Aussie fast food chain rebrands, takes on US market

A rapidly growing Aussie fast food chain has announced a new name and plans to open its first outlet in the US, with a location in New York’s trendiest borough.

A rapidly growing Aussie fast food chain has announced plans to open its first outlet in the US, with a site earmarked in New York

Fishbowl – an Asian-inspired salad and protein bowl takeaway business – opened its first store in Sydney’s Bondi in 2016 and has since grown to 46 stores in NSW, Queensland and Victoria.

Founders Nic Pestalozzi, Nathan Dalah and Casper Ettelson announced they have signed a lease on their first overseas site, which will open in New York’s NoHo neighbourhood by mid-2024.

Fishbowl co-founders Nic Pestalozzi, Casper Ettelson and Nathan Dalah are taking their healthy bowl concept to the US.

“We didn’t build Fishbowl to be the best product in Bondi, we really wanted to create a brand that we thought was world class,” Mr Dalah told The Australian.

“New York is really the mecca of the fast casual food space, and consumer retail in general.”

The founders also revealed the business will be rebranded to Thisbowl, in a bid to overcome the perception that it only sells fish.

“We sell as much chicken, beef, eggplant and tofu as we do fish,” Mr Dalah said.

“We didn’t want that friction when it came to the customer having to make the decision as to whether they liked fish or didn’t like fish.”

The company has also unveiled plans to rebrand as Thisbowl. Picture: Kitti Gould.

Along with the US expansion the founders said another 100 Australian locations are in the pipeline, after opening an additional 10 sites last year, predominantly in Queensland.

Fans of the chain took to social media to express hopes that this might mean an expansion into other Australian states.

“Love Fishbowl – please come to Perth!!” one commenter wrote on Instagram.

But others on social media were more sceptical of the expansion plans.

“Love Fishbowl but I have a feeling they’re expanding too quickly. The service and quality is inconsistent – when it’s good, it’s epic. When it’s bad, it’s pretty damn bad. Interested to see how this expansion goes – I hope they scale sensibly.”

“Basically you’re taking the Aussie version of the Hawaiian poke bowl to NY,” another fan wrote on Instagram.

The new name also came under fire: “Fishbowl is fun. Thisbowl is lame – keep the name! Who cares if you sell other bowls.”

The company’s healthy bowls sell for between $12.90-$17.90. Picture: Jenifer Jagielski

The company sells its salad and protein bowls for $12.90-$15.90, with warm bowls priced between $14.90-$17.90.

Fishbowl is privately owned by its founders, who launched the business by tipping in a combined $250,000.

It doesn’t disclose its financial results but Mr Pestalozzi said the chain was “well past $50 million in sales” in the past 12 months, and was targeting $100 million in sales in the next financial year.

He added that the founders “stay really close to the product” by each working two in-store shifts a week.