Z-Burger Founders Split, Some Restaurants Will Be Re-Branded: Report

The founders of the D.C.-based Z-Burger chain have split up, and that means some of the restaurants will get re-branded.

Payam "Peter" Tabiban has won the rights to the Z-Burger brand, while brothers Mohammad and Ebrahim Esfahani will agree to rebrand Z-Burger restaurants they own in Arlington, the District and Baltimore, according to a Washington Post report.

The out-of-court settlement ends a lawsuit Tabibian filed in October 2014 against the brothers when they refused to allow him to be involved in day-to-day operations of the six Z-Burger restaurants at the time.

Tabibian alleged in the suit that he was entitled to a third of the profits, but the Esfahanis, who were investors in the chains, said that Tabibian had always been an employee and not a stakeholder.

However, a federal judge last August ruled that Tabibian was entitled to use the Z-Burger brand.

Tabibian has ambitions of expanding the concept beyond the D.C. area, according to the report. The brand began with a single store in Tenleytown, and has expanded to multiple restaurants and a food truck since then.

Image via Z-Burger