Hawaiian Bros Island Grill has signed a 52-unit development deal with multi-concept operator Southern Rock Restaurants, bringing the Hawaiian street-food franchise brand to Florida for the first time. The deal, announced October 12, 2026, covers six years of openings across Jacksonville, Gainesville, Tampa, and Orlando, marking the brand’s most significant single-state commitment since launching its franchise program.
Hawaiian Bros Island Grill launched its franchise program in 2022 and has since built development momentum across the Sun Belt and Midwest. The concept centers on a simplified plate-lunch menu featuring proteins served over rice, drawing on Hawaiian culinary traditions.
Southern Rock Restaurants, led by CEO Max Piet, currently operates approximately 200 franchised restaurant locations across 13 states under two brands, McAlister’s Deli and Dave’s Hot Chicken. The Florida agreement adds a third brand to the operator’s portfolio and extends Hawaiian Bros into a state it had not previously entered, completing a geographic gap in the brand’s Southeast coverage.
The Terms of the Florida Development Agreement
Under the agreement, Southern Rock Restaurants commits to opening 52 Hawaiian Bros locations across four Florida markets over a six-year period. The targeted territories cover Jacksonville, Gainesville, Tampa, and Orlando.
The deal represents the brand’s first entry into Florida, a state with one of the largest restaurant consumer bases in the US. Southern Rock brings existing multi-unit infrastructure, established supply chain relationships, and operating experience across two separate franchise systems to the agreement, factors that typically accelerate the timeline from development signing to first opening in large-scale commitments of this kind.
The Operator Behind the Deal
Southern Rock Restaurants CEO Max Piet leads an organization that manages roughly 200 locations for two separate franchise systems, McAlister’s Deli and Dave’s Hot Chicken, across 13 states. That dual-brand track record positions Southern Rock in the growing category of multi-concept operators, experienced restaurant groups that take on relationships with multiple franchise brands to diversify revenue and use shared back-office and operational infrastructure. The Hawaiian Bros Florida agreement would eventually represent a third brand within the same operational framework, an expansion of scale that multi-unit operators typically pursue once their existing systems are stabilized.
About Southern Rock Restaurants
Southern Rock Restaurants, led by CEO Max Piet, operates approximately 200 locations across 13 states under the McAlister’s Deli and Dave’s Hot Chicken brands. The Hawaiian Bros Florida development agreement adds a third brand relationship, covering 52 units across Jacksonville, Gainesville, Tampa, and Orlando over six years.
What the Florida Market Represents for Hawaiian Bros
Florida is one of the most competitive restaurant states in the US, with a large year-round population base, significant tourism traffic, and a dense concentration of both national chains and independent operators. For Hawaiian Bros, the state has been a notable absence in its expansion geography, which has concentrated on the Midwest and Sun Belt, with Texas among the brand’s most active markets.
The Florida deal fills that geographic gap while targeting four of the state’s most populous metro areas. Whether the 52-unit commitment proceeds on the announced six-year schedule will depend on real estate availability and permitting timelines across those markets, variables that affect all large-scale development agreements regardless of operator experience.
Hawaiian Bros’ Broader Franchise Development Strategy
The Southern Rock agreement reflects a strategy at Hawaiian Bros that has favored signing experienced multi-unit operators over single-location franchisees. The brand has previously announced partnerships with other multi-concept groups across different regions, a pattern common among emerging QSR concepts seeking rapid network scale without bearing the full burden of market-by-market development.
The Florida deal adds significant unit count to the development pipeline. According to QSR Magazine, which reported the announcement, the agreement marks the brand’s first entry into the Florida market after several years of building a presence elsewhere in the country.
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