tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption

CHAIN -- Camille's Sidewalk Cafe
Owner -- Privately Held
Primary Operating Region -- Scattered from California to Florida
Number of Locations -- 48 (October 2004)

We have a couple of suburbs experiencing exploding strip-mall growth.  Dozens of spaces and frontage restaurant pads are being constructed.  And the restaurants going in there are largely the exact same ones we have elsewhere.  We SO needed yet another Arby's.  Another Wendy's.  Another Quizno's.  

But one new name has appeared.  Camille's Sidewalk Cafe.  I'd never heard of it, so I got online.  Long story short, if you haven't seen one yet, you probably will.  There's development agreements in place for nearly 600 of these.

The website had absolutely no information on the menu, so Wife #1 and I just headed over.  The menu is upscale soup, salad, and sandwiches.  There's a line of wraps, grilled Panini's, regular sandwiches, smoothies, and a coffee bar.  There's a breakfast line too.  Drinks include the usual fountain draws, plus some bottled sodas, waters, juices, etc.  Wife #1 pegged it...."It's Panera Bread without the bakery."  That's more true than she realized...Where Panera does a lot of their baking and prep on-site, Camille's delivers most stuff pre-baked and prepped to the restaurants.

David and Camille Rutkauskas launched Camille's in Tulsa, OK, in 1996.  The first location was a kiosk in an obscure area of a shopping mall.  The current concept is a lot more Panera, but done more efficiently.  Their growth can be attributed to significantly lower startup costs, but area franchise agreements where you must commit to at least five stores.  They're the Waffle House of fast-casual.

The target is women, and blatantly so.  I guess I'd peg Camille's at aiming somewhere between Panera and Quizno's.  (I like Quizno's better than both, honestly.)  Interiors are typical of the fast-casual world with a bit of a funky side and brighter colors starting with "green apple", apparently Camille's trademark.  A row of bench seating the length of the order line (faced to tables and chairs on the opposite side) was purple.  Blacks and wood tones provided accents, as did the funky color ceiling lamps and lights made of Perrier bottles.  A smooth, sort of jazzy muzak soundtrack is occasionally interrupted by "Number 213, your order is ready, number 213," with an unusually clean clarity.  Much less busy looking than Panera, but lovely nonetheless.  The intention is a comfortable atmosphere people will want to take a break and relax in.  Pick up a sandwich, maybe a smoothie or a coffee, login to the wireless internet (that some locations offer...this was one of them), and hang out.  Save the happy dance for the parking lot.  People will just stare.

For what I've had, I don't taste much of a "quality" or "freshness" difference between Panera and Camille's.  Menu items tend to have more of a Southwestern or California bend to them.  Camille's menu comes off as a lot less pretentious as Panera, but just as pricey.  We ordered two Panini's and drinks for a cost of more than $17.  The sandwiches came as two wedges served with tortilla chips and a small cup of salsa.  On the "full" level, I could do much better elsewhere.  I later discovered I could have ordered a half sandwich/soup or salad combo with drink included for $1 less than the full sandwich price.  Still, it was a pretty good sandwich.  Wife #1 disagreed completely, to the point she felt ill later at home.  She won't be back.

I don't see myself as a Camille's regular, but I'd certainly consider it as a viable franchise option.  In the right location, you wouldn't need much more than the neighborhood to support this.  Simple, stylish, and cool.   

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