A rendering of the Eggs Inc. interior included in permit filings submitted to the city. (Public records)
A Swedish restaurant focused on eggs is opening its first U.S. location next to Union Station thanks to local restaurateur Troy Guard.
Eggs Inc. has signed a lease on the bottom floor of The Coloradan condo building at 1750 Wewatta St.
The restaurant space is about 1,380 square feet with about an 250-square-foot dining space and 530-square-foot kitchen space, according to permit filings with the city.
“There’s a lot of foot traffic, a lot of visibility,” Eggs Inc. Chief Operating Officer Larry Sidoti said. “We’ve been searching for a location in the Denver metro area for several months, and this one checked the most boxes.”
Eggs Inc. co-founder Glen Eriksson said the location was attractive in part because of the proximity to Whole Foods Market, whose clientele he sees as likely to stop in a healthy fast food restaurant.
Elisabet and Glen Eriksson opened Eggs Inc.’s sole location in Stockholm in 2019, saying they were unable to find healthy and inexpensive restaurant options in the area. The restaurant offers a menu focused solely on the ingredient: egg pizzas, sandwiches, benedicts and buns.
“You have to stick out, you have to be something and not what everybody else does,” Elisabet Eriksson said. “That’s why we don’t want to have too broad a menu. We have a broad menu, but everything is based on eggs. We don’t want to do the same things as everybody else.”
From left: Glenn Eriksson, Elisabet Eriksson, Troy Guard and Peter Forsberg (Courtesy Eggs Inc.)
Elisabet Eriksson previously owned Espresso House, a European coffee chain which has been dubbed the Swedish Starbucks. Espresso House was acquired in 2015 by JAB Holding Co., which owns Panera Bread, Einstein Bros. Bagels and Caribou Coffee.
The Erikssons were looking to franchise their restaurant when NHL hall of famer and former Colorado Avalanche player Peter Forsberg, who is from Sweden, fell in love with the concept and wanted to bring it to the U.S.
He tapped his friend Guard, whom he grew close with after frequenting Guard’s downtown steakhouse, to help out. Guard, owner and executive chef of TAG Restaurant Group, is known for restaurants like Guard and Grace, Los Chingones, Bubu and Hashtag. The pair are investors in Eggs Inc., not franchisees.
“Denver as a location, I think, has a lot of people willing to try new things, but we’re also a healthy town,” Guard said. “This is kind of a more healthy concept, and we know our backyard better than anything, right? So, we’re gonna start here, we’ve got the infrastructure, the scene. We know this city.”
The unit where Eggs Inc. will open. (Karoline Leonard/BusinessDen)
The initial plan was to build five locations in Denver within a year and a half before expanding elsewhere in the country, Guard said. But moving outside Denver might happen quicker due to stalls and delays with the city.
“It’s becoming difficult here and expensive. Some of the right locations and spots, this has all changed drastically in the last year and a half since we decided to bring this on,” Guard said. “The numbers have to work at the end of the day. … I don’t think we have a timeline or cutoff but you know when you know, when you’re banging your head against the wall because you have to jump through so many hoops that it’s not worth it.”
Sidoti said the Union Station location will hopefully open in the fall, around September or October.
“It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s portable,” Sidoti said. “Which is all important in this time, with everybody so rushed and hurried all the time. It’s a multi-time-a-day product. We’re not competing in the breakfast space. This is breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
A rendering of the Eggs Inc. interior included in permit filings submitted to the city. (Public records)
A Swedish restaurant focused on eggs is opening its first U.S. location next to Union Station thanks to local restaurateur Troy Guard.
Eggs Inc. has signed a lease on the bottom floor of The Coloradan condo building at 1750 Wewatta St.
The restaurant space is about 1,380 square feet with about an 250-square-foot dining space and 530-square-foot kitchen space, according to permit filings with the city.
“There’s a lot of foot traffic, a lot of visibility,” Eggs Inc. Chief Operating Officer Larry Sidoti said. “We’ve been searching for a location in the Denver metro area for several months, and this one checked the most boxes.”
Eggs Inc. co-founder Glen Eriksson said the location was attractive in part because of the proximity to Whole Foods Market, whose clientele he sees as likely to stop in a healthy fast food restaurant.
Elisabet and Glen Eriksson opened Eggs Inc.’s sole location in Stockholm in 2019, saying they were unable to find healthy and inexpensive restaurant options in the area. The restaurant offers a menu focused solely on the ingredient: egg pizzas, sandwiches, benedicts and buns.
“You have to stick out, you have to be something and not what everybody else does,” Elisabet Eriksson said. “That’s why we don’t want to have too broad a menu. We have a broad menu, but everything is based on eggs. We don’t want to do the same things as everybody else.”
From left: Glenn Eriksson, Elisabet Eriksson, Troy Guard and Peter Forsberg (Courtesy Eggs Inc.)
Elisabet Eriksson previously owned Espresso House, a European coffee chain which has been dubbed the Swedish Starbucks. Espresso House was acquired in 2015 by JAB Holding Co., which owns Panera Bread, Einstein Bros. Bagels and Caribou Coffee.
The Erikssons were looking to franchise their restaurant when NHL hall of famer and former Colorado Avalanche player Peter Forsberg, who is from Sweden, fell in love with the concept and wanted to bring it to the U.S.
He tapped his friend Guard, whom he grew close with after frequenting Guard’s downtown steakhouse, to help out. Guard, owner and executive chef of TAG Restaurant Group, is known for restaurants like Guard and Grace, Los Chingones, Bubu and Hashtag. The pair are investors in Eggs Inc., not franchisees.
“Denver as a location, I think, has a lot of people willing to try new things, but we’re also a healthy town,” Guard said. “This is kind of a more healthy concept, and we know our backyard better than anything, right? So, we’re gonna start here, we’ve got the infrastructure, the scene. We know this city.”
The unit where Eggs Inc. will open. (Karoline Leonard/BusinessDen)
The initial plan was to build five locations in Denver within a year and a half before expanding elsewhere in the country, Guard said. But moving outside Denver might happen quicker due to stalls and delays with the city.
“It’s becoming difficult here and expensive. Some of the right locations and spots, this has all changed drastically in the last year and a half since we decided to bring this on,” Guard said. “The numbers have to work at the end of the day. … I don’t think we have a timeline or cutoff but you know when you know, when you’re banging your head against the wall because you have to jump through so many hoops that it’s not worth it.”
Sidoti said the Union Station location will hopefully open in the fall, around September or October.
“It’s quick, it’s easy, and it’s portable,” Sidoti said. “Which is all important in this time, with everybody so rushed and hurried all the time. It’s a multi-time-a-day product. We’re not competing in the breakfast space. This is breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
