When Michael Heyne and Dominik Stein spent an undergraduate semester at SMU in the fall of 2008, the duo was struck by the lack of döner kebaps, a type of sandwich popular in their native Germany. Heyne and Stein discussed the idea of opening their own restaurant in the U.S, and when the idea wouldn’t go away, they decided to further their business education at McCombs and look into starting a company in Austin.

Michael Heyne and Dominik Stein, both MBA '11 transformed a Smart car into "the world's smallest food truck," serving German wraps and salads.Now, they are using business acumen and ingenuity to bring the popular German meal to Austin with their new restaurant Verts. Heyne and Stein have opened two stores--one in Dobie and one on the Drag--and are also deploying an adapted Smart car as an updated version of a food truck.

“Austin is a very alternative and innovative city,” Heyne says. “There is a lot of variety. We felt, with UT and the amount of students, that Austin is a good location for this type of restaurant.”

Heyne and Stein graduated with a dual MBA degree program between McCombs and their German university, WHU. They spent time talking with McCombs professors about their idea, and within a month of moving to Austin started looking at potential restaurant locations.

“In all of our classes the professors shared a good deal of their experience with students, an important part of the content in class is when professors give advice from their business backgrounds,” Heyne said. “We met with professors, talked with them about what we were about to do, and asked for their input.”

The pair spent countless hours researching interests in Austin, and determining how best to market a little-known German food to the UT audience.

"Sometimes a cultural outsider, because of their different perspective, can see an opportunity that the 'natives' might miss," observes David Platt, director of the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), which organizes the dual degree program the Verts founders participated in. "Michael and Dominik saw this opportunity in the comfort food of their home country. The skills from their McCombs and WHU education, catalyzed by the entrepreneurial spirit that is shared by everyone who takes the leap to study abroad, allowed them to seize the opportunity."

The Smart car, dubbed by Heyne and Stein "the world's smallest food truck," is a centerpiece of the company's growth. Working with a German engineering company that makes luxury soccer team busses, Heyne creatively engineered the car to be a mobile restaurant and delivery vehicle. It contains food heating and cooling stations, sink and retractable awning. It will eventually be used in several locations throughout Austin including South Congress, Congress and 5th, and its current locations on Burnett and 7th streets.

Three more cars will soon be arriving, with the second one being fit to the City of Austin’s specifications by January. Heyne said that the pair hopes to use the car to research viable future Verts locations that could balance out uneven sales trends close to campus.

Heyne also stresses the importance Verts puts on producing quality meals.

“We try to get fast food at a higher level of quality, we don’t see an advantage in buying cheaper products, cheaper ingredients,” he says. “The kebap is a competitor to a burger in taste, but a döner kebap only has 540 calories.”

By continuing to innovate, grow, and produce quality food for the city of Austin, Heyne and Stein hope to make Verts a lasting member of the local restaurant contingent. Already, several local media outlets have noticed the new chain:

UWeekly Austin
"From Germany With Love"

Austin360.com
"A Smart Approach to German Street Food"

The Daily Texan
"Berlin-Inspired Restaurant Serves Up Messy Kebaps"

KXAN-TV
"Austin Boasts Smallest Food 'Truck'"