Jennifer said that Barbie "talked my ear off about business that Saturday."  Jennifer said she was a lot more cautious at the time and really wasn't sure.  "I told Barbie I wanted to think about it."  When Barbie first started talking to Jennifer two years ago, she had three boys ages 14, 8 and 4 while Jennifer had three girls ages 12, 10, and 6.  So they both understood the difficulty of preparing nutritional meals for their families and being able to share dinner as a family. Jennifer finally relented to the enthusiastic Barbie and they made plans to travel to Seattle and visit the home office in Everett, Washington. After the trip, both moms decided that the business was perfect for their needs and the needs of similar families.  They had to work especially hard to get their initial financing because their franchise would only be the second one in Texas.  "It was really tough to get any banker to understand the concept, however we were fortunate enough to make contact with a lady who had helped another franchises and we were able to convince her we deserved a loan for our own operation."  The Grapevine location became the second Dream Dinners in Texas, the other being in Katy. There are now approximately 150 franchises in the United States. The businesswomen celebrated their second anniversary on June 10th in Grapevine at 2100 W Northwest Hwy, Ste 215. Each month there are 14 entrees and customers select 12.  The meals actually work out to be less than $3.00 per serving.  "If you compare the cost of the meals, we are actually less than fast food," pointed out Jennifer.

Jennifer and Barbie proudly display a couple of awards they won from the home office for excellence in their business practices.

All ingredients in the exact portions are available for fresh meal preparation by customers.

Customers come in and make their meals based on the exact ingredients and instructions that are available at each station in the facility.  Customers also have the option to modify the meal, for example, if they do not like onions they could eliminate that ingredient.   The meals change each month providing a variety in selections. "What this amounts to is getting families back to their own dinner tables, getting families together and having a great meal at the same time that didn't take the busy mom hours to prepare," explained Barbie. The pair explained that Dream Dinner chefs carefully determine selections based on flavor and does the meal freeze well with quality that will work and look good.

Barbie explained the concept is not only timely for today's busy moms with young families but makes economic sense. "When you go to the grocery store to prepare your meals you buy portions that are available.  When you come to Dream Dinners, you prepare meals with only the exact portions needed without having any waste." Our company requires all franchises to have the exact configuration and the quality is also exacting across all our locations.  Jennifer said that the home office has even worked out special arrangements with vendors so that meats for meals have exact specifications with specific cuts customized for Dream Dinners.

Customers prepare their meals at easy to navigate and use work stations.

Jennifer and Barbie managed to get a SBA loan when an underwriter called them and said it was a great idea and she would help them get the funds. They were able to obtain a minority women's loan status and launched their business.

Jennifer still lives in Southlake but Barbie now lives in Trophy Club.  This puts them smack dab in the middle of their coverage area that includes Colleyville, Grapevine, Keller, North Richland Hills, and parts of Bedford. Barbie, who wanted to get her family together for meals, formerly was the manager of a hair salon and spa and Jennifer was a stay-at-home-mom and community volunteer.  Now the two say that they have found the perfect business because the company believes they should be a mom first.  They run the sessions for food preparation at the same time the customers, other moms, are available to come in. The two say that they have put a lot of teenagers to work part-time in the business, including their own two teenagers. They worked hard to convince the SBA to get them started because they were continually considered a restaurant until they made a new contact that had financed another store. Jennifer and Barbie say the most challenging part of the business has been getting the word out to the area, especially during the summer months.

Changing with the times, Dream Dinners has designed some meals so that they are easier to travel with on family trips in the summer months.  Twelve dinners are approximately $215 and the  preparation times are Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning and evenings, also Saturday at 10:30 am and 12:00 pm.  They can be reached at 817-310-0384.  

Barbie Anderson and Jennifer Johnson, two more local business owners proving north east Tarrant county is a great place for entrepreneurs.  You can email the pair at grapevinetx@dreamdinners.com for more information or Click Here for the website.

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