Tony Roma’s opened its first restaurant Monday in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma.
Orlando, Fla.-based Romacorp Inc., parent to the casual-dining chain, said the restaurant was developed with franchise partner APEX Food and Beverages Co. Ltd. of Yangon, the Southeast Asian nation’s largest city, with nearly 5 million people.
Tony Roma’s is the first U.S. casual-dining brand to open in Myanmar, which has been opening to investment since the nation’s military dictatorship formally ended in 2011.
Tony Roma’s development benefited from having a local Myanmar partner, said Ken Myres, president of Romacorp, which provided a franchisee with “a strong passion for our brand and a unique understanding of the local market.”
Kyaw Soe Win, managing director for APEX, said in a statement that his company was eager to bring the first Western casual-dining brand to Myanmar.
“Our restaurant is located in a growing, cosmopolitan area where residents are searching for new tastes, and we are delighted to introduce Tony Roma’s world-famous American fare so our guests can indulge in our ribs, steaks and seafood,” Win said.
The 6,400-square-foot restaurant has 210 seats, including three private rooms, a full-service bar and a two-story dining room.
Jim Rogers, Romacorp’s chief marketing officer, said finding the right partner was important, as was sourcing ingredients. The company invested time in finding quality suppliers because Myanmar is a new market, he said.
Myanmar wasn’t originally on the company’s radar for development, Rogers added, but APEX executives dined at the brand and approached Romacorp about opening in the country.
KFC, the division of Louisville, Ky.-based Yum! Brands Inc., announced plans last October to open a restaurant in Myanmar this year in a partnership with Singapore-based Yoma Strategic Holdings Ltd.
Micky Pant, CEO of KFC, said in a statement at the time that Myanmar was “an important emerging Asian economy with a population of 50 million people.” A Yum spokeswoman said she did not have an update on when the KFC is scheduled to open.
The Myanmar market has growth potential, according to KFC regional partner Yoma.
Serge Pun, executive chairman of Yoma, said that the nation’s consumer class “is forecast to grow from 2.5 million today to 19 million in 2030, potentially tripling consumer spending by more than threefold.”
Romacorp has more than 150 Tony Roma’s restaurants in more than 30 countries. The company also operates the single-unit Fire Grill in Orlando, and plans a second unit in Winter Park, Fla., this year.
KFC, which has more than 18,000 restaurants in 118 nations, has said it is increasingly looking at emerging markets. The company opened its first restaurant in Bolivia in July 2014.
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