Here's why Kevin Hart teamed up with Fanatics billionaire Michael Rubin to challenge McDonald's

Actor and comedian Kevin Hart, now restaurant franchise owner, sits down with Brian Sozzi to discuss Hart’s new venture into the fast food business, attracting new investors, and going head-to-head with fast food giants.

Video transcript

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BRIAN SOZZI: All right, joining Yahoo Finance right now, a man who probably doesn't need any introduction, but I want to give it to him anyway. Kevin Hart, inside of his own restaurant in California. Thanks for joining Yahoo Finance, Kevin.

KEVIN HART: Thank you, man. I wish you could see the madness going on on the other side. But we're tucked off in a corner so that I can hear you guys and that you can hear me. But our place is full. The reception is overwhelmingly amazing. And the energy in this place just feels good, which is all I can ask.

BRIAN SOZZI: I want to get into the food. I'm pumped about this concept. You sound pumped too as well. But what made you open a restaurant?

KEVIN HART: Well, listen, for me, this is a move that's based on options. As a guy that loves plant-based food and has, what I didn't love is not having the option to have more, especially when it comes to fast food. You're always a item on the menu, right? You're a always a choice of one sandwich or choice of another.

So I said, what if there was a world that was created that existed where there was a menu, a full menu for the plant-based lover or the person that just wanted to try plant-based? I said, it doesn't exist. I said, what I want to do is try to bridge that gap and create the first of. And that's how the idea was sparked.

And I got to say, man, it's really, really good to see something that started off so small turn into something so big. And the beauty of it is we're just getting started. We're truly just getting started. And there's a world where this thing grows. And it can grow at an unbelievably. Rapid pace. I'm just excited for people to be able to drive by a sign and they can say, oh, wait, that's a plant-based option. Let's go here. That hasn't existed.

So for me to be right in the middle of your McDonald's, your Chick-Fil-As, your Burger King, your Wendy's, and now have Hart Houses in there as well, that's a dream come true. That's what I'm working towards.

BRIAN SOZZI: Kevin, you're a busy guy. I think a lot of folks watching this are following you on Twitter, Instagram. I think you have a new Netflix movie coming out, "Me Time." We've known you for many years. But how do you find time to launch a restaurant? Who are your investors? How do you find these people? How do you develop the concept?

KEVIN HART: I have amazing investors. Our partners are extremely strong not just in the world of investing and finance but in the world of entrepreneurship. I can say the first on my list of supporters is Mike Grubman, who I've known for an extremely long time. Our relationship is one of gold. And when I came to him with the idea, he not only jumped at it, but he went and found me the right strategic partners to align myself with as well.

He kept it very small because ownership, of course, is a key thing here. And we wanted to make sure that we prioritize things correctly. And the evolvement of this particular idea over the years, it hasn't been easy. It's been work between the world of tastings that I've been through, the color scheme that's attached to your restaurant, the idea and look of wardrobe inside your restaurant, your menu, how many items, why these items, your drinks, our selected drinks, why, testing, testing, testing, getting results, and really making sure that we focus on the thing that was important, which is the food.

Without good food, nothing matters. So really cracking the code and nailing that down, it took a long time. And they understood and respected my adamant approach to making sure our food was good. And it wasn't until I was absolutely sure that we checked every single box on the good food menu as, oh, my god, this is it, we're not moving forward.

And it took us about three years and some change to get there. Three years and some change, a lot of personnel. And our org chart now has grown to where we are fully structured and committed to a process that we've created. So it's exciting times, exciting times, not just because of now but because of the future.

BRIAN SOZZI: Yeah, Kevin, and it sounds exciting in that restaurant. Again, much congrats to you on the launch. We only know you, I think, as a very confident guy. I mean, but you don't fear going head to head with a McDonald's. I mean, they have a bottomless pit of money. And we've been eating Big Macs for the past 25 years.

KEVIN HART: Well, I mean, Chick-Fil-A didn't exist while McDonald's had their success. I think Raising Cane's didn't exist. I can go down the list of new establishments that have basically presented different worlds of food in a different way. And they found success. Look at Shake Shack.

These are things that have been brought to us over the course of the last five to seven years or maybe a little more. And because of the new, because of the good, well, people respond. This world is a very big place. There doesn't just have to be one. There can be many.

Once again, the variety of options is what people love the most. That's why menus exist. A menu with just one thing on it, well, it's not that interesting. But the menu with several is what people love because every day they can get something new. The menu of fast food chains just got a little bigger. And Hart House is now part of it. We're now a part of that list of.

So how big will it become? Of course that's TBD. But understanding that now we can be in the same block as your McDonald's, Burger King, Chick-Fil-A, Wendy's, et cetera, that's a good thing. It's not a bad thing.

BRIAN SOZZI: Not a bad thing. How many of these are you going to open?

KEVIN HART: I mean, the goal is to open as many as we possibly can. I would love to have six open before the end of the year.

