Chris Meaux won’t soon forget November 28, 2018, which he began by ringing the Nasdaq opening bell in New York, surrounded by Waitr colleagues.
“It’s kind of the pinnacle for entrepreneurs, to go public and ring the bell on the stock exchange,” said Meaux. “It was one of the highlights of my career by far.”
Meaux’s career has been on a steep upward trajectory — the most recent bump spurred by the $308 million acquisition of Waitr by Texas billionaire Tilman Fertitta, owner of the Golden Nugget Casino, the Houston Rockets and Landry, Inc. (which counts restaurant chains including Landry’s, Morton’s and dozens of others in its portfolio), along with Landcadia Holdings.
“We thought it was important to go public, and we have the right partners to do that with Tilman Fertitta and Landcadia,” said Meaux.
Meaux launched Waitr in 2015 as an on-demand platform to connect local restaurants and consumers. Since its inception in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Waitr’s services have expanded to 40 markets and 235 cities. In 2017, the company took more than 4 million orders.
Today, Waitr has more than 400 corporate employees and 9,000 total employees, including drivers. Meaux said he is proud of the impact the company has had on their lives, as well as those of Waitr’s 7,700 restaurant partners.
“In some cases, we are 25 percent of their business,” said Meaux of their restaurant partners. “Waitr gives them access to tools they’ve never had before. At one time in my career I was a restaurateur. I know how hard it is to set yourself apart, to grow your business. Waitr has been a catalyst to help them find new customers.”
As a publicly traded company, Waitr has plenty of room to grow and access to capital to enable that expansion. Meaux said his vision for the company extends beyond food delivery to creative technology solutions for restaurant and food service operations.
Despite Waitr’s rapid growth, Meaux is committed to maintaining the company’s Louisiana roots (its headquarters are in Lake Charles). One clear sign of this commitment? This fall, Waitr partnered with Tony Chachere’s to include a lagniappe packet of seasoning blend in its New Orleans delivery orders.