There is nothing better than a good burger and Marcin Sadlos and Jack Phillips from Port Talbot, aka the Burger Boyz, know this probably better than anyone. 11 months ago both Marcin and Jack bought a burger van and began their business the Burger Boyz, from scratch.
Soon they had given up their secure full-time jobs and the Burger Boyz was no longer their side project but their full-time passion. The school friends now have a stall in the newly refurbished Newport Market and are opening a restaurant in their hometown of Port Talbot.
Despite having never worked in kitchens both Jack, 27, and Marcin, 26 have a passion for food. Marcin said: “We were both saying we wanted to open something to do with food because we both love food. We have never worked in kitchens in our lives so it is a bit of a mad one.”
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The next day they brought a burger van and Burger Boyz was born. Setting up their van in Port Talbot and an Instagram page to promote the business, the customers quickly began to flock to the van.
Marcin said: “We had some mental queues on opening and it was absolute chaos. We were just selling out every time we opened for about two or three weeks.”
Next, they began serving out of a pub kitchen in Port Talbot to see if they could do it before moving and getting their own restaurant. Their big break came when they were offered a stall at the new Newport Market, just four weeks before the market opened.
Marcin said: “Someone had pulled out four weeks before they were supposed to open the Newport Market…they said the place is ours if we want it.”
Jack and Marcin took the brave and "scary" step to give up their full-time jobs, Marcin worked as an engineer and Jack worked in the steel works, and devote everything to Burger Boyz. After successfully opening in Newport Market, Marcin said: “We opened and we sold out, we still sell out now, it's absolutely crazy...the first day, the second day, the third day we were open people were just coming up to us and they couldn’t believe our burgers!”
The business duo is now opening a shop in Port Talbot. Marcin spoke about their journey so far: “There is nothing in Port Talbot selling a good burger. It was a growing thing we kind of just thought we’ll kind of jump on the bandwagon, just have a go, alongside our jobs and it just went absolutely mental, it is crazy, it is quite overwhelming.”
Marcin also can not believe the success of the business and that their hard work paid off. He said: “We are really proud of ourselves, we keep pinching ourselves because it is overwhelming. Sometimes we come in and we just look at it and we think bloody hell, it is crazy.”
"The best thing I have ever done was quit my job. If you’d had asked me 11 months ago if this was going to happen I would have just laughed at you.” You can keep up to date with the latest What's On news by signing up to the newsletter here.
The Burger Boyz' second restaurant will open on Friday, July, 29 in Port Talbot and will be both dine-in and takeaway.
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