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Hawkers Asian Street Food kickstarted a movement of a new generation of Asian and pan-Asian restaurants when it opened in Mills 50 way back in 2011.
The cacophonous and bustling restaurant, modeled after the hawker stalls in Malaysia and Singapore, was on the vanguard of a movement that’s seen immigrant-run Asian restaurants carry our restaurant scene forward and upward and sideward.
But today, the seminal Mills 50 restaurant announced it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to “maintain operational control of the Company and preserve the integrity of its brand as to protect from an overreaching lender.”
According to a statement provided to Orlando Weekly, Hawkers entered into a debt capital agreement with the lender in early 2023 with the intention of growing the Hawkers brand into a household name across the United States. But in the past 60 days, Hawkers felt the lender’s intentions were to gain control of the company, despite the restaurant having never missed a payment since the inception of the partnership.
Indeed, Hawkers has expanded to 15 locations in seven states with more locations planned. In 2023, the restaurant saw a sales growth of 18.5 percent and despite escalated macroeconomic pressures and mixed market conditions, the company also saw same-store sales growth of 26 percent said the statement.
Filing for Chapter 11 will allow Hawkers to “continue normal, uninterrupted operations and vendor payments,” the statement continues, while company control “is re-stabilized in a way that secures a thriving and successful future for Hawkers and its dedicated team.”
That team, which was founded by Kaleb Harrell, Allen Lo, Wayne Yung and the late Kin Ho, intends “to negotiate a favorable outcome with the lender” and maintains that the future of Hawkers remains bright.
“We look forward to welcoming guests for their Hawkers favorites for decades to come.”
BTW: The restaurant just released some new favorites for their fall menu, including curry mash, Penang poutine, Vietnamese “goi ga” salad and chili crisp cucumbers. I sampled the curry mash on a recent visit to Hawkers and it had me screeching (for more, that is).
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Faiyaz Kara
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