Although it’s fairly common for operators to start off with a cheaper investment like a food hall stand or food truck before going all the way in on a brick-and-mortar restaurant, Chris Brown — founder of the World Famous egg roll brand in Miami — did just the opposite.
World Famous is a social media-famous brand with five food trucks and four traditional locations known for its over-the-top egg rolls with flavors inspired by different international and ethnic cuisines. Menu items range from Korean barbecue and Philly cheesesteak flavors to a soul food egg roll stuffed with barbecue chicken, macaroni and cheese, and collard greens.
Brown actually started off his culinary career by opening a takeout restaurant in Miami for basic American comfort food like burgers and wings. At the time, he was just acting as the proprietor, but Brown found he was unhappy with the level of customer service, so he jumped into the kitchen himself to craft more creative menu items like oxtail burgers. He also installed cameras that livestreamed the restaurant kitchen so that his employees would be more incentivized to give better customer service. But after Brown began growing his restaurant business, he realized he wanted to try something new.
“You’ll only drive so far for a burger or wings,” Brown said. “So, I needed to come up with a new concept. I dug into my [Korean-American] roots, and I came up with the egg roll. I thought I’d go to different countries, see what they specialize in, and take their meal to a serious height. And I was really good at it. … if If I go to make a lasagna egg roll, I’m taking the best lasagna recipe ever, and then I’m putting it into a crispy, golden wonton, frying it, and serving it with the best marinara sauce.”
When Brown came up with his egg roll concept, he decided it made much more sense to put his ideas on wheels instead of opening more restaurants.
“Everyone always assumes you start a food truck and then jump into opening a restaurant, but for me, it was the other way around,” Brown said. “Once I knew I had to get my product out there, the only way I could do it was to put it on a food truck because then you’re mobile and you can come to people. … unless it’s a hurricane, I’m going to sell out everywhere I go.”
As he recalled lines wrapped around the block every time his food truck pulls up with different egg roll concoctions on board, Brown said that social media has been crucial to his success. He said that from the beginning, he hired agencies to market his food trucks, as well as specific teams for video editing.
“When the food you make is attractive, it brings people in,” Brown said. “I had a big social media following in my area before the restaurant, but the social media team definitely did help out. I wasn’t pushing social media that hard when I was doing my other businesses, but once I got into the restaurant business, I just knew that it was massively important.”
Of course, there are hundreds of food trucks making social media-friendly items all over the country. Brown sticks out not only because of his creative offerings, but also because he broadcasts each of his restaurants and trucks all the time, and people love being able to watch the live streams.
“I always put on a show — I actually got Ring doorbells in front of all the restaurants and all the trucks where people could actually ring the doorbell to get my attention at any given moment,” Brown said. “There’s also definitely a customer service pressure point when the staff knows that you have a camera, and the boss man can be alerted anytime they press that doorbell. I like the customer engagement. It feels like everything is falling into place now.”
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