Alex Putrus says the company culture and the incentive system leads them to “go the extra mile for every customer.” Selections include customizable bowls, sandwiches, and “quesopita” entrées. | Photo by J. Adrian Wylie
Fast-casual chain Pita Way started in Clarkston in 2010, the brainchild of twenty-five-year-old Brandon Bahoura, who built a following from his family’s Iraqi-inspired recipes and the force of his “very eccentric and energetic” personality.
That’s according to Kipp Quarton, a marketing professional who became a regular customer and friend. Six years ago, Quarton fell on hard times and “through a series of mistakes and unfortunate events,” including a bad breakup, became homeless. Bahoura offered him a lifeline, but three months on his feet making sandwiches at the White Lake location was enough: He successfully pitched himself to Bahoura as Pita Way’s first marketing director.
The small chain had only a handful of locations at the time and no corporate team to speak of, but Quarton recalls telling his boss, “I want to help expand this thing and blow it up to the moon.” The first few months he slept in his new office.
Based in Waterford Township, Pita Way now has twenty-nine locations (all but three in Michigan) and aims to grow to 100 in three years. On May 13, it opened its first Ann Arbor location, at Jackson and Zeeb in an out-lot fronting Meijer. In June, they’ll unveil their remake of the former NeoPapalis space on the ground floor of Z West at the corner of William and Thompson streets downtown.
The not-so-secret sauce fueling this growth is the recruitment of career-minded partners outside of the typical franchising mode—an effort Quarton also spearheads. Would-be store leaders work through an in-house training program and several months managing an existing location before getting an expansion outlet of their own. They then share half of the net profits from that operation.
Alex Putrus of West Bloomfield Township, whose background is in customer service, started with Pita Way a year ago. He now runs the new Scio Twp. store, which seats about twenty, not including the side patio. He says the company culture and the incentive system leads them to “go the extra mile for every customer.” Free samples help introduce Mediterranean tastes and guide diners toward a satisfying selection among the customizable bowl, sandwich, and “quesopita” entrées.
Kenny Thomas, who will head the downtown location, is also relatively new to the company, having switched careers from co-owning a family fun center. “You gotta be ambitious, and you gotta want it,” he says of the business. He aims to build a spirit of camaraderie from the moment a customer walks in the door: “It’s amazing how you can turn somebody’s day around just by smiling and saying hello.”
Quarton points out another benefit: When patrons notice staff “running this place like it’s their own, they tip a lot more than your traditional fast-casual restaurant.” He says crew members average about $17 an hour, including tips. Each store employs fifteen to twenty, most of them full-timers.
Pita Way makes its own sauces, hummus, and marinades, and pickles its own cabbage, cucumbers, and turnips at its central commissary. The pita breads are delivered throughout the week from New Yasmeen Bakery in Dearborn.
“It’s a build-your-own concept, so that’s why it never gets old for people,” Quarton says. Specials include a dark-meat chicken bowl for $10 on Mondays, two “Dearborn” grilled chicken sandwiches for $10 on Tuesdays, a $29.99 meal platter with four proteins that feeds three, and free rice bowls for kids with an adult entrée purchase.
Pita Way, 5609 Jackson Rd., ste 101. (734) 822–0035. (Opening mid-June: 500 E. William St., 734–926–2100.) Mon.—Sat. 10:30 a.m.–9 p.m., Sun. 10:30 a.m.–8 p.m. pitaway.com
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