Southern Concepts starts rollout of Carve fast-casual BBQ concept

Southern Hospitality, the Justin Timberlake-founded restaurant whose first franchisers have grown it to three locations in Colorado, is about to rock into a new market and try to become one of the country’s first major fast-casual barbecue chains.

The first Carve restaurant is scheduled to open in early September on South Colorado Boulevard, said Mitchell Roth, CEO of Southern Concepts Restaurant Group Inc., which is headquartered in Colorado Springs. From there, company leaders hope to add five to six more locations next year, including at least one outside of Colorado.

Considering that there are only four full-service Southern Hospitality restaurants currently in operation — the eight-year-old New York location seeded by pop star Timberlake and several other musical artists to bring authentic Memphis barbecue to the city, plus stores in Denver, Colorado Springs and Lone Tree — Roth’s big move into a new segment could be seen as a bit of a gamble.

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