Wonder highlighted on Apr. 24 an interview with Abe Nasrallah, Senior Vice President of Real Estate and Development, discussing the company’s rapid expansion from zero to over 100 locations in just a few years. Nasrallah described his team’s responsibilities, which include overseeing real estate strategy, site acquisition, design, construction, equipment procurement, and maintenance for Wonder’s growing network.
Nasrallah said the most surprising aspect of scaling Wonder has been the team’s ability to deliver new sites in under eight months from approval to opening—nearly half the average time it typically takes in the restaurant industry. “I remember early on thinking some of the timelines were impossible. And then the team would just… do it. We’ve continued to surprise ourselves over and over again,” he said.
He emphasized that success depends on building strong teams and maintaining a flat organizational structure where everyone is willing to help as needed: “If you want to run a great restaurant or build a hundred locations, it comes down to having the right people and putting them in positions to succeed.” He also noted that his leadership style was shaped by years working at Papa John’s across various roles—from answering phones at age sixteen up through senior director overseeing more than one hundred stores.
When selecting new locations for Wonder restaurants, Nasrallah explained that market selection is key before evaluating individual sites based on co-tenancy, accessibility, visibility, space requirements, and local demographics. He described real estate as “about 60% data and 40% art,” requiring both analysis and intuition about how people use spaces.
The Texas region represents an important next step for Wonder due to its large metropolitan areas like Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston as well as logistical efficiencies for serving multiple markets from central infrastructure hubs. This aligns with customer preferences among families who value multi-restaurant ordering options.
Grubhub focuses on increasing restaurants’ community impact according to its official website, operating across more than 4,000 U.S. cities with a network of 375,000 merchants according to Grubhub. The company provides tools for commission-free online ordering aimed at supporting independent restaurants according to Grubhub. Howard Migdal has served as chief executive officer at Grubhub according to Grubhub.
