Newk’s Eatery, the fast casual restaurant known for its culinary-driven menu and open kitchen, is expanding in North Texas with the company’s latest development agreement to open seven locations in Fort Worth and surrounding areas.

Newk’s newest franchisee is an operating group composed of two father-son teams. Texas restaurateurs Cyrus Park and his father Hooshang Naghad will serve as the local operators, with capital and counsel provided by Alan Ribble and son Conner Ribble.

This is the first joint investment by the foursome, who bring extensive restaurant and hospitality industry experience to the table. Naghad opened Park Place, a fine dining restaurant in Texarkana, Arkansas, in 1979 and is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute of New York. Son Cyrus has been working alongside his father for 17 years. The Ribbles have been investors in real estate for over 30 years, including involvement with North Dallas hotel franchises.

“This team is ideal to expand Newk’s brand in the Fort Worth area,” says Newk’s Chief Development Officer Chris Cheek. “They have tremendous hospitality experience, and Cyrus and Hooshang are experts in both restaurant operations and building relationships with guests and in the community.”

Now in its 13th year of business, Newk’s serves made-from-scratch sandwiches, salads, soups and hand-crafted pizzas for lunch and dinner. Everything on the menu is prepared in open-view kitchens with premium ingredients, such as petite tenderloin steak, Atlantic salmon and sushi-grade ahi tuna, to give guests an authentic, flavor-rich food experience.

“We were attracted to Newk’s because we share a philosophy—remain passionate about the food we serve and committed to offering a great guest experience,” says Park. “Together, we can make Newk’s a go-to fast casual dining experience for customers in and around Fort Worth and Denton.”

In the past year, Newk’s exceeded the 100-unit mark, expanded into 10 new markets and added over 50 new franchise unit commitments.