Earls "unchaining the chain" with new restaurants, new concepts

Earls, the Vancouver-based restaurant chain known for their globally-inspired dishes, is shaking things up with the launch of a collective of restaurants, each with their own distinct concept.

“We are unchaining the chain restaurant,” says Mo Jessa, President of Earls Restaurants, in a press release.

What exactly does that mean? We’re not 100 per cent certain as the company has not provided many details on how these envisioned eateries will differ from other Earls restaurants already in operation.

What we do know, however, is that the casual fine dining restaurant group is designing a new prototype concept in Calgary, opening later this summer, and will also unveil a new dining concept in West Vancouver, in 2017, as part of the new Grosvenor Ambleside development.

In the works for quite some time, this new concept for West Van aspires to be, as Earls CEO Stan Fuller describes, “everything you know and love about Earls, but nothing you would expect.”

While Earls’ reinvented dining experience could mean many things, Jessa reveals that the West Vancouver location points to the future of Earls.

Moving forward, Jessa says, visiting patrons “can expect to see the future of Earls as less of a chain and more of a collective of individual restaurants influenced, in part by our history and our experience, in part by inspired collaborations, but more by its location, market, and purpose.”

While it’s clear to see that Earls is experiencing a period of excitement and growth, the company may have to let go of older Earls establishments. According to WestVancouver.com Earls’ “Tin Palace” location in North Vancouver (at the bottom of Capilano Road) will soon be developed into an entirely new mixed use commercial/residential area complete with new condo towers and services.