The Fast Casual Nation Podcast offers exclusive interviews with experts ranging from top chefs and brand makers to executives and restaurants who work in one of the fastest-growing segments of the restaurant industry. In this episode, I talk with Troy Charhon, co-founder, owner and operator of Bread Zeppelin.

Troy Charhon and Andrew Schoellkoph are the founders, owners and operators of Bread Zeppelin and have been friends since high school. Charhon started his career in the food service industry as part of the management team for Central Market in the areas of store operations and procurement. Schoellkoph was on the team of Dallas-based eatZi’s Market & Bakery where he oversaw the day-to-day operations of the store, supervising 200 employees and managing a $17 million profit and loss statement. He also collaborated with the owners and CEO to implement various growth strategies.

Charhon and Schoellkoph reconnected in Dallas sharing thoughts and ideas for what was lacking in the local market, Bread Zeppelin soon became their reality. The two partners started crafting their vision and in 2013 the first Bread Zeppelin opened on MacArthur Blvd in Las Colinas.

Bread Zeppelin prepares fresh ingredients and serves them in a cored out freshly baked artisan baguette. Charhon says “the bread is definitely the star at Bread Zeppelin.” We talk about the menu and Charhon shares that all of their proteins are made in house. They offer steak, turkey, fried shrimp and tofu and then different varieties of lettuce. The menu keeps up with seasonality even running a limited time offer or LTO with strawberries and goat cheese. Bread Zeppelin also offers crispy onions served with blue cheese dressing, Charhon says for those that want to indulge.

I asked Charhon if the supply chain has been challenging when planning to offer LTOs and he said that “I think we've got great vendors and partners and if for some reason we can't get the exact spec of a certain product, we can definitely pivot to something else. Um and we hope our and our guests are very understanding. We're all dealing and have dealt with challenging times but the LTO is supposed to be exciting, something fun and different and you know that's what we want to put forth to our guests just so they can get a little spice in their assortment.”

To hear about the industry labor shortages, the launch of the new app and customer rewards, plus Bread Zeppelin’s plans for expansion listen to this episode of Fast Casual Nation on Apple Podcasts.