Brothers in burgers.

Glendale's Larry and Ralph Cimmarusti built a $200 million business on Burger King and Tony Roma's franchises

A quick quiz for the L.A. business community: Who is the world's biggest owner/operator of Burger King franchises?

What local company ranks among the biggest owners/operators of Tony Roma's restaurants (besides the franchiser itself, Roma Corp.)?

Which local operation has served meals to five U.S. Presidents?

The answer to all those questions is: Cimms Inc., the Cimmarusti family's Glendale-based company that has blossomed into a $160 million operation (and growing quickly) without a lot of fanfare.

And after the ink dries on the company's latest franchise venture, annual revenues next year will likely surpass the $200 million mark, according to Cimms' co-founders.

Larry and Ralph Cimmarusti - rather zany Italian-Americans affectionately known as "The Brothers" at the Cimms home office - are about to close a deal bringing them the five-county Southern California franchise rights to the Bruegger's Bagels Bakeries chain.

The pending deal with Bruegger's owner Quality Dining Inc., based in Mishawaka, Ind., has the Cimms' taking over six existing Bruegger's units, then opening eight more by next September, then as many as 100 more over the following four years.

Meanwhile, Cimms' in-house real estate and construction operations will be completing a new L.A.-area Burger King every month for the foreseeable future. Those will augment the existing 26 units in Cimms' oddly shaped local franchise territory, which swings from Oxnard into the Santa Clarita Valley, out to Glendale, through Central L.A. and down to Hermosa Beach.

After all the success during Cimms' quarter-century on the local restaurant scene, "It's very important to our family to give back to our community," noted silver-haired Larry Cimmarusti, 48.

"We're creating 70 to 100 jobs per unit, 1,000 a year, with many of them in economically depressed neighborhoods," added His goatee-sporting younger brother Ralph, 43.

Over the last half-decade alone, Cimms has created nearly 5,000 jobs across the country, with the employee-count now approaching 6,000.

Currently, Cimms owns 113 Burger King units - the L.A. franchise area along with operations in Texas, Virginia, Hawaii and Washington. The company's Tony Roma's portfolio now stands at eight local restaurants, with new units set to go early next year in Brentwood and Century City.

While Burger King's arch-rival, McDonald's, uses as its latest ad slogan "food, folks and fun," the phrase seems tailor-made for the kings of Burger King.

Food permeates the entire Cimms operation - right down to the paper Burger King cups in which visitors to the Glendale headquarters are served.

The company retains a folksy family atmosphere even with nearly 6,000 employees - matriarch Ann Cimmarusti still drops by to help out in the accounting department twice a week.

And The Brothers are nothing if not tim.

Both big-time food lovers, The Brothers ended up investing into Burger King and Tony Roma's - and now Bruegger's because "the product sold us," Larry explained.

In fact, Ralph decided upon first taste that Burger King's "Whopper" was so superior to any fast-food burger he'd previously encountered, he was afraid not to invest in the then-fledgling operation.

That was back in 1974, two years after The Brothers had purchased an open-fronted Hollywood vegetable market for $5,000 and converted it into the highly popular Hollywood Italian Dell at Highland Avenue and Yucca Street.

But when they heard that someone wanted to open a Burger King next door to the dell, Ralph traveled to the only unit around, in Marina del Rey, and ordered a Whopper.

"I knew immediately they'd run us out of business," Ralph recalled, referring to the would-be Hollywood Burger King franchisee.

So the Cimmarustis bought - "overpaid," as Larry lamented - the only L.A.-area Burger King franchise up for sale, out in then-sleepy Simi Valley.

"People came to the drive-through window on horses - and we put Burger King crowns on the horses' heads," Larry said.

The first few years were definitely a struggle, but the Cimmarusti brothers learned how to promote their business - primarily by getting involved in community events.

Among the celebrity-filled photos on the home-office walls are shots of the extended Cimmarusti family with former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, who are among the five former commanders-in-chief the Cimmarustis have served.

And it's the Cimmarustis' Tony Roma ribs, served in the L.A. Dodger clubhouse, that former manager Tommy Lasorda frequently raves about.

The Brothers have their hands full in the near-term with the new Bruegger's operation, but they're always looking ahead for more fun and ways to grow - and would also eventually like to develop their own restaurant concept.

But both stress that their motivation to keep the company growing comes from their long-time family of employees.

"A lot of them have been with us for 15 years or more, and that's our motivation - to give them more rewards, more opportunities," Larry explained. "Being able to share with them, that's honestly been our most rewarding experience."

Spotlight

Cimms Inc.

Year Founded: 1978

Core Business: Ownership/operation of franchised restaurants

Employees in 1992: 1,100

Employees in 1996: More than 5,500

Sales in 1992: $110 million

Soles in 1996: $160 million (projected)

Top Executives: Larry and Ralph Cimmarusti

Driving Force: Creating opportunities for employee growth and development through expansion.