Father and son run 2 different restaurants out of same Massachusetts diner
WILMINGTON - A father and son duo in Wilmington are teaming up to launch two restaurant concepts out of the same location.
"At the age of one year, he would pull all of the pans from the kitchen and then he would pretend he was cooking," said Abdul Hmina about his son Ahmed.
Abdul Hmina bought As Good As It Gets in 2007. The brunch spot is open most days from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. The restaurant was empty after that. "Nothing," Abdul said. "We were paying the overhead."
As he worked mornings serving pancakes, his son Ahmed was in school at Bentley University, testing out an evolving chicken finger recipe on his classmates. "They weren't complaining because they were getting pretty much free chicken fingers," Ahmed said.
After graduating in May, Ahmed jumped on an idea born out of the pandemic. It's called a "ghost kitchen," a restaurant within a restaurant.
"Some people even describe it as kind of like a speakeasy, a chicken finger speakeasy at night," Ahmed said.
Ahmed opened Frangos Chicken. They begin taking customers shortly after his father's spot closes.
"I serve eggs in the morning, and then he serves chicken at night," Abdul said. "So, if you were wondering which came first the egg or the chicken, I think hopefully we have answered that question for everyone."
The move helps with overhead costs for both restaurants, even staff can split time, which limits hiring needs.
"They introduce him as Mr. Frangos, they refer to me as Frangos Senior," Abdul said.
The father son duo calls it a game changer for the industry, allowing the community to taste their talents on a budget.
"I am originally from Morocco, I kind of added some of our spices and blends," Ahmed said.
Besides family, that's the secret ingredient.