Today we’d like to introduce you to Jaemin Lee.
Jaemin, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Why is there no Chicken and Rice in Boston?!
After a night out in New York City, we were introduced to the wonder of eating Chicken and Rice outside with our friends. We became instant addicts! Since that night, each visit to New York City had to be accompanied by a meal of Chicken and Rice, trying different combinations of different vendors.
So we thought “Why is there no Chicken and Rice in Boston?!” With its popularity in and out of New York City, it was obvious that Boston was missing out on something incredible. Plans started to hatch in July 2011 for Beantown to have its very own Chicken and Rice food truck.
When we opened our first food truck back in 2012, we had one goal: introduce you nomivores to the ridiculously delicious world of chicken and rice. With high quality ingredients, alluring aromas, and the seduction of self-saucing, we knew our halal grub would be a hit.
So far, we’ve launched a fleet of trucks, multiple restaurants, and a thriving catering business. Our next step? World domination! Just kidding. But we are working hard to find the next eating experience that will take over your world. Burger-Pizza-Burrito, we’re coming for you, buddy…
And thanks to the community, we’re growing—so it’s only fair that we return the favor. We focus on hiring locally, nurturing our employees, and giving back to our community through local organizations.
Alright, 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?
It hasn’t been a smooth road, no. But I don’t think any founder’s story really is. Specifically for Chicken & Rice Guys, none of us came in with a commissary or food service background, so a lot of what we know now was learned the hard way, through trial and error, as we worked to build the brand’s presence around the city.
One of the earliest challenges was not having a home base. Operating a food truck without our own facility meant we were constantly on the move between commissary kitchens — I don’t think we stayed in any single one for more than a year before we finally opened our first brick-and-mortar restaurant. On top of that, food trucks break down. Often, and usually without warning, especially in the winter months. And then there’s the constant guessing game of prep: estimating how much food to make for a shift, trying to strike that balance between having enough and not generating waste.
Then, of course, there’s COVID — a story all its own. My co-founder was running the business day to day then, and he tried everything to keep the lights on, including six-hour round trips just to fulfill a single delivery order. That kind of sacrifice is what got us through. We were fortunate to endure the hardest stretch, but the recovery since then hasn’t been easy either.
We’ve been impressed with Chicken & Rice Guys, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Chicken & Rice Guys started as a single food truck back in 2012, and has grown into a multi-unit brand across Greater Boston — two brick-and-mortar restaurants, a pop-up at the Seaport, our original fleet of food trucks, and a catering arm that’s become a real cornerstone of the business. At our core, we’re a halal-friendly, chicken-and-rice concept inspired by the New York street cart tradition, but built around fresh, made-to-order plates. That commitment to quality and consistency, no matter which location or truck you’re ordering from, is something we take a lot of pride in.
What sets us apart, I think, is that we’ve never lost the scrappy, food-truck DNA that we started with, even as we’ve scaled. We know our customers by name at a lot of our stops, we adjust our menu and operations based on real feedback, and we’ve built genuine loyalty in the neighborhoods we serve. We want readers to know that behind the counter, this is still very much a founder-led, hands-on operation, and that every plate we serve reflects 14 years of learning, adapting, and refusing to compromise on the food itself.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Probably that none of us set out to be restaurateurs. When we started Chicken & Rice Guys, none of the co-founders had any real food industry background – we came from business/accounting, communications, IT, that kind of thing. We weren’t chefs or lifelong industry people; we were a group of friends who saw an opportunity and figured we’d learn the rest as we went. Looking back, I think that’s part of why the brand grew the way it did — we approached it more like a business problem to solve than a cuisine to perfect, which forced us to get scrappy and resourceful in ways that “traditional” restaurant experience might not have taught us.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://cnrguys.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/cnrguys
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cnrguys
