Meet Andrew, an Orlando restaurant entrepreneur, who is on a mission to make an impact on his local community by serving up his take on the fan-favorite chicken sandwich. I spent the day with Andrew, a young man who was born and raised in Orlando, Florida. He expressed a warm smile and humble attitude as he shared with me his oh-so-inspiring story of how “Jam Hot Chicken” was born.
Let me take you back in time before it all started. In 2016 Andrew took a trip across the country to visit his brother in Los Angeles, California, while visiting he came across a Nashville hot chicken restaurant called Howlin’ Rays. While he was there visiting, he was inspired to take this inspiration home and get cracking on an idea of how he could put his twist on his very own sandwich. But little did he know that soon his inspiration would be blossoming.
While working hard day and night to brainstorm ideas, Andrew was working as a local pizza artist in Orlando, spending his days flipping pizzas for his local community. In 2019 Andrew decided to take a risk and see how far this inspired idea would get him, curating menu ideas and playing around with different flavors in his very own kitchen. Later, started hosting local pop events, serving roughly fifty sandwiches each event and selling out. That’s when he realized he was on the verge of something great!
Staying to his daily grind, Andrew like many others was soon to take an unexpected hit. In 2019 Covid-19 forced many to lose their jobs including Andrew, but he was determined to find a way to continue making a living. Keeping his eye on the prize, Andrew started researching how to get his business off the ground and make the jump to leave crafting pizzas to handcrafting chicken sandwiches.
A man with a plan rolled up his sleeves and went to work. During the COVID-19 lockdown, he had an idea to serve guests curbside with a smile, selling out orders in exchange for helping hungry families in need during this extremely tough time. This was when Andrew started researching day and night on how to get a business license and began scouting out a fantastic location for a brick and mortar. Andrew was finally making this dream come into reality while enjoying the ride. He loved providing guests with quality food, that's when he knew it wasn’t just a sandwich it being beyond that, It was the love for hospitality.
I asked Andrew what his mission for the business was.
He replied, “my mission has always been to provide my community with service with a smile. To provide my customers with the best ingredients, it’s taking that extra effort to slice homemade pickles, craft flavorful sauces, and provide guests with fresh chicken with no hormones”
I asked him how he stayed motivated to keep going? And if there was ever a point during his journey if he wanted to quit or had people saying he couldn’t accomplish this.
Andrew replied “yes”. The journey wasn’t easy, I had countless people trying to get in my ear, all the way down to the details like branding and business plan. But with the support of his family and friends, he was able to push through and achieve his dream!
As we spent the day together, I really appreciated every detail this young man has put into making this a giant success. How along the way he never let anyone steal his bright shining smile, electric energy, and passion to help make his community feel excited to eat here!
It was truly an honor to get to learn more about this business in my community, not only are they serving food but an authentic story behind each sandwich made. Anybody can sell a sandwich but one with quality flavor and friendly service that keeps you coming back well now that’s priceless.
As a person who loves food Andrew's sandwich took me to the next level, with his outstanding crunch, and flavor down to the sauce how each item on my plate he curated blended so well together. A bite of this spicy sandwich and then having this fresh quality of ingredients with it, like the crunch from the coleslaw and sweet pickles. I recommend getting some extra pickles on this site to help cool your mouth down from this packed sandwich with heat. The complexity of each dish sang, it was hard not to sit and eat and think wow, there was so much love put into each item.
With that being said, whether you're a hungry customer or on the search for a great employer stop in to see Andrew, he will be sure to take care of you. I hope you enjoyed getting to know Andrew, the owner of Jam Hot Chicken in Orlando, Florida.
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