GD Bro Burger has standard, Korean, Italian and Mexican varieties — and insane milkshakes
Kevin Bobby Nguyen and Mark Gerald Cruz sat on barstools at the counter of GD Bro Burger in Santa Ana as a room full of customers bit into juicy hamburgers.
The song “Billionaire,” by Travie McCoy and Bruno Mars, which tells the story of a young person longing for success, played overhead from a playlist of Top 40 hits.
The tune could foreshadow 25-year-old Nguyen’s and 26-year-old Cruz’s story of “making it.”
The two young business owners, who had both dropped out of college and met while working in kitchens at Disneyland, wanted something greater for their lives. And now, as they look around at their own business, they can claim to be fulfilling their goal.
“I was lost. I didn’t know what I was doing,” Santa Ana resident Nguyen said on a recent Thursday afternoon. “I had to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, and when I started cross-training into the kitchen at Disney, I thought it was fun. I always found myself directing the team, just like I did playing sports as a kid.”
So Nguyen and Cruz decided to open a food truck in January 2013, which they named GD Bro Burger.
The pair moved quickly on the idea. In February, they had all the paperwork signed, and by April they were open for business.
“It was pretty crazy,” Nguyen said. “We had no capital. Mark and I each pulled out a small loan, and I pulled out collateral on my car. By the time it was time to do the grand opening, we only had like $700 left in the bank. If we failed that night, we would have been done. We tried to put the word out on social media as much as we could and had our Disney friends spread the word.”
That opening night, in the parking lot of the Attic boutique in Buena Park, a line of about 40 people were waiting for GD Bro Burger before the truck had even parked.
GD Bro Burger — the GD stands for “globally delicious” — specializes in burgers, all kinds of burgers. Besides the all-American variety, the eatery also has Korean, Italian and Mexican-inspired burgers. Each can be ordered on a signature raspberry bun, which is red and somewhat sweet because it is made with real raspberries.
“We live in California,” Nguyen said. “There are two things that sell really well, and those are burgers and tacos. I just knew we had to get creative with it. Everybody has the basic cheeseburger, so we wanted to do something special.”
Their milkshakes are a dieting person’s worst nightmare. Selections like Cap’n Crunch and red velvet, topped with cookies and candy and served in mason jars, helped GD Bro Burger make Buzzfeed’s “19 Insane Milkshake Shops Around The World You Need To Eat At” list in November.
“Welcome to GD Bro Burger, where every day is a cheat day,” Nguyen said, jokingly suggesting that it takes some willpower to withstand the shop’s temptations.
The business has achieved even more recognition. It was accepted as one of seven contestants — out of about 2,000 applicants nationwide — to compete in the Food Network reality show “The Great Food Truck Race” as it began its sixth season in August.
During the filming, in May and June, the trucks traveled across the country, selling their food to different markets. During each episode, the business that sold the least went home.
GD Bro Burger finished the show in third place.
“To be selected out of that many trucks was just a great honor,” Nguyen said. “We made a lot of memories and built a lot of friendships with people we’ll never forget. There’s no greater feeling than traveling the road, doing something you’ve never done before, going to different states you’ve never been to before and doing something you love.”
When Nguyen and Cruz arrived back in Orange County, they began planning to open a brick-and-mortar location. Their location in Santa Ana, at 2321 E. Fourth St., opened in August, and the friends are looking to open a second location in Signal Hill in January.
The two try to inject humor in the modern-looking eatery with quotes on the wall like “food coma factory” and “y u no burger?,” a takeoff on a popular Internet meme.
Cruz, who said he is inspired by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, said being young is both an advantage and a disadvantage for the owners. Skills in social media and modern-day technology help, he explained, but the lack of experience makes the learning curve greater.
“Times are tough in terms of learning stuff as we go along, but we’re pretty excited to learn new things and are pretty confident,” said the Anaheim resident. “Since social media boomed, I feel like everyone is trying to capitalize. Now is better than never to start your own business.”
Nguyen added that he feels now is the time for young people to take risks, before they start families of their own.
“My philosophy is to take care of myself and be selfish now so I can be selfless later when I have a family,” he said, adding that he and Cruz hope to open a GD Bro Burger in every major metropolitan city in the country.
They say it helps to be surrounded by competent and caring people.
“We wouldn’t be successful here if it weren’t for our great team of about 40 people,” Nguyen said. “You can’t do anything without that support. If Mark and I tried to do everything alone, we would not be here right now.”