While the moniker OHG Brands (standing for Original. Honest. Good) might be new, the concepts under its umbrella are not. That’s a point Anthony Ackil keeps coming back to.
Ackil, who created fast casual B.GOOD when he was 26, growing it to 80 stores before selling in 2018, today leads Streetlight Ventures as CEO, an operating and investment company he founded a year after exiting. And now, Ackil and the company sit at the helm of OHG Brands, which emerged in late September as a fresh company from previous FAT Brands.
Included are 12 legacy names—Round Table Pizza, Fatburger, Marble Slab Creamery, Johnny Rockets, Fazoli’s, Great American Cookies, Buffalo’s Cafe & Express, Hurricane Grill & Wings, Native Grill & Wings, Pretzelmaker, and Ponderosa and Bonanza Steakhouses—collectively covering 1,700 global units.
“I love the brands,” Ackil says in an interview with QSR magazine. “I think they’re iconic. I think there’s strength in them. This idea of a brand being viable for 50 years, like some of our brands—almost all of them—it’s really unique.”
The “youngest,” Hurricane Grill & Wings, turned 31 in 2026.
When they were founded
- Round Table Pizza: 1959
- Fatburger: 1947
- Marble Slab Creamery: 1983
- Johnny Rockets: 1986
- Fazoli’s: 1988
- Great American Cookies: 1977
- Buffalo’s Cafe & Express: 1985 (express in 2006)
- Hurricane Grill & Wings: 1995
- Native Grill & Wings: 1978
- Pretzelmaker: 1991
- Ponderosa: 1965
- Bonanza: 1963 (merged in 1989 with Ponderosa)
Streetlight Ventures began as a restaurant consulting company with a focus on management, operations, finance, and marketing. When COVID hit, it started taking over brands (it works with concepts like Burton’s Grill & Bar, Anna’s Taqueria, and more) and was an active buyer.
But what it found, like many during pandemic valuation swings, was it couldn’t reach an agreement on price with owners, often founders. Where Streetlight couldn’t acquire the company, though, it started running the business.
“And what we created [was] an operating company,” Ackil says. “And it came out of the B.GOOD idea of it’s really hard to run a business. You need every functional area. You need expertise at every different functional area. That’s really where Streetlight came from. It’s the idea of running a business or adding support across every aspect of the business, from finance to marketing to innovation to operations, and lifting the business holistically.”
That’s what it’s doing with OHG Brands and its roster of 12 concepts. Streetlight’s team of executives, entrepreneurs, and leaders within the restaurant space, want to drive the business forward by surrounding it with expertise and experience across touchpoints.
As part of the effort, OHG announced a host of appointments. Among them:
Stephen England, Chief Operating Officer: brings 30-plus years in restaurant operations, including roles as Senior Vice President of Operations at Subway and Vice President of Operating Systems at Dunkin’ Brands.
Kelly Hansen, Chief Marketing Officer: brings 20-plus years of restaurant marketing experience spanning QSR to fine dining, including five years in marketing leadership at Raising Cane’s during its period of massive growth. She previously oversaw marketing for Tavistock Restaurant Collection, Lemonade Restaurant Group, and others.
Jose Ponce, Chief of Staff and Head of HR: holds more than 15 years of HR experience spanning organizational design, talent strategy, and building HR departments from the ground up across high-growth restaurant and franchise businesses, including Burger King, Tim Hortons, and Popeyes.
Artie Jones, General Counsel: formerly Associate General Counsel and VP at BJ’s Wholesale Club, where he advised on complex commercial transactions, enterprise risk, corporate governance, regulatory compliance, employment and litigation strategy, and helped modernize the legal department.
Ackil says OHG Brands fits ideally under Streetlight’s model. “I think the best thing we have going for us is No. 1, the brands are strong,” he reiterates. “But No. 2, the franchisees love these brands.”
He admits the company’s operators have been through a lot and the system has some skepticism to tackle. “There’s bridges that have to be built,” Ackil says. “But I tell you what, they love these brands, and they love them for a reason. It’s because these brands are iconic. They’re strong. And we see a really bright future for the business.”
One of the first things Ackil and Streetlight did was conduct workshops with every brand, multiple for each, in-person and virtually. The goal being for every franchisee to come together and hear the plan. Leadership explained functional area strategies, what it planned to do, and, most importantly, Ackil says, provide an open door for feedback.
“We said from the beginning that we want to listen,” he says, “we want to learn. And we want to understand what they know about this business and where they think we should take it. That’s been a really positive thing.”
Ackil says they’ll hold these every quarter and keep meeting with franchise leaders and associations. “The first thing we said is, ‘you know if you call us, we’re going to call you back,’” he notes. “We really want to hear from you. We want to understand the issues. You know these businesses better than we do.”
“And I think that’s been well received.”
As for what’s ahead, it’s still early. Yet Ackil says the playbook will follow one he’s tuned over recent years. There won’t be one area to attack; the company grabbed the reins, Ackil says, with the mindset of trying to improve every aspect.
He believes there’s widespread opportunity at OHG Brands, whether it’s updated technology, a more regular cadence of innovation, operations, or marketing. “We’re going to bring in real leaders that have done it before,” Ackil says. “And we’re going to drive the business forward as one. Not focus on just one area of improvement, but improving everything.”
Something they’ll have going for them, he continues, is a roster of operators. The staff, Ackil says, will be anchored by foodservice leaders in the “weeds of the business.”
“I’m not going to say it’s been easy, but it’s been great,” he says. “The franchisees are hopeful. They’re wanting leadership. … I can’t express how excited I am to work with these franchisees and also how great the response has been from them. It’s been extremely positive. And I didn’t expect that.”
Returning to OHG Brands’ inherent equity, Ackil says today’s consumer climate is a value-driven landscape, but one where quality is capturing traffic as well. You have to execute to be able to complete. “This idea of continuous improvement is something that we have always hung our hat on,” he says. “And I think, now more than ever, continuously changing, being entrepreneurial, taking risks, always trying to improve—I think this is the type of environment where that type of mentality thrives.”
And the same is true of nostalgia, which is something, again, the company doesn’t exactly lack. “People grew up with these brands,” he says. “And I think this idea of going back to where you grew up, a simpler time, is something that our brands can really take advantage of.”
