Iron Rooster Expanding Canton Location; Eyes Montgomery County, DC
Iron Rooster's two-year-old Canton location will offer a new dessert option for diners. A pad site at the Shops at Canton Crossing that formerly held Farmstead Shack will serve scooped ice cream and frozen shaved ice starting in mid-June, founder and chief operating officer Kyle Algaze said. Restaurant execs have not decided yet on a name for the spot, he said. It will open seasonally, from May to October or November, depending on how warm our Maryland winters remain.
Known as a family-friendly destination, Iron Rooster's pad site will contain a playground.
The Canton addition is the latest expansion for the Annapolis-based company, which got its start in 2014 and has quickly added new locations. It started with 35 employees and will employ 300 once it opens its 175-seat restaurant at Locust Point's McHenry Row this summer, Algaze said.
It opened a location in Hunt Valley Towne Centre late last year, bringing its total to four. Is Algaze contemplating a fifth location?
Once Locust Point opens, Iron Rooster will likely look in the DC market, including Montgomery County, Northern Virginia and DC itself, for additional locations. Algaze said he would also entertain Howard County.
"Moving further south [from Baltimore] would be our goal," he said.
Algaze declined to disclose how much it costs to open each location, but said the company spends less than the typical $2M to $3M required for a new restaurant build-out since it identifies existing spots that already have some equipment and furniture.
The company will not entertain new locations until the end of the year or early next year, after the Locust Point restaurant is up and running.
With the Canton, Locust Point and Hunt Valley locations, the company can serve three different Baltimore submarkets. And diners in each location have an "Iron Rooster of their own," Algaze said. "I'm excited about that."
Hear more about Iron Rooster's expansion plans at Bisnow's Baltimore Retail & Restaurant Revolution event May 11 at the Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore.
CORRECTION, MAY 5, 9:50 A.M. ET: The Iron Rooster ice cream shop in Canton plants to open in mid-June. A previous version of this story had the incorrect date. This story has been updated.