BRIAN SOZZI: That's great. On the menu too, I notice the prices, what, $5 to $7 for a sandwich. I look at some of this plant-based meat in the stores, it's expensive. And how are you getting the stuff at such great price?

KEVIN HART: Well, that was another focus point, right? Making sure that we could really crack the code of quality within our food but at a price point that we felt people could afford. We didn't want to put ourselves in a position to turn our customers away with $10 burgers, right, or $12 burgers. And I think what you'll see, especially in the world of plant-based, when you go to a lot of these restaurants that just specialize in that, the menu items are extremely expensive.

So we had to go out and outsource the right partners. And once again, that's not easy. Finding where you're getting your product from, finding the way that that product can be presented for a number that can keep our numbers in the green and not in the red, well, this is where your experts come in, just like you go after the right people. So Novogratz was a great partner for us. Rubin is a great partner for us.

Who else did we go out and get? We have one more. We have one more. And I'm dropping the name.

BRIAN SOZZI: All good. McDonald's has closed a lot of restaurants over the past couple of years. I mean, can you get into some of those sites? I mean, those strike me as some really good locations.

KEVIN HART: Well, we've already actually tapped into some really good spaces. I mean, the first one that we opened up-- we're in West Chester, California. We're right next to LAX. I mean, literally as soon as people land, you get off the plane. You'll get in a car. You'll drive by a Hart House. And that eyesight, that Hart House in the sky, that's a big deal. That's a big deal at the site of Los Angeles and in Los Angeles, having that eyesight, that visibility, right?

And this is the first one. We also want to get into the Hollywood area. We're already tapping into locations that makes sense there. Las Vegas we're talking Atlanta, Philadelphia, Florida, San Diego, these are the places that have really attracted us and that are most intriguing to us for business reasons and through research where we've seen a trend spike in plant-based numbers in general.

So we're going to do our best to be patient, not be too bullish. But we're definitely not going to be afraid. If you want to basically hit a home run, you've got to swing the bat. So right now, we're going to swing. We're going to swing for the fences.

BRIAN SOZZI: Kevin, I got a potential franchisee owner for you, the Rock, your friend. I mean, he's a healthy guy. Look at him. He's jacked. He's got to be all about plant-based food, no?

KEVIN HART: Well, he's a guy that-- he's not just a one-layered eater. He's a multilayered eater. He's not against plant-based. He's not against meat. But he is a guy that takes care of himself. And he eats green. So him as a partner, of course it would be a no-brainer. But we butt heads because the thing with us is we work so much.

So right now, this is an edge on him of me outworking him a little bit. I don't want him tapping into this space because then he gets back to an even playing field. This gives me a little edge right now.

BRIAN SOZZI: Good point. Last question for you. I know it's busy. But you are now the boss, not that you weren't a boss before. But you're a boss of, now, a growing restaurant chain. What type of leader are you?

KEVIN HART: Listen, when you say boss, that already throws me off because what I am is a partner. I'm a teammate. And although my name may be in lights or I may be at the top of the chain, I don't see myself to be any different from the people that work underneath the umbrellas that we're putting up.

The reason why I say that is because these things can't succeed without the hard work, energy, and effort of those that are helping you execute in this amazing idea that you have. So what I do is make sure that we amplify the world of what we represent. And we want to be a feel-good hub.

When people come to Hart House, I want people to feel good. I want everybody to feel welcome. And I want people to leave with an energy that's a little better than what they came in with. And I want people to be able to go out and spread a nice piece of positivity into the world because of the positivity that we gave you when you came in. Customer service is extremely important. And it's what we're going to work the hardest on.

Also, I think one thing that I really, really make sure that I go and I pass down with passion is the idea of being global is something that some can't see. I consider myself to be a global entertainer. I appeal to so many. I appeal to all. And that's because of likeability and basically having a good heart.

If you're a good person, good people respond and react to it. Hart House is full of nothing but good hearts. And the people underneath this umbrella I want to be a pure representation of me and how I think, how I feel, how I love. And as a people's person that spreads the energy of good, tell people to live, love, laugh on a daily basis, spread laughter, spread positivity to a world that needs it so much, I can only hope that people grab a little piece of that every time they come into one of our establishments.

BRIAN SOZZI: Well, we wish you tons of success with Hart House. We appreciate you giving us some time. We know it's busy over there. Get these to New York City. Kevin Hart, we'll talk to you soon.

KEVIN HART: Thank you, man. I appreciate you guys taking the time. I apologize for the hat head too.

BRIAN SOZZI: It's all good.

KEVIN HART: I had the bucket hat on.

BRIAN SOZZI: All good. Stay safe and enjoy.

KEVIN HART: So I want you to think of that, on my head with a brick.

BRIAN SOZZI: [LAUGHS] Nice.

KEVIN HART: Take it easy, man.

BRIAN SOZZI: Take care.

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