned up until now, Pillan says the future of Veggie Grill is all about franchising. The brand is officially launching its franchise opportunity and giving entrepreneurs the opportunity to join the runaway leader in the exciting plant-based movement.

“We know that the best way to achieve our long-term growth vision is through franchising,” said Pillan. “The market today supports plant-based restaurants in every metro and we are confident we have the proper support in place to empower franchisees. Growing ourselves would take much longer. The best way forward is to partner with great franchisees and provide them with the branding, the menu and all the detailed knowledge to follow in our footsteps.”

Veggie Grill offers franchisees resources and support such as an established business model with a proven track record over the past 17 years, comprehensive training and a robust onboarding process to ensure franchisees are set on the right track to success. As plant-based pioneers, the Veggie Grill team also helps franchisees leverage this knowledge to come in swinging on the ground floor of the plant-based movement — Veggie Grill has received VegNews Magazine's winner for Favorite Vegan Chain in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the Veggie Grill team has been further optimizing its model, as well, shrinking its footprint to work in non-traditional locations, rolling out a smaller menu to cut down on operating costs and even launching two virtual brands — Más Veggies Vegan Taqueria and Vegan Bowls for All — in order to open up new revenue streams for franchise owners.

With the launch of its franchise opportunity, Veggie Grill aims to sign two to three franchise deals this year, followed by five next year and up to 10 in the years following. When it comes to target markets, the team is looking to develop all major metro markets across the country with an emphasis on California, Washington, Colorado, Texas, New York, Massachusetts and Florida.

“Our vision is to be a thriving global restaurant brand that does good for people, the planet and animals by inspiring and empowering plant-based eating across the world,” said Pillan. “The best way for us to do that is to partner with passionate, skilled restaurant operators who want to not only serve great food, but also make a positive impact on the world. We have the concept that allows them to do it. There are more people than ever who understand the benefits of plant-based eating, so if you can give them an alternative meal choice that is just as delicious and convenient, you can make a real difference. We know there are a lot of entrepreneurs out there who align with our values, so we are excited to work together to achieve that collective mission.”

The total initial investment necessary to start a Veggie Grill ranges from $749,000 - $1,297,000. For more information, visit: https://veggiegrill.com/