Geovanny Villatoro, Khalid Zazai and Giorgio Shugonian mixed their cultural roots to start a fried chicken business with the flavors and seasonings of Honduras, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Armenia.
“We are united by friendship, loyalty and love for food,” says Geovanny, who more than 20 years ago left his native Honduras to come to Los Angeles to make a new life for himself.
As the years went by, he met Khalid Zazai, born in the United States, but of parents from Afghanistan; and Khalid introduced him to his childhood friend, Giorgio Shugonian of Lebanese-Armenian roots.
“Khalid and I met, because he has a business selling phone accessories and I specialize in cell phone repair. That’s how friendship was born and we became partners. Neither Khalid nor Giorgio had had a relationship with Latinos before,” says the Honduran.
The three friends have in common the love of enjoying food.
“We went out to eat together and when we ordered chicken like the one we sell now, we always commented when something was missing from the recipe; or we felt it was tasteless.”
Between food and talk, it occurred to them to open their own fried chicken establishment, to which they would add the flavors of their homelands, Honduras, Armenia, Lebanon and Afghanistan.
“We started by getting together to make food and we gave it away, seeking opinions on what was missing, or what was extra.”
In 2019, was born Mean Chix in a small location on the second floor of Plaza México in the city of Lynwood in southwest Los Angeles County.
“We put Mean Chix with the full intention of attracting attention and making people wonder what it means,” says Geovanny.
In fact, it reveals that the name means spicy chicken or angry chicken in reference to the seasonings it contains, which make it unique.
“We are now five years old. For us it was a little hard at first, like a bomb, especially when businesses closed due to the pandemic, but we managed to recover with home deliveries.”
In Los Angeles, there are many businesses that sell fried chicken, what makes it different Mean Chix.
“The difference is that we are 100% halal (adherent to the laws of Islam), which means organic food. Khalid is Muslim and the entire Muslim community consumes halal.”
He adds that this type of food has never been frozen, it does not contain chemicals or dyes.
“Not only the chicken but even the potatoes and chilies we use are organic.”
He says that they don’t mix foods either, and the griddle is not contaminated with meat other than chicken.
“We don’t hide anything here. The kitchen is open for everyone to see when they enter. “You can see the cook, the iron, the sink and that we use clean oil.”
Geovanny ensures that what they give to the client is 100% clean, and visible to everyone.
“As if you were going to eat in your own home,” he says.
Khalid and Giorgio add that they make sure the chicken is of the best quality, and does not have a bad smell.
“In addition, we have a sacred marinade that comes from our origin with Middle Eastern spices combined with American culture; and everything we do is homemade,” they say.
Geovanny says that all the dishes on the menu made from fried chicken are very popular, wings, sandwiches, burritos and burgers.
“The cheapest thing we sell is $9.99 and the most expensive is $14.99 and the latter eats two people.”
The Honduran confides that there were never any doubts in his head when it came to starting a business with Khalid and Giorgio.
“They are like my brothers. They have surrounded me with great confidence. If we succeed, all three of us will succeed; If we go down in level, all three of us will go down; and we are united by honesty and sincerity.”
Five years after opening Means ChixGeovanny considers that they reach a rating of nine.
“We are ascending every day. We have very good five-star reviews; and the customers who have not given us favorable attributes attribute it to the fact that we are far away compared to other businesses or that we have only one location, but no one has complained about our food.”
The three friends don’t take him out to work at their restaurant. They come into both the kitchen and the administration of Mean Chix.
“Giorgio, prepare the sauces; Khalid does all the logistics with numbers; and my responsibility is that nothing is missing, that the kitchen is impeccable and that I bring products,” says Geovanny.
Currently they have five workers, but if one day the staff cannot show up for work, they put on their aprons and get to work, because they assure that they know how to do everything.
“In the pandemic, no one helped us, we cooked and sent the food.”
The dream of the three friends is to consolidate in Mean Chix from Plaza México to grow and open other branches.
Mean Chix It opens from Monday to Sunday, from 11 in the morning to 8 at night.