Hawaiian Bros Island Grill’s unit count is up 64.9 percent, ending 2024 with 61 locations. System sales are up 36.3 percent over the three-year period.
It’s been quite a ride for Missouri-based Hawaiian Bros, especially since the launch of its franchise program in 2022. The brand closed 2024 with 61 locations and $136 million in systemwide sales, up a notable 64.9 percent and 36.3 percent, respectively, since 2022 to debut on this list.
Scott Ford, president and co-CEO, said the company anticipated finishing 2025 with 19 new restaurants and getting to 80 total locations in 13 states after adding Nevada and Tennessee to its footprint this year.
“We’re on a good pace, a good trajectory with 11 established and well-capitalized franchisees in the system,” he said. Ford said it’s become a lot easier to sell franchises to existing and new franchisees because Hawaiian Bros is “a proven brand now.”
Scott Ford is the president of Hawaiian Bros.
He also credited the company’s growth and success to maintaining a “consistently high quality and standard” for its fairly simple Hawaiian-inspired plate lunches and adding the option for franchisees to build smaller, freestanding drive-thru stores and ghost kitchens.
“We emphasize quality over quantity with a focus on speed and customer satisfaction, which is evident by the 4.8-star rating we’ve received from 850,000 Google reviews,” said Ford. “We’re really looking forward to 2026 being another big year for us with our current crop of franchisees committed to opening a little bit north of 300 restaurants in the coming years.”