TEMPE, AZ — The founders of Salad & Go, Tony and Roushan Christofellis, sold their healthy drive-thru restaurant during the pandemic, but have another drive-thru concept in the works; this one focused on fried lobster and lobster rolls.
It's called "Angie's Lobster" and has two main items on the menu: four pieces of fried lobster served with fries, a toasted and buttered bun, and a drink, and a lobster roll stuffed with wild-caught lobster and served on a toasted bun with fries and drink, a news release said.
Pricing is listed at $9.99 per meal.
They have at least five restaurants planned in Tempe, Phoenix, Mesa, and Glendale, all of which are expected to open throughout 2022, according to the restaurant's website.
The first, near Hardy Drive and Baseline Road in Tempe and east of Interstate 10, is expected to open in early 2022. However, the owners plan to open a temporary food truck, named the "delay buster," on Nov. 30, 2021, where people will be able to try the menu early.
A second restaurant is anticipated to open in January 2022 near 43rd Avenue and Thunderbird Road, near Arizona State University's West Campus. Walk-up service will begin in January, while the drive-thru isn't expected to open until later.
Others are anticipated to open near 19th Avenue and Thunderbird Road in Phoenix, Signal Butte and Guadalupe in Mesa, and Glendale Avenue and 83rd Avenue in Glendale, according to the website.
The concept was named after Angela “Angie” Christofellis, Tony's mom. She was born in Greece, immigrated to America with her family, and lived in Boston, Massachusetts, where she eventually owned her own seafood restaurant, Angela's Seafood, according to the website.
She died on March 2, 2020, after a battle with cancer, the website read.
"She raised us as a single mom. She was a true force of nature. She willed her way through life to ensure she put us in the best position to achieve the American dream one day. She taught us by example to help others when they need help, to love not just our family but also our fellow man, and to serve others, rather than being a boss and having others serve us. She was the most courageous person we knew," Tony wrote.
"I created Angie’s Lobster to honor our mother and make sure that the love we feel every day gets passed on to the next generation and to future generations."
The owners wrote on their website that they're able to price their meals as such because they buy Canadian or Maine lobster in bulk, some that may be "visually unappealing," such as a broken claw, but "tastes the same;" have fewer employees, no corporate office, and non-branded packaging.
