Popular eatery hatches under new name, owner

LAKEWOOD RANCH — A Lakewood Ranch breakfast staple will reopen April 7 — under new management and a different name.

Since the week of Thanksgiving, when The Broken Egg closed for renovations, crews working for Another Broken Egg Café, the new owner, have transformed it.

“For people used to the Broken Egg, the atmosphere will be different,” said Stuart Ottinger, chief operating officer for Double R Restaurant Group, the largest franchisee of Another Broken Egg Cafes, which has locations in Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and, now, Lakewood Ranch.

“We totally gutted it, from the layout, coloring and décor,” Ottinger said. “We changed the whole feeling to match the concept. It’s a Southern atmosphere, like you’re at your grandma’s house.”

Bob Kirscher, the longtime owner of the Broken Egg in Lakewood Ranch and also its locations on Siesta Key and Clark Road in Sarasota County, and business partner Dr. Joe Gaeta sold the business in November.

Kirscher sold the Siesta Key and Lakewood Ranch locations to Destin-based Another Broken Egg of America Inc. and the Clark Road location to longtime Managing Partner Dawn Hair.

The sale represented a personal decision for Kirscher, who spent 46 years in the hospitality industry.
Hall of Fame basketball coach and broadcaster Dick Vitale was a regular at the restaurant, where he would eat outside.

In return for the publicity, the restaurant sold Vitale-related merchandise to benefit The V Foundation for Cancer Research.

Since Broken Egg’s closing, Vitale has eaten at First Watch, but Ottinger said Vitale would be welcome at Another Broken Egg.

“Dick’s table will be there waiting for him,” Ottinger said, adding the restaurant would sell Vitale merchandise.

Vitale did not respond to an inquiry through his daughter, Terri.

Other hallmarks of the original Broken Egg remain the same.

Although the menu will change, and become slightly more upscale, The Broken Egg’s cheesy hash browns — a local favorite — will remain on the menu.

Ottinger said Double R expects to open additional locations in southern Florida later this year.

Contact Josh Siegel at [email protected].