Keke's Breakfast Cafe

When Denny’s acquired&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kekes.com/franchise?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=john-ehrhard-franchisee-story-2729755" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Keke’s Breakfast Cafe</a> in 2022, fans of the Florida-based brand had questions. Would the welcoming, neighborhood charm survive under corporate ownership? Would the model change? For franchisee&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-ehrhard-9b191917b/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=john-ehrhard-franchisee-story-2729755" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">John Ehrhard</a>, the deal wasn’t a cause for concern—it was confirmation.“I don’t know that they could have found a better buyer than this Denny’s team,” he said. “They’ve got a fantastic culture and have elevated what [founders] Keith and Kevin [Mahan] built.”Ehrhard didn’t start in hospitality. He and his wife,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-belcher-ehrhard-0524146/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=john-ehrhard-franchisee-story-2729755" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Kimberly</a>, spent 25 years running a television production company, and when they began thinking about stepping away from that world, restaurants weren’t even on the radar. But a friend, already involved in the Keke’s system, introduced him to the brand, and things moved quickly from there.“We had zero restaurant experience—honestly, it was the last place I ever thought we’d end up.”&nbsp;They began as passive investors in a few units. But after seeing the success and potential of the business, they bought out their partners and took a more hands-on role. Today, the couple operates nine Keke’s locations across Orlando and South Florida, with more growth on the horizon.“It’s a great brand with great people. I genuinely love the combined Keke’s and Denny’s team—and the model works. Exceptional culture, exceptional product.”Scaling nine units in just a few years takes more than enthusiasm, though—it requires a leadership style that keeps teams aligned and motivated. Ehrhard says his approach starts with a genuine commitment to his people.“The biggest thing? Serving your leadership team in ways that go above and beyond—genuinely. When you lead like that, it cascades. They pay it forward to their teams, and it creates something powerful.”Culture, he says, isn’t just a buzzword; it’s the foundation of everything, a lesson he brought with him from his time in TV production. His restaurants are built on a spirit of trust and experimentation, where trying something new is encouraged and small wins are celebrated.“None of us will be perfect, but as long as we’re trying to be better every day, that’s all I care about,” he said. “Let’s try things—some will work, some won’t—but that’s how we grow.”That same mindset applies to the guest experience. Keke’s Breakfast Cafe is known for its warm, home-like feel, and the couple works hard to preserve that across all their locations. According to Ehrhard, it starts with service—the way guests are greeted, how they’re treated and how they feel when they leave.“The service has to be warm, genuine, and excellent. When guests come to Keke’s, it should feel like a treat—you see it in their faces when the plate hits the table.”Thoughtful design plays a role too. The brand’s signature high-backed booths offer a sense of privacy and comfort, creating a space that feels more like a weekend breakfast at home than a casual restaurant chain.“That design choice says a lot about the brand. It’s not about efficient seating—it’s about creating a space where people can slow down, connect, and enjoy the moment.”While his focus is always on delivering a great experience for customers and employees alike, Ehrhard is also mindful of the business mechanics behind growth. One of the biggest lessons he’s learned is how important it is to scale with the right infrastructure at the right time, a balancing act that gets trickier with every new location.“You can’t let your infrastructure outpace your profit, but you also can’t fall behind. Scaling is a constant balancing act.”Despite those challenges, Ehrhard believes the brand is just getting started. Though it’s long been a favorite in Florida, national awareness is still relatively new, and that excites him.“We’re a young brand with a huge runway. For a concept that already works this well, it still feels like we’re just getting started.”He encourages other operators — especially experienced ones — to consider joining the system. The brand is hungry for new ideas, he says, and the corporate team is open to innovation from the field. “They let you test, tweak, and build—if it works, they’re ready to scale it. It’s a great setup for experienced operators who want to bring fresh ideas to the table.”For Ehrhard, joining Keke’s wasn’t just a business decision — it was the beginning of something meaningful. The day-to-day work is about more than transactions. It’s about connection, community, and creating something lasting.“Being part of the Keke’s family is incredibly rewarding. The community, the commitment to quality, the joy we bring guests every day—it’s special. It’s not just food; it’s creating a place that feels like home. And the support from the Keke’s network has been a huge part of our growth. We’re genuinely proud of the journey.”To find out more information on the costs to buy this franchise, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kekes.com/franchise?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=john-ehrhard-franchisee-story-2729755" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.kekes.com/franchise</a>.

