The PREP Story
HISTORY
PREP® is Founded
Entrepreneur Mitchel Jaffe and veteran restaurateurs Doug Marranci and JR Santos join forces to open 15,000 sq. ft of shared commercial kitchen space with one goal in mind — to support Atlanta’s small and growing food and beverage businesses.
PREP® Open for Business
PREP® opens to provide shared commercial kitchen space for food producers who had reached that critical point of having outgrown a home kitchen yet unable to afford private commercial kitchen space. Chefs who wanted to organically scale their business quickly signed on as PREP® members to save on operating costs and benefit from amenities like cold and dry storage space, quality commercial cooking equipment and more.
Wholesale Procurement is Added as a Benefit
Under the Direction of Mitch Long, PREP® expanded its in-house procurement services by partnering with national wholesalers and local produce companies.
Truck & Tap Opens in Woodstock
The first Truck & Tap in Woodstock, Georgia, opened serving an impressive range of craft beers, as well as serving lunch and dinner from a different food truck each day.
Truck & Tap Opens in Alpharetta
The restaurant’s new concept led to phenomenal success and sparked the next location in Metro Atlanta – Alpharetta. They are great venues for pre-qualified food truck operators, and is a coveted opportunity to PREP® operators interested in greater exposure.
PREP® 2 Opens
PREP® 2 was developed with dedicated kitchens ranging from 100 to 6,000 square feet for food entrepreneurs of all types. Members can start their businesses with a dream and a recipe in a co-working space, sharing equipment and, when ready, they can graduate to a private kitchen space of their own. The opening of PREP® 2 enabled members to expand their businesses within the PREP® campus.
Truck & Tap Opens in Duluth
On the back of the successes in Woodstock and Alpharetta, Truck & Tap opens a 3rd location in Duluth. The majority of trucks serving at Truck & Tap are PREP® members, yet it is also a platform for other outstanding mobile operators based around the state.
PREP® Food Junction is Created
Located within PREP® 3, the team hand-picked a group of members to establish PREP® Food Junction as a permanent station for some of Atlanta’s favorite food trucks, caterers and ghost restaurants. Serving lunch and dinner daily, loyal customers no longer need to check schedules and chase food trucks around the city to enjoy their food and drinks.
PREP® 3 Opens
PREP® 3 opens dedicated kitchen spaces, solidifying PREP® as major national player with 83,000 square feet
PH’EAST Opens at The Battery
Building and operating Truck & Tap encouraged the team at PREP to consider other innovative dining ventures. As a result, PREP® is a principal investor in PH’EAST – A Far East Street Feast, inspired by the hawker markets of Asia. PH’EAST enables small food operators to open in a location they could not independently afford and positions PREP® to accelerate even more food businesses in Atlanta.
PREP® Launches ChowDown ATL
Reacting quickly to pandemic lockdowns, the team at PREP® launch ChowDown ATL to help members with maintaining their businesses with an online ordering and take-out facility. ChowDownATL.com has been created to provide a way for the general public to gain access to a vast resources of healthy meals, foods and food products through safe pickup, delivery and online ordering options.
PREP® Opens 4th Location – PREP® Lakeside
The team at PREP® bought and renovated the former Le Cordon Bleu College in Tucker, GA to create PREP® Lakeside offering larger private kitchens, additional mobile food service kitchens and a state-of-the-art co-working kitchen.
PREP® Opens in Austin, TX
The expansion to Austin is the result of a close collaboration between PREP®, the Chamber, and the City of Austin. The mission is to help small to medium-sized businesses build and scale by providing affordable, permit-ready production facilities and value-added services to its member community.
PREP® Atlanta South Opens in South West Atlanta
PREP® expanded its culinary footprint with the grand opening of PREP ATL South in the vibrant South West Atlanta neighborhood. This new venture promises to be a haven for food enthusiasts and entrepreneurs alike, offering state-of-the-art kitchen facilities and resources to nurture culinary creativity. With its strategic location, PREP ATL South aims to become a cornerstone of the local food scene, fostering collaboration and innovation among chefs, bakers, and artisans.
Let's Talk About Your Business
Reach out to learn how you can join the hundreds of food and beverage producers that are accelerating their growth with PREP's Commercial Kitchens.