An Ohio-based ketogenic bistro, PangeaKeto, expects to open its first Florida franchise in June, pending permitting, in the former Hakka Kitchen at Beach Boulevard and San Pablo Road.
Franchisees Jacqueline Spring Miller and Rosanna Smith, managers of Spring Rose LLC, have been best friends for 17 years.
While each owns and operates separate businesses, they joined to buy the franchise.
Miller said it is “for my own selfish purposes to be able to have healthy food that is not going to cause inflammation and to sustain me, to have proper nutrition.”
“Also I love to help people. I love what I do.”
PangeaKeto’s menu is based on low carbohydrates. The Jacksonville menu will be similar to the other two in Ohio and Texas with burgers, melts, quesadillas, pizza, bowls, wings, sides and more.
Three of its “what we’re known for” items are:
The T-Rex Smashburger ($13) is a beef patty topped with melted American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and mayo on a toasted bun.
The chicken salad wrap ($13) features chicken salad, lettuce and tomatoes in a flour tortilla.
The cauliflower rice taco bowl ($14) has cilantro-based cauliflower rice, American cheese, ground beef, lettuce, pico de gallo, cilantro, sour cream, salsa and tortilla strips.
PangeaKeto also sells its own line of prepared foods for grab-and-go.
Previously a Taco Bell, the almost 2,000-square-foot restaurant is at 14474 Beach Blvd.
Chef Wen Raiti opened the organic food-focused House of Leaf & Bean in 2017 and then Hakka Kitchen in 2021 until she closed it in December 2022.
As the first PangeaKeto with a drive-thru, Miller said the location will operate the pickup window for orders placed via the app.
Miller and Smith are leasing the property from the owner of the shopping center, which is anchored by Publix Super Markets Inc.
Miller expects to open with hours from 11 am. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, eventually opening Tuesday and perhaps adjusting hours based on customer needs.
PangeaKeto co-founder Jeff Zucal said there is one corporate store in North Canton, Ohio, and two franchises - in Dayton, Ohio, and Houston. Jacksonville is the third franchise.
He expects the Jacksonville site will seat about 20 customers with strong pickup/takeout business.
PangeaKeto.com says the bistro and takeout business is “bringing the best foods from around Earth together to make healthy ketogenic meals, snacks, and more for humans.”
It explains that Pangea is “a supercontinent that incorporated almost of the landmasses on Earth.”
Zucal says on the website that in 2015 at the age of 45, he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and his doctor said his A1C level was 11.5.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says a normal A1C blood-sugar level is below 5.7%.
“I weighed 345 pounds and suffered from sleep apnea. Pricking my finger, injecting my stomach every morning, and wearing a CPAP mask every night was not the way I wanted to live the rest of my life,” he posted.
“At that point in my life I knew I needed a change and knew it needed to come in a healthy way, I found Keto.”
Saying he was unable to find well-formulated ketogenic products for his new low-carb/high-fat lifestyle, he created a company to provide a line of foods, packaged with clean labels and the correct macros to serve the lifestyle “and improve the quality of life of countless clients, including myself.”
Zucal, now 190 pounds, opened PangeaKeto in 2019.
The site says PangeaKeto has more than 250 proprietary products and sells sugar- and gluten-free meals, snacks, desserts, salad dressings and more.
“I wanted to create a store that you could walk into and everything is 10 carbs or less. It’s all gluten-free and sugar-free as well,” he said.
“When you walk in it will be an awesome bistro and a mini-grocery that will be our own products.”
Miller said she expects an investment up to $500,000 in the Jacksonville project, which includes renovations of the restaurant interior.
She hopes to improve on the outdoor seating presence, while the exterior colors are close to PangeaKeto’s green and black and won’t require a lot of change.
Miller said she followed the “signs” to the franchise and the location.
She attended a Tony Robbins motivational business seminar and came across an opportunity that she realized wasn’t for her.
She then started to attend low-carb conferences with Smith, who is a keto coach, and a contact from a Texas conference suggested they look into PangeaKeto. They visited Ohio to check it out.
“The food was really good,” Miller said. After researching it, they “decided to go for it.”
As for the location, they wanted to buy the Hakka site and contacted the landlord, who told them it had become available for lease.
“It was luck, a fluke, being in the right place at the right time.”