Calico Fish House, Lolo’s Tacos, and 101 Burger — three restaurants by husband-and-wife team Andrew and Lauren Gruel — will open at Kitchen United MIX, 1315 3rd St, Santa Monica, CA 90401, at a date that’s yet to be determined, according to both the Gruels and the ghost-kitchen enterprise.
In 2011, Chef Andrew Gruel founded Slapfish as a food truck and grew the fast-casual seafood concept to more than 20 locations. Last year, Mac Haik Enterprises bought out the company, allowing Gruel to open new concepts, something he’d been planning for years.
One of those new concepts is Calico Fish House, which opened in September on the Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach. It has a full bar and servers, as well as counter service ordering. The Gruels also own:
- Big Parm — a New Jersey-style hand-tossed pizza, sandwich, and salad joint featuring no junk, nothing artificial
- Two Birds — a chicken sandwich operation
- Butterleaf — a vegetable diner celebrating real food and not fake meats
- Lolo’s Tacos — an eatery offering clean and simple tacos, burritos, and specialty sauces
- 101 Burgers — a simple burger joint with the purpose of using only the best meat, fresh patties, formed to-order
The slew of concepts is umbrella’d by American Gravy, a restaurant company created by the Gruels, dedicated to creating new concepts and helping others achieve their full potential by focusing on simple food, community, value, and character.
