SALT LAKE CITY — If your New Year’s resolution to eat healthy has gotten a little shaky, you might stop by Wriggles at 5373 South Green Street inside the University of Phoenix and Lincoln Finance Building and find out just how delicious eating healthy can be. A wriggle is a generous wrap of slow cooked meat and your choice of fresh vegetables wrapped in a freshly baked flatbread. "Wriggle stands for wrap and roll," said Mike Kaleel, who began the business with his father, Jack. "A wriggle is like home cooking. Everything is fresh, and when we wrap it up for you we put one end in our trademark cup, to if anything slips out the bottom, you don’t lose a thing." The Kaleels considered more than 100 names from spandles to wrapples before they settled on wriggles, which best describes the circular wrap of flatbread around the food. "Wriggle is French for a tightly twisted wrap or roll," said Mike. The Kaleels are a Maronite Catholic family. All the younger Kaleels are graduates of Judge Memorial Catholic High School, and at any time customers might find any of five members of the family working behind the counter at the restaurant. The Kaleels and their wriggles have been in their present location close to the University of Phoenix campus almost three years. Students at the university have become so fond of the wriggles wraps that the Kaleels have named one wriggle the Phoenix Special. They do a brisk business between university classes and on lunch and dinner breaks. For those of you with a hunger for Mediterranean food, the Kaleels boast the best humus in town. It is delicious when spread on flat bread made in a special oven designed especially by Jack. "Our family came to Utah in the lat 70s and early 80s," Mike said. "Dad developed a traveling oven. He made and sold flatbread from his own recipe from store to store." Jack’s traveling oven eventually caught fire and burned, and no bank would finance a new one. In 2001, Mike graduated from Westminster College, and going into business with his dad seemed the natural thing to do. "We opened a shop first in the Cottonwood Mall from November 2001 to October 2003," Mike said. "We did well until the mall began to decline, and we got out and spent about a year looking for a new location. We settled here, and this location has been very good for us. It has freeway access, plenty of parking, good business from students all day long and into the night. Jack designed a new flatbread oven and had it built into a corner of the new location. Opposite the oven and beyond the chafing dishes of slow cooked beef, pork, turkey, and chicken, fresh vegetables, and homemade desserts is a conference room that seats up to 45 people for business lunches and large catered meals. In addition to their wriggles, the Kaleels also serve and cater lasagna, soups, enchiladas, and prime rib on-site and off. "We prepared our soups, rolls, and flatbread right in front of our customers," said Mike. The Kaleels take pride in both the freshness of their product and the fact that their wriggles contain only 140 calories or less, no preservatives, and no additives. All lettuce, tomatoes, and peppers are delivered fresh daily, and the Kaleels feature homemade sausages, tahini, falafel, and humus. They also serve espresso, lattes, ice cream, soft drinks, coffee, and tea. "Wriggles are the perfect meal for people on the run," Mike said. "And if you can’t finish one, you just wrap it up, cup and all, and save it for another meal." Jack Kaleel came into the restaurant with a delivery of beef, pork, vegetables, and soft drinks for the next day’s business. "This is some kind of family business," he said. "Mike works from 4:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. to keep this a success. His sisters, Katherine and Kris, work closely with us. We try not to put the load of the main work on the girls. We want it to be fun to work here. We can do this because we get a lot of support from our extended family. It’s not always easy." Jack, too, looks at the possibility of opening other stores, franchising the business, or just expanding the flatbread business. "If we can help make other people successful off our concept, we would be proud," said Jack. "We would want all Wriggles stores to have good atmosphere, and we want to sleep at night." Jack and Mike agree that a Wriggles store will prove itself a success, and that within the next two years, Wriggles will be known city-wide as a healthy, new alternative to fast food. "We do our best to please our customers," Mike said. "If we’re catering, and the customer asks for something we don’t ordinarily serve, we try to never say no." "Dad and I are just businessmen," Mike said. "I guess you’d call us entrepreneurs. I couldn’t be doing this without my wife, kids, my brother and sisters. We try to meet the needs of our church, maintain our friendships, and keep the business, as consuming as it is, separate. "The most successful advertising we have is word of mouth," he said. "We try not to leave any customers unsatisfied."
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