“Bright yellows, blues, and reds are the primary colors of the brand,” Alex Rechichi says. “The stores are a reflection of the healthy, energetic lifestyle we cater to. We really provide a healthy sandwich alternative. Everything is grilled to order in front of the customer. All the sauces and dressings are low fat.”

The Rechichis launched The Extreme Pita with no foodservice experience, but plenty of entrepreneurial spirit. “We saw that pitas were getting really popular, but that they typically were seen as more ethnic—Lebanese or Greek. We focused on making them a healthy choice and more mainstream,” Alex Rechichi says. “We used a lot of flavor profiles we knew people liked—like Hot Southern Cajun and Tzatziki—but we presented them in a new way. That’s what makes our brand profile unique.”

The Extreme Pita menu includes a variety of pita sandwiches wrapped in spill-proof, perforated linings for customers on the go. The lightest selection is the small veggie, sautéed in the customer’s choice of 17 sauces and priced at $3.29. More filling is a regular meat pita, stuffed with chicken, steak, falafel, ham, or tuna priced at $6.29. There are 18 toppings, which also can be used on pita pizzas and salads. There are 14 pitas on the menu with 5 grams of fat or fewer. The restaurants serve 170 to 220 customers per day between the operating hours of 10:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. Stores nestled next to college campuses are open later.

The main customer base is the 18- to 34-year-old but is broadening. “We were heavily skewed toward women early on, because pitas weren’t a mainstream concept, and women were more likely to be looking for healthful options. Our customer base has changed over the years from 70 percent female to 55 percent female. We’re also seeing a lot more families.” As a result, the Extreme Pita has a new kid’s menu, featuring a pepperoni and cheese quesadilla, pita pizzas, and pita sandwiches.

The Rechichis focused early on molding the image of the pita sandwich into what they wanted it to be—a healthy, but filling meal packed into a thin bread shell. Naming their concept was key. “We came up with a long list of names, none of them memorable,” Alex Rechichi says. “We thought about the fact that people would see a pita and think healthy, but small and not filling. We wanted them to see our sandwiches as extreme in size, flavor, and value; and that label just stuck.”