Palapas Restaurants vs Browns Socialhouse Franchise Comparison

Palapas Restaurant y Cantina is perched atop the Seascape Village and has been an institution in Aptos since opening its doors in 1990. Owners Mark and Kay Holcomb designed the space and menu with the goal of bringing home their beloved experiences vacationing on the coast of Mexico with their family throughout the 80s and 90s. ​Today we aim to capture that nostalgic vacation feeling while highlighting the natural beauty and bounty native to our own locale. This value is present in our locally sourced, fresh seafood, our commitment to local small purveyors, and even our design, which is built to offer an ocean view of the sparkling Monterey Bay from every single table.

Palapas brings the ambiance of tropical Mexico to the Monterey Bay area in a very unique way. In addition to featuring authentic traditional dishes of Mexico, our menu offers the fish, shellfish and sauces of the coasts of both Mexico and California. All of our dishes are prepared "A La Cocina Fresca”- "in the fresh kitchen method” a Spanish phrase that means exactly what it implies… freshly made sauces, handmade corn tortillas and fresh local seafood and produce prepared daily. In addition to creating a menu with many exiting choices, we’re committed to offering our customers healthy dishes with absolutely no use of any lard or animal fat in their preparation. We use rice-bran oil specifically for frying. Contains no trans fat!

Browns Restaurant Group offers a variety of partnership opportunities. We are uniquely social.

Browns Socialhouse is designed to be highly competitive in smaller urban and suburban markets. We're big and aspirational enough to appeal to dedicated urbanites, yet small and "familiar" enough to ensure everyone feels welcome. We have a "secret formula" and below you'll get a sneak peek. Our main competitive advantages include: 1. Site Placement: because of our smaller footprint, Browns Socialhouses can pop up in places where many other brands simply won't fit. Being smaller, we can target "A" locations without the burden of a huge rental factor. For Guests, Browns' smaller footprint provides for a much warmer overall experience. How many people would rather see a band play in a stadium than a club? Exactly. At Browns, our Guests and team members come together and are all part of the action. This makes for a truly social eating, drinking and working experience! 2. Efficiency: building and up-keep costs stay relatively low because of Browns' smaller footprint, and Socialhouses are efficiently designed to require less staff (which lowers labour costs). 3. Kitchen + Menu: Regular menu updates keep our offerings fresh while ensuring solid margins for franchisees and excellent perceived value for Guests. Our Culinary Mission is to produce great-looking menu items with delicious, approachable flavour profiles that can be prepared consistently and cost-effectively across the system. Our Chefs embrace the role of "part menu developer" and "part quality controller," and they're constantly tasting, testing and re-evaluating current menu items for quality, consistency and Guest acceptance. 4. Bar + Lounge: Central to the Socialhouse concept is a signature bar that brings life and energy to the entire operation. Our great selection of drinks delivers great value to Guests. As with our Menu Program, drink pricing is set aggressively to enable financial targets. 5. Owner-Operator Focus: We ensure every Socialhouse we open is owned and operated by someone dedicated to the community it serves. We are able to deliver excellent product and service required to provide a "WOW Experience" to our Guests. Each and every time. Using sophisticated systems and partnering with savvy Franchisees, Browns Restaurant Group successfully competes with independent restaurants and larger chains in local markets.