Craig Batiste first started Mr. Fries Man in his backyard and, with a little promotional backup from Instagram, it quickly became a massive hit. Its rapid success allowed Batiste to open his first brick-and-mortar location in Gardena, at 14800 S. Western Ave. #108 and then branch out to Inglewood on 1120 W. Florence Ave. Suite C shortly after.
Batiste has spoken with What Now Los Angeles (WNLA) about yet another opening, this time on 2068 W Avenue J in Lancaster, within the Antelope Valley Submarket. On top of that, Batiste told WNLA that Mr. Fries Man has even more openings on the horizon — a grand total of 11. Expect new locations in Orange County, Long Beach, Whittier, Northridge, and even some in Las Vegas and Utah. Most of which have a planned opening of either December or January.
Before starting up Mr. Fries Man, Batiste was down to his last few dollars. That’s when the conception of his hit fry restaurant took place. Batiste’s then-fiance lost her job on Christmas Eve and they had to come up with a plan to make money fast, so this idea that had been churning suddenly became an opportunity. Since then, Mr. Fries Man’s Instagram has accumulated over 280k followers and earned the attention of rapper Nipsey Hussle, who then posted about the loaded fries on his own account.
Batiste wants to bring something new to Lancaster, a neighborhood he feels is lacking in food options. What he has to deliver is currently in very high demand. “Everyone wants to try it,” he said. At this point, Batiste is just excited to get his homemade success out there in the world and across state-lines.
