April 17, 2017

Meet Dave Danhi of The Grilled Cheese Truck in Los Angeles

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dave Danhi.

Dave, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was a chef in LA for about 30 years, mainly in fine dining (restaurants like the Roxbury, Georgia, Ocean Ave. Seafood, Water Grill and Corporate Chef for King’s Seafood Company). After some major back surgery, I settled into a friend’s chef recruiting company. This allowed me to stay close to the industry I loved and take the physical aspect out of it. I ended up buying (and still own) the agency, renamed it DD Factor (formally known as Mimi Factor and Associates, established in 1959). I still am a big part of operations and love helping chefs progress in their career as well as help the restaurant industry in southern California grow. In 2009, the economy tanked as we all know. I received an email about The Grilled Cheese Invitational, a grilled cheese contest that happens yearly in LA. I was never a chef that liked competition but for some reason this kept echoing in my head. Organically, my brain started to wander and that’s when I came up with The Cheesy Mac and Rib Melt (southern mac and cheese, BBQ pork, caramelized onions with sharp cheddar on French bread). I decided to enter into the competition just for fun. When I got there, there was a line that was about a mile long to get into this competition! That’s when I realized that there was truly a sub culture of grilled cheese fanatics. Upon leaving the event, there was a healthy themed truck waiting outside of the event to capture business from all of the departing cheese lovers. This was when the gourmet food truck scene was starting in LA (Kogi had opened about 3 months prior). Then it hit me, the world NEEDS a grilled cheese truck! I spent the next 2 days in front of my laptop researching food trucks and concepts and much to my surprise, there was not a mobile grilled cheese truck rolling anywhere. So, I dove in.

I submerged myself in R&D for the menu, shared my “playing” on social media which created quite a buzz. We had 2500 followers on Twitter before I had keys to a truck! We quickly became one of the most popular trucks in the country and garnished many accolades such as best truck in LA (several times), our sandwiches were placed on several “best sandwiches in the country” list and we had countless TV appearances (The Food Network, Cooking Channel, Bravo, Travel Channel etc.).

In 2012, I did a M&A, buying my original partner out and went forward with the brand and new partners. We went public (GRLD) but unfortunately my new partners and I had different opinions of how the brand should grow. I left the company and regained the brand in 2016 and now we are rolling out more trucks, franchises and most exciting, brick and mortar locations all around the country.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
To say it’s been a bumpy road would be an understatement. In the beginning, the hardest part of what we were doing was dealing the nonexistent rules and regulations. The food truck industry was in its infancy and the cities did not know how to react. This caused many unrealistic laws to be put into place. Many of these have since been revised so trucks can operate easier than they did 8 years ago.

As with most partnerships, people have different opinions of what is right for the company and brands. This may have been one if my biggest struggles.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The Grilled Cheese Truck – what should we know?
We offer an ever-changing menu of “gourmet” grilled cheese sandwiches. We make everything from scratch and take pride in our customer service and quality of product. I do not waiver on my “fine dining” standards just because we are in a casual environment. Many of our sandwiches have a “cult” following. Our signature Melt, the cheesy mac and rib, has landed on many “best of” lists. People drive for miles to get the he fried chicken and waffle melt and some of our specials are requested daily to be a part of the static menu.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Quality food and customer service! In this day and age, people need to feel they are not only getting their money’s worth but want to be appreciated and eat wholesome food.

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