John Ehrhard Story: TV Producer to Keke’s Franchise Owner

1851 Franchise

From television production to restaurants, John and Kimberly Ehrhard are creating a thriving business with trust, empowerment and a family feel.

This brand page has been paid for by KEKE'S BREAKFAST CAFE. Content within this page that is paid will showcase a Sponsored icon. This means the brand has engaged 1851 FRANCHISE to write the content. Content without the Sponsored Icon is aggregated media placements the brand earned. Questions can be sent to editorial@1851franchise.com

John Ehrhard Builds Success With 7 Keke's Breakfast Cafes

john-ehrhard-franchisee-story

FRANCHISE INFORMATION

About Keke's Breakfast Cafe

Create Your Fresh Start

Experience the Difference

Why You Should Invest in a Keke’s Breakfast Cafe

Franchisee Highlight

Executive Q&A

Learn

Download Brochure

Visit Website

KEKE'S BREAKFAST CAFE

Facebook

Instagram

LinkedIn

TikTok

SOCIAL MEDIA

Daily Meal: Keke's Breakfast Cafe Recognized as a Rising Restaurant Chain To Watch in 2026

Building a People‑Powered Breakfast Franchise: How Christie Schatz Shapes Culture at Keke’s Breakfast Cafe

Veteran Restaurateurs Jeff And Kim Rigsby To Open Five Keke's Breakfast Cafe Locations In Upstate South Carolina

KEKE'S BREAKFAST CAFE MOST READ STORIES

1851 LOGIN

GROWTH CLUB LOGIN

ABOUT KEKE'S BREAKFAST CAFE

CONTACT KEKE'S BREAKFAST CAFE

facebook

instagram

twitter

linkedin

First Name

Last Name

Email

Phone

City Of Interest

State

Do you have at least $300,000 of liquid capital available?

Do you have a net worth of $1M+?

Do you have experience in restaurant ownership or operations?

Why do you want to own a Keke's Breakfast Cafe?

Own a Keke's Breakfast Cafe Franchise

veteran-restaurateurs-to-open-five-kekes-breakfast-cafes-south-carolina

How Two Keke's Breakfast Cafe Owners Are Solving Workplace Burnout With A Novel Incentive System

