Honeygrow’s founder on the brand reset that sparked consistent growth

Honeygrow’s founder on the brand reset that sparked consistent growth

From Take-Away with Sam Oches by Nation's Restaurant News

April 28, 2026 · 22 min

About this episode

Sam Oches interviews Justin Rosenberg about Honeygrow's brand reset and growth strategy.

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Justin Rosenberg, founder of Honeygrow, a Philadelphia based stir-fry brand. The first Honeygrow opened back in the fast-casual boom of 2012, and much like his fast-casual peers at that time, Justin quickly scaled the business into major urban markets like New York, Boston, and Chicago. But the brand found itself mired in some bad leases, and Justin realized he needed to close some locations and double down on brand excellence in order for Honeygrow to meet its full potential. Today, Honeygrow has 76 locations, and Justin and his team have created a model that ensures continuous growth in cities both big and small. Justin and Sam sat down in person at last week’s Restaurant Leadership Conference in Scottsdale to recap a session they did on the mainstage, in which they covered Honeygrow’s early brand reset and how it’s developing loyal fans in cities that aren’t always on restaurants’ radars. In this conversation, you’ll find out why: Potentially strong AUVs should not fool you into bad leases You shouldn’t reinvent the wheel if the wheel keeps spinning There are no bad teams; only bad leaders Fast casual has a copy-cat…

People in this episode

Host: Sam Oches

Guest: Justin Rosenberg

Topics covered

  • brand reset
  • fast-casual dining
  • business growth
  • urban markets
  • leadership

Keywords

  • Honeygrow
  • Justin Rosenberg
  • fast-casual
  • restaurant growth
  • brand excellence
  • urban markets
  • leadership

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Honeygrow

Places: Philadelphia, New York, Boston, Chicago

More episodes of Take-Away with Sam Oches

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Take-Away with Sam Oches podcast page.