Order Up! Mark Cuban Backs New Restaurant 'Fat Shack'
FORT WORTH, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Mark Cuban is backing a new restaurant next door to Texas Christian University.
Fat Shack features a collection of your typical fast food fare, and in most cases, all at once. Cuban was sold on the idea on his hit reality show Shark Tank. In the episode, which aired last week, all sharks made pitches. But it was Mark Cuban who sealed the deal.
"So Cuban gave us a $250,000 investment for 15 percent of the company," said Tom Armenti, President and CEO of Fat Shack.
The Fort Worth location is the first Fat Shack location backed by Cuban's investment.
In the episode, Cuban tried a sandwich filled with french fries, chicken fingers and mozzarella sticks. Its name: Fat Jersey. Other names on the menu include Fat Hangover and Fat Bronco.
Armenti says the names come "from the gut."
Top a Fat Shack sandwich off with a dessert like fried Oreos, and even the founder recommends not indulging every day.
"Mark was thinking about going out," Armenti said, "because of the unhealthy side of it. But even on the show he talks about we're hitting all the markers."
One of those markers includes promoting from within. For example, one of the owners at the Ft. Worth location began as a delivery driver in Colorado.
"Happened a littler sooner than expected. That's for sure. But I made it. So it's amazing. It really is," Stephen Jarrell said.
His thoughts on having Cuban as an investor: "I don't even know how to explain it. He's Mark Cuban. How do you go about that honestly?"
In an email to CBS 11 News, Cuban said he invested in Fat Shack, "because everyone needs a cheat day now and then."