kekes-breakfast-cafe-franchise-employee-retention-kitchen-scoreboards

A Day in the Life of a Keke's Breakfast Cafe Franchisee

kekes-breakfast-cafe-franchisee-moe-khalil

Breakfast may be the most underappreciated daypart in the restaurant industry. But for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kekes.com/franchise">Keke’s Breakfast Cafe</a>, it’s a competitive advantage. And&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucasjovita/">Lucas Jovita</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/franchise-deep-dive-kekes-breakfast-cafe-franchise-costs-fees-profit-and-data-2722276#stories">Keke’s</a> senior director of finance, lies at the heart of turning that advantage into measurable growth.With a deep understanding of franchise finance, operational efficiency and cost management, Jovita is helping&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/kekes-breakfast-cafe">Keke’s</a> navigate everything from labor and food costs to site selection, construction optimization and scaling strategies. Under his leadership, the brand is balancing affordability with a high-quality guest experience, keeping costs low while helping franchisees maximize profitability.&nbsp;As&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/kekes-breakfast-cafe/info">Keke’s</a> continues to refine its model and plan for expansion, Jovita is looking ahead to what could be a pivotal year for the brand and the franchisees who are part of its growth story.1851 Franchise sat down with Jovita to discuss the benefits of a limited-daypart model and what’s in store for 2026. Here’s what he had to say:1851 Franchise:&nbsp;When we talk about the breakfast and brunch segment, it inherently has lower food costs. What are the key ingredients in the categories (eggs, dairy, bread, produce, meats)? Where do the advantages lie and how does that compare to full-service operations?Lucas Jovita: From an operations standpoint, the number of ingredients is pretty small. Our top 20 ingredients represent about 60% of everything we buy. So, we have a tight number of SKUs. There’s a lot of velocity with our top 20 items, which helps with waste.Last year wasn’t a great example because of the egg crisis. Eggs are a huge part of what we do (about 12% of everything we buy). But in a typical year, theoretical food costs for breakfast items range from 15% to 20%. Many of those items go through the egg station (about 30 to 40% of what we sell). They’re high-velocity items, easy to cook and have a 15 to 20% food cost. That makes it attractive from a food cost standpoint.That’s excluding the challenges we faced with the avian flu this year.1851:&nbsp;When targeting those food cost percentages for Keke’s, how does that compare with benchmarks in full-service restaurants or the fast-casual/QSR space?Jovita: Full-service depends on the concept. But it’s generally 25 to mid-30%. Our food cost is about five to 10 basis points lower than full-service concepts. Dinner tends to have a higher cost of goods as a percentage of sales and lunch has a little leverage. But breakfast is even better.1851:&nbsp;To what extent does having a limited daypart simplify operations? It obviously reduces waste. But are there hidden cost trade-offs like idle equipment or staffing flexibility?Jovita: There are fixed costs. But limited hours help. For example, if you’re driving $2 million in sales over six hours, really, your busy hours are nine to one. You’re driving most of your sales in that particular window. Labor costs are more efficient because you can schedule team members when it’s busy (as opposed to during slower periods, like in full-service restaurants).Now, with full-day operations, you have unproductive hours after lunch before dinner or happy hour. Whereas here, it’s turn-and-burn. When you’re busy, team members are in. When you’re not, you can cut them. That makes labor more efficient.Limited hours also allow us to have one or two managers per store, depending on volume. Full-day operations might require four or five managers to cover all shifts.1851:&nbsp;But, even in this segment, there are still things squeezing margins. What are the biggest factors and how are you coaching franchisees to mitigate those factors?Jovita: There are three main components: labor, food cost and rent. Labor is a big input cost. Food cost is also important. Rent is critical because the business only has limited hours to generate revenue. So, you don’t want to overextend on rent in a location that looks busy at night but is closed during your operating hours.I’ll give you an example. You wouldn’t want to be next to an NBA stadium because the games played in that stadium are at night. You’d pay high rent – but miss the foot traffic.&nbsp;Selecting the correct site is really key.1851:&nbsp;The last few years have obviously been turbulent economically. Inflation has affected everyone. How are you navigating that without frequent price hikes that could upset your core customers?Jovita: Even with inflation, our guest satisfaction scores and net sentiment are best in class. That gives us some pricing power. We’ve increased prices modestly (while not fully covering input costs). Supply chain efficiency and menu engineering are also a focus. But the ultimate goal is pricing. We’re hoping to price for two-thirds of inflation and find efficiencies to cover the rest. Not all those costs are passed on to guests.1851:&nbsp;In your capital structure and footprint – kitchen size, equipment, square footage – it’s similar to full-service or fast casual, right? How do you optimize fixed overhead to ensure franchisees are profitable?Jovita: Keke’s restaurants saw an impressive average AUV of $2,089,007 in 2024 for all franchised restaurants that reported through the iLumen Reporting Software, with the top half of franchise restaurants seeing net sales of $2,589,666, according to the brand’s most recent Franchise Disclosure Document. * This allows our franchisees to see a bigger return on investment. Brand standards and demand, particularly on weekends, help cover fixed costs.1851:&nbsp;And as you scale more franchise units, when do economies of scale kick in? Are there frictions in realizing efficiencies now?Jovita: Having been a part of a larger system like Denny’s gave us some leverage for contracts, purchasing and support. This allowed us to generate savings and economies of scale, which we maintain today. Technology transitions are helping as well. Construction costs are a focus. We aim to bring them down even more.When you hit a 1.5 to 2 sales-to-investment ratio, that’s the sweet spot. A payback period of three to four years allows any concept to grow quickly.1851:&nbsp;That three to four-year payback seems to be the magic number. Brands that can engineer that model tend to explode because institutional investors and multi-unit operators can see the ROI.Jovita: We’re always working hard to get there. Reducing construction costs is a big initiative and will drive growth.1851:&nbsp;The brands that can do it attract serious growth…Jovita: Next year is going to be massive for us. With the egg crisis behind us, we’re focusing on franchise growth, controlling costs and leveraging technology. The foundation is laid for robust comp sales and profitability.To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/kekes-breakfast-cafe">https://1851franchise.com/kekes-breakfast-cafe</a>About Keke's Breakfast CafeKeke's Breakfast Cafe is a Florida-born restaurant chain specializing in breakfast, brunch, and lunch favorites. Known for its freshly made meals, Keke's offers a wide range of options, including pancakes, waffles, omelets, and other classic dishes. With a commitment to high-quality ingredients and excellent customer service, Keke's Breakfast Cafe provides a welcoming and relaxed dining experience for customers of all ages. The cafe currently operates in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Nevada, Texas, Colorado and California, with other locations in multiple U.S. states slated in the near future. For more information, please visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.kekes.com">www.kekes.com</a> and follow Keke's on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.* ( We had 25 franchise restaurants report full-year information through iLumen.)&nbsp;

We dig into how Keke's low food cost model changes the math for franchisees - and how it stacks up to full-service, fast casual and QSR operations.

