Today we’d like to introduce you to Chase Davis.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Chase. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
At an early age (9) I enjoyed Saturday mornings because my friends and I would challenge each other to see who could make the best breakfast. I won most of the time and that gave me a great deal of confidence to continue creating in the kitchen. Upon entering high school in Rockdale County, my mom also enrolled me in Rockdale Career Academy’s culinary program where I continued to learn and develop my true interest in cooking. I graduated from high school with a dual degree that included three years of culinary experience, which made it easy to decide my college major.
I attended and graduated (2014) from South Carolina State University with a B.S. in Food and Nutrition Science. While there I started my professional culinary career as sous chef at the Orangeburg Country Club in Orangeburg, SC. After graduation I returned to Conyers, began brainstorming and decided that operating a food truck would be the way to go, instead of waiting for customers to come to me, I would go to the customers. After studying the food truck landscape in metro Atlanta, I came up with a spin on the international practice of skewered meals over rice or French fries by presenting different meal combinations on a stick with savory, delicious beef, poultry, seafood, and vegetarian options- King Kabob was born!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest obstacles I faced was financial. I believed in my skills and what I was about to do, but getting the banks to see my vision was a different story. I was turned down at least 10 times, probably more than that. I stopped counting because it was discouraging. As a 22 year old recent college graduate no one wanted to take a chance on me. So I had a thought, maybe I could get a personal loan. So I went to the bank and told them that I was getting married and I needed a loan for my wedding. You guessed it, I got it – and no I wasn’t getting married, well maybe married to King Kabob.
This loan allowed me to lease a truck for a year and the rest is history.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about King Kabob Food Truck – what should we know?
My food truck, King Kabob, (www.thekingkabob.com), was recently voted Creative Loafing’s 2017 Best Food Truck in Atlanta! This is my third year in business, and our third award last year, King Kabob was voted Best Food Truck 2016 by Atlanta Street Food Festival and won Best Fusion award at the Great Southern Food Truck Rally held I Kennesaw.
King Kabob specializes in creating delicious food on a stick. All of our kabobs are popular sellers: the delicious juicy steak and veggies, yummy chicken and veggies, flavorful veggies and veggies—each sauced with teriyaki sauce and our in-house Yum sauce; plus our world-famous fried chicken-and-waffles kabob served with our unique, homemade lavender or jalapeno syrups.
We have seasonal favorites, like our juicy-fruit kabobs with a basil-mint syrup; an authentically-seasoned Low Country Boil kabob: jumbo shrimp, turkey andouille sausage, mini purple and ruby red potatoes corn on the cob, served over crispy crinkle fries; and our Thanksgiving season King Gobbler kabob: slow-roasted turkey, cornbread- sage dressing, roasted pumpkin, and broccoli, with our cranberry citrus relish on the side. On special occasions, and for catered events, I serve an unbelievable shrimp and grits bowl (NOT served on a stick).
Since launching this business, I have logged thousands of miles on my King Kabob food truck, serving kabobs on movie and television sets, festivals, concerts, workspaces, conventions, car dealerships, wedding receptions, birthday parties, tailgate parties, private homes, television stations, art galleries and more! Every day brings a different experience, with different people… it’s never routine.
I get lots of pleasure cooking good delicious food for people to enjoy! It gives me a real sense of satisfaction to hear someone tell me how much they loved their kabob. It really matters to me, because I put my heart and soul into my work!
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Like any successful business loving what I do and being good at what I do are essential for surviving the food truck business. Also being flexible, because no days are the same and being even-tempered helps a great deal. You never know when the truck may not start, the pipes are frozen, the propane tank will not turn on or if you turn a corner too quickly and everything ends up on the floor.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3300 Marjan Drive Atlanta GA 30340
- Website: www.thekingkabob.com
- Phone: 706.318.1223
- Email: chase@thekingkabob.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/thekingkabob
- Facebook: facebook.com/thekingkabob
- Twitter: twiiter.com/thekingkabob
- Yelp: yelp.com/thekingkabob
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
