Dunkin' Donuts is coming to Salt Lake City

Food • Utah part of well-known brand's westward march.

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Murray-based Sizzling Platter is bringing 16 Dunkin' Donuts restaurants to the Wasatch Front, the first eateries of the brand to open in the Utah marketplace as it moves westward.

Three restaurants are scheduled to open next year at unspecified locations, and the remainder by 2018.

In February, Sizzling Platter, LLC signed a multi-unit agreement with Dunkin' Donuts to develop 11 restaurants in Denver and eight in the El Paso, Texas and Las Cruces, N.M. area over the next several years.

An El Paso restaurant opened in August.

"We are excited to expand Dunkin' Donuts' presence [to] Salt Lake City and play an important role in the daily lives of people who live, work and visit here," said Mitchell Lowe, Sizzling Platter's general counsel and vice president of development. "We have a passion and loyalty for the brand and look forward to the opening of our Dunkin' Donuts restaurants in the years to come."

Sizzling Platter CEO Ted Morton said the 16 planned restaurants will be operated by a company subsidiary, Sizzling Donuts, formed in February.

Franchise opportunities also are available in northern Utah and Reno, Nev., said company officials for Dunkin' Donuts' parent company, Dunkin' Brands Inc. Until recent years, most Dunkin' Donuts stores were in the eastern U.S., but the parent company's initial public offering in the summer of 20111 was partly designed to raise funds for westward expansion.

To that end, Dunkin' Brands is offering single and multi-unit opportunities with no minimum unit requirements. The company also offers flexible concepts for real estate formats, including free-standing restaurants, end caps (display areas in grocery or department stores), gas and convenience stores, travel plazas, universities and other retail environments.

"Our secret to success is our passionate franchisees, who provide a high-level of customer service to our guests every day," Grant Benson, Dunkin' Brands vice president of development, said in a statement. "We're proud to be expanding west in Salt Lake City with Sizzling Platter, an existing Dunkin' Donuts franchisee. "

Sizzling Platter opened its first restaurant, Sizzler Family Steakhouse in Salt Lake City in 1963. The company has since expanded to include restaurants in Idaho, Nevada and Washington under different brands. In 1993, the firm also created Ruby River Steakhouse and began operating the Wasatch Front Red Robin Gourmet Burgers restaurants. In addition, Hoppers Grill & Brew Pub opened its doors in Midvale in 1996, and in 2007 Sizzling Platter opened Little Caesars locations, which have grown to operations in Utah, Colorado, Washington, Texas and New Mexico.

Dunkin' Donuts, founded in 1950, has more than 10,000 restaurants in 32 countries worldwide. Its restaurants had global franchisee-reported sales of $6.4 billion last year.

dawn@sltrib.com

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Sizzling Platter restaurant chain

Founded • 1963 with opening of Sizzler Family Steakhouse in Salt Lake City

Corporate • Privately held, based in Murray

Eateries • Owns and manages more than 180 restaurants in seven states under the Sizzler, Red Robin, Ruby River Steakhouse, Hoppers Grill & Brew Pub and Little Caesars brands

Newest addition • To open 16 Dunkin' Donuts restaurants in Salt Lake City by 2018; in July, opened a Dunkin' Donuts in El Paso, Texas; eight more locations planned for next five years