Why Breakfast-Only Franchises Might Be the Secret Weapon of Restaurant Profitability

lucas-jovita-interview

At&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kekes.com/franchise">Keke’s Breakfast Cafe</a>,&nbsp;the high-volume, low-hour breakfast and brunch franchise,&nbsp;culture is more than a line in a corporate handbook; it’s the backbone of the brand’s identity at every level of the restaurant experience. Long before guests even receive the food they ordered, they feel the immersive atmosphere and attitude that defines the&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/kekes-breakfast-cafe/info">Keke’s</a> experience — one rooted in warmth, familiarity and comfort, creating an energy that drives a genuine experience.&nbsp;For a brand expanding briskly across the U.S., protecting that culture has become just as important as delivering a great dining experience. For&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/christieschatz/">Christie Schatz</a>, Keke’s director of human resources, who has spent two decades helping restaurant brands fine-tune their training and empower their workforce, the chance to build on Keke’s dedication to culture was a major draw, as was a role that helps shape the decision-making behind the guest dining experience.“What really inspired me was the people at Keke’s,” Schatz said. “People first — that's in our guiding principles.&nbsp;It's a new brand, and I loved that they already had guiding principles laid out. Combine that with the growth, and I thought, ‘Wow, this is a great opportunity to take what I've learned and bring it to Keke’s to make it even stronger.’ I love the people at Keke’s; they’re warm and sincere.”&nbsp;<h2>Follow The North Star</h2>Keke’s culture begins and ends with people. In her role, Schatz is acutely aware of what can and cannot be trained. Without the right people, cultures can crumble–and finding them requires both clarity and consistency.Today, there are more than 80 locations, and franchise owners are responsible for assembling their own teams. That makes selecting the right franchisees crucial, as they set the tone for how Keke’s culture trickles down to every level.“Culture starts with guiding principles. They’re your north star, your core values. On day one, team members should understand them. You provide tools and information so they can grow within the organization,” Schatz said. “People are always the underpinning of culture. Hiring the right talent is essential.”<h2>A Strong General Manager</h2>As the restaurant industry continues to evolve, establishing a positive culture can have ramifications that go beyond the information entered on an online comment form. Empowering team members remains a Keke’s hallmark, which impacts not only talent development but also long-term retention.&nbsp;It all starts with the right people. In each location, selecting the right general manager can have a profound impact that sets the pace. A general manager with strong communication skills can help define culture and keep it a priority, leading to happier team members with a vested interest in success, which, in turn, helps deliver a better guest experience.“The war for talent is real, especially post-COVID. How you treat and engage people is key. In corporate cafes, managers focus on engagement beyond day one. Connecting people is critical. Open lines of communication and constant engagement are essential,” Schatz said. “Hiring the right manager is also critical. They shape the team member experience, which directly impacts guests, team productivity and efficiency. Focusing on management ensures the team delivers for the guest, which supports profitability.”<h2>What Sets Keke’s Apart For Franchisees</h2>People first. It’s a simple idea, but it defines Keke’s culture in terms of its approach to team members and guests. Authenticity matters. At Keke’s, culture is more than words.&nbsp;Engagement and communication help the right general manager do more than train a reliable workforce — they help build teams that drive culture. Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, Schatz's core vision is franchise alignment that elevates both guests' and team members’ experiences.&nbsp;“Without great people and culture, you’ll feel it right away when you walk into any restaurant,” Schatz said. “At Keke’s, I felt welcomed, important and celebrated from day one. That emphasis on people is a huge advantage. Look at people as a differentiator. Do the people in the organization have passion, care and concern for the brand? Do they live by the guiding principles, or is it just words on a wall? That was why I left a company after 25 years for Keke’s. The culture and guiding principles are authentic.”To find out more information on costs to buy this franchise, please visit&nbsp;<a href="https://1851franchise.com/kekes-breakfast-cafe">https://1851franchise.com/kekes-breakfast-cafe</a>.

From talent strategies to leadership alignment, Keke’s Breakfast Cafe’s director of human resources shares how the brand’s culture engine fuels franchise growth and operational excellence.

kekes-breakfast-cafe-culture-and-brand-values

John Ehrhard Builds Success With 7 Keke's Breakfast Cafes

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS