Cheba Hut Expanding into Riverside, California With Three-Unit Deal

Cheba Hut will open three new franchise locations in the Riverside, California area over the next 24 months, and the timing could not be any more perfect.

Located one hour east of Los Angeles, Riverside boasts a large population and proximity to several local colleges, including the University of California, Riverside.

“One thing we really like about the Riverside area is that it’s this big area with a lot of people, but there are all of these very unique and individualized communities in the area,” Cheba Hut Chief Operating Officer Marc Torres said. “When you get to Riverside, it doesn’t feel like you’re in this huge, massive city. Instead, you get a local community feel, and a lot of that exists in the Los Angeles area, especially around the colleges.”

This three-unit franchise deal is expected to create close to 100 jobs. Torres noted the high demand for more Cheba Hut locations, both within the city of Los Angeles and the surrounding areas.

“We have been receiving an incredible amount of website traffic from the Los Angeles area for the past three or four years,” Torres said. “We have about 3,000 unique visitors from the Los Angeles area every single month, which is by far the highest traffic count to our website outside of markets we are currently in.”

Cheba Hut is already seeing great success in the San Diego area thanks to its two locations there.

“People have heard about us in San Diego and they really want Cheba Hut in the Los Angeles area and even out in Riverside as well,” Torres said. “Cheba Hut will thrive in Riverside because of the beach vibe that that area embodies. We really have spent a lot of time making Cheba Hut into a destination and escape and we feel that really pairs well with the beach lifestyle and the vibe that California has in general.”

And it’s not just a proximity to local colleges that has Cheba Hut excited about this particular expansion.

“Riverside is also a market that has a lot of blue collar workers, and we do really well in those communities where people appreciate the unique aspects of a Cheba Hut, such as our food,” Torres said. “Riverside is a market where we feel Cheba Hut will fit extremely well with the whole community.”

Cheba Hut is actively looking for new franchisees to help the brand expand.

“We are definitely still seeking additional new franchisees in the Los Angeles area,” Torres said. “There are a lot of great college markets there.”

The ideal Cheba Hut franchisee, Torres said, is someone who understands why Cheba Hut is different and embraces that.

“Cheba Hut really embraces individuality, and we want our stores to look and feel different and have some owner input into them, so our ideal franchisee needs to understand that and embrace that,” Torres said.

In addition to Los Angeles, Cheba Hut is looking to expand throughout California’s Orange County.

“Southern California just goes hand-in-hand with Cheba Hut,” Cheba Hut’s Chief Relationship Officer Seth Larsen said. “Cheba Hut was founded on a semi-beach theme and there’s no better beaches than in Southern California.”

The startup cost for a Cheba Hut franchise ranges from $336,000 to $678,000. The franchise fee is $40,000. To learn more about franchising with Cheba Hut, visit https://franchise.chebahut.com/.