Flaming Amy’s Bowl announced this week that it is opening up franchise opportunities.

Owners Amy and Jay Muxworthy opened Flaming Amy’s Bowl in 2008 with plans to open additional “Bowls” as soon as possible. The subsequent downturn in the economy, however, forced them to delay those plans.

The Muxworthys are now looking to grow their restaurant family and hope to start close to home.

“We want to focus on the North Carolina region first,” Jay Muxworthy said. “We’d like to see a store in the Porters Neck area and possibly Leland and then move out farther to Charlotte, Greenville, the Triangle area and Greensboro.”

Jay Muxworthy says they’re not counting anything out as far as locations, but to be hands on and get their system ironed out, it makes sense to start the expansion locally.

“We want to start out cautiously and make sure the all the franchises get the attention they really need, but once we get the hang of it, the sky’s the limit,” he said.

The restaurant's concept allows customers to fill their bowls with whatever combinations of fresh produce and protein they choose and then see it topped with the sauce of their choice and cooked on a large flat-top grill. The combinations are served over rice or noodles, and it’s all you can eat.

The franchising unit, A Bigger Bowl Inc., is made up of the Muxworthys serving as co-founders and CEOs, Jay’s brother Scott Muxworthy serving as director of brand management and franchise development and Eddy Solis as franchise sales director. Two longtime employees, Amanda Limbaugh and L.J. Latimer, have been promoted to serve as new franchise coordinator and franchise training director, respectively.

The team has developed a two-part intensive training program for all franchisees and will assist with location selection, lease negotiations, national supplier connections and marketing.

“When we first developed the concept we tried to make it as simple and easy of a place to own and operate as possible so we could duplicate it,” Jay Muxworthy said. “It can work almost anywhere - strip malls, airports, college campuses.”

A Bigger Bowl, Inc. received nine inquires on the first day it announced its plans on Facebook, according to Jay Muxworthy. Inquires came from as far away as California, Utah and Pennsylvania as well as from Charlotte, Greensville, Greensboro, Raleigh and Wilmington.

He has no plans to franchise the couple's other restaurant, Flaming Amy’s Burrito Barn.

“I think it would be really hard to duplicate the Barn authentically,” he said. “And there is much more competition both locally and nationally for restaurants selling burritos.”

For now, the Muxworthys will focus their efforts on expanding Flaming Amy’s Bowl. They’ve even decided to put their Flaming Amy’s Sacred Burrito Bus up for sale.

“The bus was really just a side project for us,” Jay Muxworthy said. “We really weren’t dedicating ourselves to it fully, so we’ve decided to put our full attention on expanding Flaming Amy’s Bowl.”

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