Perkins Restaurant: A Delicious Journey Through History

Best breakfast restaurant and bakery franchise

Perkins Restaurant & Bakery®: Expanding Our Community Connections

Perkins® started in 1958 as a humble pancake house in Cincinnati, Ohio. We have always intended to serve our customers high-quality coffee, delicious food, and baked goods with exceptional customer service in a warm, inviting atmosphere. We want our guests to relax, enjoy their time in our restaurant, and come back soon. It’s always been as simple as that.

By staying true to that philosophy, we’ve built Perkins Restaurant & Bakery® brand into an iconic restaurant and bakery franchise that has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs expand our restaurants nationwide and become vital to our communities.

Thanks to our famous pies, we are a major player in the $285 billion all-day breakfast category and a leader in the bakery café industry. Most importantly, we’re where people go for a homestyle meal, fresh, locally sourced foods, and exceptional service.

A Legacy Brand With a Proven Track Record

Perkins® has long been one of the original breakfast franchise concepts, but we didn’t stop with breakfast. Sure, we still serve an all-day breakfast as a routine for many regular guests, but we also serve a fantastic lunch and dinner menu full of classics and new items to keep it fresh.

Speaking of fresh, we source our ingredients from local, sustainable, and ethical suppliers—including our coffee beans—as much as possible. We must keep to the highest quality standards when our competitors focus on convenience. 

The Perkins® menu is also updated with innovative flavors alongside our classics, so something is enticing for everyone. We strive to satisfy our guests at every turn, keeping things fresh and flavorful while celebrating the iconic classics on our menu for 30+ years.

Perkins® is truly time-tested, having seen a lot in our 60+ years in business. Our brand has flourished in many economies because we have a loyal customer base, serve hearty portions at exceptional prices, and maintain top-notch service standards. Many of our franchise owners have been in business with us for decades, and their businesses are deeply connected to their communities. 

Unique Branding and Revenue that Stands Up

The Perkins® brand is built around welcoming service and quality food. Most restaurants strive for these things, but Perkins® delivers, beginning with the all-day breakfast, bottomless coffee, and legendary pies. When guests are served their meals, they’re also treated with kindness. It’s a combination that has kept Perkins® guests happy for decades.

Making customers feel great is only part of the story, however. Making the employees feel great is a big part of the equation. When the staff is well-trained and treated kindly, they’re happy to be in the workplace, where they can give the customers genuinely good customer service. In this way, it becomes easy to build rapport with the guests. Support the franchisees like family, and it’s easy to understand how Perkins® has preserved our hometown feel across franchising.

Add a revenue stream that makes Perkins® stand out—the fresh pies and bakery items—and franchisees have a winning combination that’s difficult to deny. 

The bakery café industry brings in more than $17 billion annually. Perkins® bakery franchisees can tap into a market segment above and beyond the usual restaurant in today’s economy for an additional revenue stream. Not only do we serve our fresh baked goods, made daily in-house, but our Perkins® bakery concept is suited for mobile-only orders, too. People searching delivery apps like Uber Eats are ordering from Perkins® bakery, driving sales for our franchise owners and connecting the Perkins® brand to all new fans.

A Flexible Franchise for Different Franchise Goals

Perkins® may have begun as a stand-alone restaurant, but we’ve grown because we’ve embraced a flexible model that gives non-traditional locations room to thrive. This way, franchise owners are not locked into a franchise concept that doesn’t fit their needs, and potential franchise investors aren’t turned away.

Our franchisees can secure prime real estate in their markets with the help of our real estate experts. Our franchise models work in the following ways:

  • Free-standing locations.
  • In-line locations.
  • End cap locations.
  • Restaurant conversions.

This also appeals to potential buyers, whether seasoned restaurant operators, multi-unit franchise owners, combination buyers, or new entrepreneurs are interested. We’re happy to speak to many astute investors seeking a unique experience franchising with the Perkins Restaurant & Bakery® brand.

Perkins® Franchising Support

When we award a new franchise, the franchise owner becomes part of the Perkins® family. We provide exceptional training and support from the beginning, and our franchise program rivals anything in restaurant franchising.

We begin with expert advice from our real estate team and carry franchise owners through initial training and grand opening. But we don’t stop there. Ongoing marketing support, continuing research and development, menu innovation, and ongoing field visits keep the professional development going, so we leave nothing to chance with giving our restaurant and bakery franchise owners everything they require to thrive.

Not only that, but Perkins® has skin in the game. Ascent Hospitality Management, the Perkins® parent company, owns and operates Perkins® restaurants, so we relate to our franchisees at a foundational level. We experience the same pain points, so we know where to improve and where to bolster our strengths. Our corporate-owned restaurants are also our proving grounds for new initiatives. We offer our franchise owners the opportunity to test along with us because our success is their success, and we take that responsibility seriously.

When you want a brand that knows the restaurant business, has the concept that guests love and return for, and keeps franchisees going for the long term, you want Perkins®. Breakfast is just the beginning.