Daphne’s California Greek Unveils New Brand Identity

Less than a year after being purchased out of bankruptcy, the San Diego-based Greek fast casual chain known as Daphne’s Greek Cafe has a new name, California-inspired menu and plans for an updated look.
Now based in Carlsbad, the renamed Daphne’s California Greek restaurant company announced this week its plans for the makeover of the nearly 20-year-old chain.
Patrons can look forward to a more healthful, Mediterranean-style menu that will include not only traditional Greek dishes like gyros and falafel, but also a variety of new salads, flatbreads and grilled seafood that will be rolled out over the year.
“Daphnes Greek Cafe was very narrow, and people’s awareness of Greek food is very low, based on what we heard in our focus groups,” said Bill Trefethen, the new CEO of Daphne’s and founder of Trefethen Advisors, which created a subsidiary to purchase the chain last August. “We’re creating our own genre so we can be pretty liberal about what it is so that it’s not tied solely to traditional Greek food.”
Daphne’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January of 2010 after the owner had tried for more than a year and a half in talks with its lender to restructure its loan.
Daphne’s has some 60 locations in California, Arizona and Colorado, including more than a dozen in San Diego County