The food industry is changing. Aside from the impacts brought by innovative technology in the food sector, many business leaders are open to many opportunities of pulling of major trends in the food business, ultimately changing our food experiences for the better. A prime example is Kyle Noonan, an American restaurateur, entrepreneur, speaker, and T.V personality who serves as the co-founder and CEO of FreeRange Concepts.
As soon as Noonan graduated, he started his own company and operated restaurants for Pappas Restaurants for 13 years, and it was in 2011 when he partnered up with his old classmate and established FreeRange Concepts. This was a restaurant development firm based in Dallas which specialized in creating innovative restaurant concepts.
From two employees, the company grew to 1000 employees in just four years while simultaneously owning and operating 12 venues located in cities like San Antonio, Dallas, and more.
He started his first venture, “Bowl & Barrel” under FreeRange Concepts in 2012. The restaurant had a bowling alley with a full-service modern American tavern specialties made by Chef Sharon Hage. In 2013, they launched their second venture, “Mutts Canine Cantina”. This was specially made for dog lovers around the world as it is a restaurant and an off-leash dog park where people can either spend time playing with the dogs or spend their time away in the beer garden. The first location of this restaurant is in Dallas, and once the restaurant gained popularity, it eventually opened in another place in 2018 in Fort Worth.
In the same year, FreeRange Concepts started a restaurant review show called the “Local Fare,” where the show aired on the CBS television station KTXA Channel 21 for about a year. What was so interesting about that show was that every episode featured three ordinary people from Dallas as guest restaurant critics, which put the spotlight on Dallas’s food culture.
Another venture which was launched in the same year was “The Rustic” in Dallas, which was in partnership with Grammy-nominated country music artist Pat Green. The Rustic is a full-service restaurant with live music performances, which had received a massive positive response from the audience, leading to the construction of its other locations in San Antonio, Houston Galleria, and Houston Downtown. Moreover, it has also been named the Busiest Restaurant & Bar in the State of Texas and has further expansion plans in development.
In 2015, FreeRange Concepts launched another business venture called “The General Public,” which was a lively neighborhood restaurant and bar focused on serving wholesome food and recreating popular recipes using fresh ingredients from local suppliers and farmers. It first opened in San Antonio, Texas, and the second one followed suit the next year in Houston.
Noonan’s continuous themed-based restaurant successes have significantly boosted his popularity, his net worth being $50mm. He has been featured on various national media outlets, including New York Times, Fox, Wall Street Journal, ABC, NBC, ESPN, and many more. He is also the recipient of the New Restaurateur of the Year Award in 2016, the Dallas 40 Under 40 award, and the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist Award in 2018.
