One of Austin’s favorite restaurant start-ups, Freebirds World Burrito, a startup originally formed by two college students in 1987 with 4 locations locally, was sold yesterday to Tavistock Restaurants LLC of Emeryville, California.  Tavistock Restaurants owns eight restaurant concepts, including Freebirds, ranging from fast casual to fine dining, and is part of the Tavistock Group, a private investment company founded by Joe Lewis with business interests in life sciences, sports teams and events, manufacturing and distribution, oil and gas, financial services, restaurants, private luxury residential properties and master-planned real estate development.

After thriving for 20 years with 19 locations throughout Texas, Freebirds President Alan Hixon said officials have been planning for years to sell the chain to someone who could "take it to the next level" without changing its unique qualities.  "This is an exciting milestone for our company, and we look forward to growing the brand with Tavistock," said Hixon. "We’re also excited about the synergies of our companies. Both Freebirds and Tavistock share a strong commitment to providing customers with the best product and service possible. We look forward to sharing the benefits of exciting new growth opportunities this combination will provide."  According to Bryan Lockwood, president of Tavistock Restaurants, the goal is to open an additional 60 Freebirds within the next 5 years.

Congrats to Pierre Dube, Alan Hixon and the rest of the Freebirds team!

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