Special to ViewHurricane Grill and Wings was founded in South Florida in 1995. The chain is both family- and earth-friendly, using recycled materials in all of its locations.
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Las Vegans watch out, a hurricane's a coming.
Complete with beach décor and more than 30 flavors of sauce, Hurricane Grill and Wings will be blowing into the valley in a big way, with plans to open 45 to 48 restaurants in Nevada over the next five years, with the first expected location to be at Southern Highlands Marketplace in September.
The family friendly chain hails from Florida and brings with it a commitment to be environmentally responsible, while providing quality, all natural chicken, according to Jim Plante, vice president of franchising and development for the company.
Founded in 1995 by Chris Russo of South Florida, Hurricane Grill and Wings boasts 15 locations in the Sunshine State, all of which have embraced a green attitude.
"Those are things we gravitate towards practicing in our personal lives," said Tom Sadler, vice president and chief concept officer.
Sadler said because the company has a large to-go business, eco-friendly disposable serviceware was a priority. Thus, it has moved from using Styrofoam to offering 100-percent fiber board made from recycled materials at all of its locations. Cups used at Hurricane Grill and Wings are 100-percent compostable and are made from corn.
"We needed to be good stewards for our local communities and our global communities," Sadler said.
According to Sadler, the company will be looking to incorporate recycling at its restaurants and is investigating its next round of packaging, which would include silverware made from bamboo. Within the next 90 days, the chain hopes to introduce eco-friendly cleaning products to all of its restaurants.
"It's an evolution," Sadler said. "We can start building these values into our restaurants today, but we have to make sure there's enough of a supply chain to supply our restaurants."
Because Hurricane uses a lot of oil in its cooking, the company decided to take a portion of that resource and turn it into vegetable-based fuel products instead of just throwing it away.
"We want to do what we can do as a small part of the food industry," Sadler said.
He added the restaurant chain is looking to source its food within a smaller radius to each restaurant to "use less fuel and lessen our CO2 footprint from the truck."
In addition, Twin Fin, Hurricane's wine supplier, donates a portion of its profits to the Surfrider Foundation, a nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to protecting the world's oceans, waves and beaches.
Menu items at Hurricane Grill and Wings include a grilled mahi salad. The restaurant may soon take mahi items off its menu and replace them with a more sustainable fish species.
"Do we want to be one of those people driving the extinction of that species?" Sadler asked.
All cooking oils at Hurricane contain no trans fats, and only certified Angus beef is used. Chicken wings are always fresh, never frozen, and the company is looking into organic or antibiotic-free chicken, according to Plante.
"We're going to make it as healthy as possible, but still make it craveable," Sadler said. "We feel good about the food, and there's no secrets as to where it came from."
"We're the only company in Las Vegas that serves fresh chicken wings," said Peter Economys, area developer for Hurricane Grill and Wings. "The value of this franchise is in the value of the food."
Economys hopes his Southern Nevada locations will be open in early September, with units at Warm Springs Road and Stephanie Street, Eastern Avenue and Horizon Ridge Parkway, Rainbow Boulevard and Robindale Road, Rainbow Road and Tropicana Avenue.
"Vegas makes good sense, strategically," Plante said. "It's a perfect start to entering the West Coast."
Plante cited the influx of visitors and people moving to Las Vegas as reasons the area was chosen for Hurricane's first restaurant outside of Florida and said the company wants to have a nationwide presence of 400 restaurants in five years. Other states the company plans on expanding to include the Carolinas, New York, California and Michigan.
Hurricane Grill and Wings caters to families instead of the sports bar crowd, Plante said.
"We're different. We have a smaller footprint, and we do large volumes," Plante said. "Plus, we have 30 different varieties of chicken wings where the meat is never frozen, it's always fresh. I think this has a lot of potential in Vegas."
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