Restaurant business
Dallas restaurant group scoops up comfort food chain Cotton Patch Cafe
Chicken fried steak at Cotton Patch Cafe.
The Southlake-based Cotton Patch Cafe restaurant chain, known for its Texas-style comfort food, is finding comfort in the form of a new owner from Dallas.
According to a release, Dallas-based Local Favorite Restaurants group purchased Cotton Patch Cafe from Altamont Capital Partners. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Local Favorite's growing restaurant portfolio includes 99 restaurants spanning 10 brands, including well-known names like El Fenix Mexican Restaurant, Snuffer’s Restaurant & Bar, Meso Maya, Taqueria La Ventana, Wok Star Chinese, Twisted Root Burger Company, Campuzano Mexican Food, and Village Burger Bar.
The Cotton Patch acquisition “is an important step for Local Favorite Restaurants and a natural fit for the kind of brands we want under our roof,” Local Favorite founder Mike Karns says in the release. “Cotton Patch Cafe has loyal guests, a proven track record, and a Texas identity that gives it meaningful room to grow.”
Founded in 1989 in Nacogdoches, Cotton Patch operates 46 restaurants in Texas and New Mexico. In DFW, there are locations in Arlington, Burleson, Cedar Hill, Garland, Grapevine, Irving, Lake Worth, North Richland Hills, and Watauga.
The deal also brings changes to the leadership team.
Karns will remain with the company in the role of founder and "Free-Range Creative," overseeing its creative direction and growth strategy. Cotton Patch Cafe CEO Brandon Coleman III will become CEO of Local Favorite Restaurants.
Local Favorite also owns and operates Sunrise Mexican Foods, which produces chips, tortillas and other Mexican food products for retail and foodservice operators.
Cotton Patch Cafe is known for scratch-made, comfort classics like hand-breaded chicken fried steak, along with $9.99 Texas Value Meals.
Coleman says the acquisition won’t result in changes to the “heart” of Cotton Patch.
“We will continue to bring the small-town spirit, big Texas value, and quality scratch-made food guests count on, with the same focus on hospitality and community that has always made Cotton Patch feel like home,” says Coleman.
