Rooted in Real Estate

We love the restaurant industry, but it’s not where our journey began. Our founder, David Grieve, got his start in the real estate business. In 1992, David founded A&C Ventures — a private real estate investment firm now based in Sonoma, CA. It wasn’t until 2006, after many years of building a successful real estate company, that David met our President, SG Ellison. Fast forward to today, and we’re one of the largest quick service franchisees in the nation.

DRG Through the Years

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1992

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2003

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2006

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2009

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2012

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2013

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2014

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2015

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2015

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2016

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2017

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2018

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2019

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2020

N•1

1992

A&C Ventures, Inc. is founded by David Grieve to invest primarily in commercial real estate sale-leaseback deals.

N•2

2003

A&C Ventures, Inc. moves its headquarters from downtown San Francisco to the Sonoma wine country and sets up shop in a historic landmark building on the town plaza.

N•3

2006

David and SG Ellison meet during a CVS Pharmacy real estate transaction in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

N•4

2009

Post-financial crisis, David and friend Andrew Cherng, founder of Panda Express, invest in a portfolio of distressed real estate assets.

N•5

2012

David and SG form a partnership to provide equity for two former Taco Bell executives to acquire 29 corporate stores and five pieces of real estate in southern California.

N•6

2013

SG founds First Street Development (FSD) along with David and Andrew Cherng as the lead investment partners. FSD becomes one of a limited number of build-to-suit providers for Taco Bell and its franchisees.

N•7

2014

DRG acquires 72 Taco Bell restaurants in the Bay Area from Dolan Foster Enterprises and 13 Taco Bells in Napa and Sonoma from Aksan. We name the combined entity Golden Gate Bell.

N•8

2015

DRG acquires 63 Taco Bell restaurants in Nevada from Las-Cal, including all of the Taco Bells in Las Vegas. We name the entity Silver State Bell.

N•9

2015

DRG opens Taco Bell’s second Cantina-branded restaurant in downtown San Francisco across from the ballpark.

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2016

DRG builds Taco Bell’s flagship Las Vegas Strip Cantina, the highest volume restaurant in the system, complete with a wedding chapel.

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2017

As DRG expands east, we acquire 39 Taco Bell restaurants from KC Bell. We name the entity Royal City Bell.

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2018

DRG adds 16 corporate Taco Bell restaurants to our Kansas City portfolio.

David and Kathleen Grieve join the Taco Bell Foundation Board, and through championing initiatives such as Round-Up, have since helped to quadruple funds going toward Live Más Scholarships and other educational causes.

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2019

DRG makes its first acquisition in the Arby’s brand with the addition of 15 restaurants in Nevada and one in California. We name the entity DRG Meats.

To the approval of Taco Bell fans worldwide, we transform our Pacifica Beach restaurant into a Cantina, complete with fireside dining.

By year-end 2019, the DRG portfolio reaches 232 restaurants, of which we have built 18 and remodeled 61.

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2020

WE ARE DRG!

DRG engages in a cultural transformation to become one family across all of our restaurants and brands.

During the COVID crisis, our Project Karma provides meals to thousands of our community members on the front line. We reward Hero Bonuses to all of our outstanding team members.