Headquarters: Atlanta
Annual Sales: $14.7 million
Units: 6
Key Personnel:
• Chris Hadermann, co-founder/
partner
• John Piemonte, co-founder/partner
• Mike Evertsen, co-founder/partner
• David Sylvester, director of
operations
SINGLE CONCEPTS:
• Gypsy Kitchen (Spanish cuisine)
• Milton’s Cuisine & Cocktails (farm-to-table)
• Smokebelly BBQ (chef-crafted
barbecue)
• The Blind Pig Parlour Bar (a 1920’s-inspired speakeasy behind Smokebelly)
• The Southern Gentleman (a southern gastropub)
MULTIPLE CONCEPTS:
• The Big Ketch Saltwater Grill (elevated casual seafood with two units)
WHY IT’S COOL: Here’s a group that dispels any doubt about the rise of Southern cuisine. Except for its Spanish concept, Southern Proper’s concepts embrace tradition and Southern hospitality. Its latest concept, The Southern Gentleman, is unabashedly and proudly Southern. It’s a place, says Hadermann, where you take people to “experience what it means to live the Southern lifestyle.” Good restaurant concepts, like good songs, have a hook, and Southern Proper’s hook has a lucrative twang.
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