"They were so sad, after they weren't allowed to use their name or the golden arches," he said. He talked about Glen Bell, who founded Taco Bell, and kept going back to the history of the brothers who began McDonald's. Okura, who lives in Chino now, is a living encyclopedia of fast-food-franchise details and names and stories. Then we have beans, and then the potato salad, for the American side!" And the rice is steamed, like Japanese, with some flavoring. A Korean guy said to me, This chicken tastes like it's from Korea. "It's a universal flavor," he says, laughing again. They went to Mexico and found a rotisserie machine, Mando made up a recipe with Okura, and now everyone - no matter what food they grew up eating, in what country - tells Okura they love his chicken. His first Juan Pollo was in Ontario, where he did charbroiled chicken, but then he realized, "You can't do charbroiled - too many grills." In 1983, his colleague Mando, who was from Chihuahua, showed him the rotisserie style. "I grew up with all Mexican people!" he said, laughing. He decided he wanted to branch out with his own chicken restaurant. He tasted the charbroiled chicken, and he liked it. Then El Pollo Loco opened, across the street from his place, with lines out the door. He was working there for some time, learning about franchises and food and what people really wanted, and then moved to managing a Del Taco in Carson. In 1970, my first real job was at Burger King." "Everything I do is destiny! I grew up eating hamburgers - I never ate chicken. He was born in Wilmington in 1951, a third-generation Japanese-American (sansei), and went to Banning High. The brothers were prohibited from ever using their names on a restaurant again - and the original structure at 14th and E was demolished in 1972. Ray Kroc, a milkshake salesman who'd worked with the brothers, bought the franchise from them in 1961, and then things changed. It was the first McDonald's in the nation. But the teens who hung out there loved hamburgers, and the brothers envisioned faster service and more customers, so in December of 1948, they opened McDonald's, which featured their "Speedee Service System." Hamburgers were 15 cents, a bag of fries went for a dime, and America had a new way to eat. He actually owns the first McDonald's.īack in 1940, the McDonald brothers moved their barbecue restaurant, The Airdrome, from Arcadia to the corner of 14th and E Streets in San Bernardino. In fact, Okura knows more about the history and legacy and intricacies of fast food than anyone I've ever met. The old route and surrounding environs are home to fast food history, the empire of places founded here such as Foster Freeze, Taco Tia, Taco Bell, Del Taco, McDonald's, and yes, Juan Pollo. He smiled shyly and I held out my hand.Īnd that's how Okura put it, over and over, while he showed us around the Juan Pollo headquarters, on historic Route 66. When we ordered, a man behind the counter overheard us saying his name. We were checking out the Historic Route 66 Museum, and we got hungry, and I told him I loved Juan Pollo chicken. Each time we go out on a story, we're the luckiest people in the world.
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