Ali Elreda believes in second probabilities — and he is grateful for his personal.
Elreda discovered to prepare dinner in jail. He was convicted in 2009 for “intent to distribute” cocaine, in keeping with courtroom paperwork, and spent practically six years behind bars between 2007 and 2013. Now, the 47-year-old runs a restaurant in Downey, California, named Fatima’s Grill after his 19-year-old daughter.
Fatima’s Grill, which opened in 2016, serves up a fusion of Mediterranean and Mexican-American cuisines — suppose a “shawarma crunch wrap” with meat, cheese and a layer of Flamin’ Sizzling Cheetos. The meals pays tribute to Elreda’s Lebanese-American background and the closely Latino group the place he was raised in close by Bell, California.
The menu gadgets’ brilliant colours and taste mixtures made Fatima’s Grill a viral hit on social media, the place the restaurant boasts 1.4 million complete followers between TikTok and Instagram. It grew well-liked sufficient to grow to be a franchise enterprise in 2021: Six new areas have opened throughout Southern California, New York and Texas.
The unique location introduced in $1.1 million in complete income final 12 months, in keeping with paperwork reviewed by CNBC Make It. It barely missed being worthwhile, however has come out forward in previous years — and is on monitor to usher in as a lot as $1.8 million in 2023, Elreda says.
A majority of Elreda’s revenue comes from franchise royalties and costs now anyway, he provides. He declined to share particular figures, citing contractual obligations — however he notes that he is not slowing down, with plans to enter Atlanta and Cleveland subsequent 12 months. Additional down the street, he is eyeing Canada, he says.
“Being able to walk in and pull the doors open at an out-of-state location is just a dream come true,” says Elreda.
A mission to ‘carry individuals collectively’ with meals
Whereas serving time, Elreda took culinary lessons and signed as much as work within the jail kitchen. He’d beloved being round meals since childhood, following his mom across the kitchen “sticking my hand in the pot” as a child, he says.
However whereas residing in a court-mandated midway home in 2011, he had hassle discovering a job in an expert kitchen. A cousin who owned a stall at a meat market in Bell supplied him a job cooking at a small grill — harking back to Elreda’s jail cooking setup.
Ultimately, the cousin moved overseas and struck a cope with Elreda: $80,000 for possession of the stall. As soon as in cost, Elreda experimented with mashing collectively the cuisines of his youth, making Mediterranean meals and tacos on the small grill.
Ali Elreda opened Fatima’s Grill in 2016 in Downey, California.
Supply: CNBC Make It
The meals grew a following, so Elreda offered the stall — for $125,000 — and poured the cash into opening a correct restaurant, in what was a Chinese language takeout restaurant. Underneath the banner of Fatima’s Grill, Elreda’s ingenious fare — like his signature “Lebamex” sizzling sauce, brief for Lebanese and Mexican — took off on social media.
“People started driving from Las Vegas … Chino Hills, from San Fernando [Valley]. These are people taking 45 [minute] to an hour drives, like mind-blowing,” says Elreda.
The eye is proof that meals can “bring people together” throughout completely different cultures, he provides: “I think food is the best way, because it has no color lines. It’s just right there, like, it tastes good. It better taste good.”
From lengthy traces to multi-city growth
When the wait instances at Fatima’s Grill surpassed “two or three hours,” with individuals lined up across the block, Elreda determined to develop the enterprise once more. This time, as an alternative of discovering a bigger location, he partnered with Miami-based consulting agency Franchise Creator to information him by means of the franchising course of.
The growth during the last two years hasn’t come with out hiccups. A Detroit location just lately closed over “franchise violations,” however one other location will open within the Detroit suburbs in 2024, says Elreda’s sister Susanne, who serves as his franchise operations director.
Elreda, standing exterior the entrance doorways of the unique Fatima’s Grill.
Supply: CNBC Make It
On the entire, although, Elreda considers the franchising course of successful, particularly given how a lot of his revenue comes from the newer areas. And whereas the unique Fatima’s Grill posted a lack of roughly $150,000 final 12 months, it is worthwhile over the course of its lifetime up to now, he says.
He’d know: Even amid the enterprise progress, Elreda says he nonetheless tries to stay to his every day routine — together with working the grill in Downey himself.
“I still manage my own self, putting in my own hours from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” he says, including: “I love what I do. So as long as I’m healthy and able to stand on my feet, I’d like to be hands-on as long as I can.”
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