Bread Head Restaurant Group is heading over the hill.
The Venice-based fast-casual sandwich chain plans to open its fourth location in December at Topanga Village in Woodland Hills, followed by a fifth in Thousand Oaks in the second quarter of 2027.
The Valley push follows restaurants in Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach and Westwood.
It’s a long way from the brand’s first pop-up at Grand Central Market during the COVID-19 pandemic, when chefs Jordan Snyder and Alex William sold about 10 sandwiches.
The pair came from Trois Mec, the Michelin-starred Hollywood restaurant that closed in 2020. Together, they set out to bring fine-dining care to the sandwich counter.
Getting there took years of pop-ups around the city, a look at potentially running a food truck and shifts delivering for DoorDash to keep the business afloat. They eventually teamed up with Venice Brands Chief Executive Greg Willsey and former Night + Market executive Michael Pasternak to open their first permanent shop in Santa Monica in 2024.
Pushing through all this takes a serious commitment to house-made products and high-quality ingredients, Snyder said.
“I always joke around and say we made the world’s most complicated sandwich shop, and it really is true,” he said.
“We deal in an honest way of running a restaurant.”
For now, the founders plan to keep growth founder-led rather than franchising.
“It’s not at a place yet where we can just hand the package over to someone and say, ‘Go, operate a Bread Head,’” Snyder said. “I think that’s where concepts can sometimes fail – not being led by the people that truly care.”
They also aren’t taking outside funding, an increasingly rare choice as private equity and venture capital reach deeper into L.A.-born restaurant brands.
Dave’s Hot Chicken, for example, sold to Atlanta-based Roark Capital Group for $1 billion in 2025.
The expansion comes as rising labor, food and operating costs squeeze margins and inflation makes diners choosier. A May report from Deloitte found that four in 10 consumers engage in value- seeking behaviors, and that quality is the main motivator for diners choosing among top-performing quick-service brands.
That’s where Bread Head plans to stay focused, Snyder said.
“There’s a whole lot of money in the product and the ingredients,” he said. “I think that’s what will keep a lot of people in the game through ups and downs of the economy or turns in the market.”