UFOOD Grill Donates Grand Opening Proceeds to Rotary

ROSEVILLE, CA – UFood Grill, a groundbreaking new fast-casual restaurant concept, provided more than just great-tasting food to the Roseville community during the “Grand Opening” of the chain’s first restaurant on the West Coast.  New UFood Grill co-owners Wendi and Shane Vogel, and Tami and John Peed, donated all of the net-proceeds of their “Grand Opening” day sales to the Rotary Club of Roseville Foundation.

The Rotary Club of Roseville Foundation received an over $3,100 donation from the local UFood Grill franchisees as a result of their successful September “Grand Opening” event.  The Rotary Club of Roseville Foundation will utilize the funds to implement programs benefiting children and at-risk families in the Roseville-region, including: “Miles of Smiles,” (providing free dental care and sealants to all Roseville-area second and fifth graders), holiday parties, food baskets for the  homeless, dictionaries and books for area schools and libraries, support for scholarships, student and young professionals exchange programs, Scouting troops and youth organizations, Salvation Army, regional hospitals, recreation centers, parks, nature centers and camps, among many other regional and international programs. 

The Vogel and Peed family (Wendi and Tami are sisters), recently opened the first of what they hope will eventually be ten UFood Grills in the Sacramento-region.  The initial restaurant is located in the Nugget Market Shopping Center on the corner of Fairway Drive and Pleasant Grove Boulevard, in Roseville.

To insure that the UFood Grill would sell as many menu items as possible during the event, Rotary members and other Roseville community volunteers acted as UFood Grill “Celebrity Waiters” (delivering food to customers after they ordered), “Celebrity Samplers” (offering food samples and gifts to store visitors), and “Rotary Guest Hosts” (enthusiastically encouraging customer support).  Over 50 members of the Rotary Club of Roseville volunteered in some way to support the event, doing everything from busing tables, to acting as “Dancing Signs” on the street corner outside of the restaurant.

 “This is an incredibly generous donation that UFood Grill gave to our Rotary Club,” stated Allan Bernhard, President of the Rotary Club of Roseville. “We really enjoyed working with and for the Vogel and Peed families on this fundraising event.  We had dozens of Rotary members volunteer to work that day, as well as invite their friends, community leaders, neighbors and families to purchase food to support our Foundation. And the food was so good, some people came back for a second meal on the same day!  What’s more, our members tell me that they have been back over and over again because the food is great, served fast, and is reasonably-priced. The fact that the UFood Grill is owned by good people that have already given generously to this community and our Club, has made this whole experience incredibly positive for everyone involved.”

The UFood Grill in Roseville is now open to the public seven days a week for both in-restaurant and take-out service.  The new 2,989 square foot UFood Grill restaurant is located at 721 Pleasant Grove Blvd, Suite 150 in Roseville (near the corner of Fairway Drive and Pleasant Grove Boulevard in the Nugget Market shopping area). 

Since the first day that the UFood Grill opened in Roseville last month, the restaurant has consistently ranked first or second of all of the restaurants within the entire franchise chain in top food sales on a daily basis.

The UFood Grill restaurant chain is the brainchild of Boston Market founder, George Naddaff, who refers to his new restaurant franchise as, “…the next generation of fast food.” 

The development of the UFood Grill restaurant concept, and subsequent franchise chain, is the culmination of a three-year development program from an all-star team of restaurant veterans.  Mr. Naddaff began by tapping former Ritz-Carlton Executive Chef, Efrem Cutler, to develop a mouthwatering menu filled with American favorites and innovative originals. UFood Grill takes a back-to-basics approach to tasty, healthful cooking, where everything served is high quality—from choice meats to natural and organic ingredients, fresh produce, whole grains, and light cheeses and dressings.  

There are presently ten UFood Grill restaurants in operation, and an additional 75 in development. The UFood Grill in Roseville is first on the West Coast. Other Sacramento-area locations under consideration for future store openings include El Dorado Hills, Folsom-Granite Bay, Sacramento, Davis, Elk Grove, among others.

 “Adults will love it, kids will crave it, and vegetarians will flock to it,” predicts John Peed regarding the new Roseville restaurant. “Anyone who wants great taste and also cares about the food they eat, will finally have a restaurant that caters to them.” 

Wendi Vogel added, “That’s why we were happy that we could introduce our new restaurant to the Roseville community by partnering with Rotary. Rotary cares about the quality and health of our community, just like we care about the quality of our food and good health to our customers. We know that the funds we donated to Rotary as a result of our ‘Grand Opening’ event, will benefit many programs right in our backyard, and we’re proud that our store will help so many kids and families throughout the region.”