PHLAVZ OWNERS REFLECT ON SUCCESS AFTER ONE YEAR

Phil Simpson and Andrew Bonsu are the owners of PHlavz Bar & Grille, which started out as a food truck and is now a brick and mortar establishment. Photo courtesy of Phlavz Bar & Grille
Phil Simpson and Andrew Bonsu are the owners of PHlavz Bar & Grille, which started out as a food truck and is now a brick and mortar establishment. Photo courtesy of Phlavz Bar & Grille

 Phlavz owners reflect on success after one year

BY TIA CAROL JONES
     What started out as a food truck is now a successful brick and mortar restaurant with quite a following.
    Phil Simpson and Andrew Bonsu are the owners of Phlavz Bar & Grille, located at 717 W. Maxwell St. On Dec. 6, the restaurant will celebrate its one-year anniversary.
    Simpson, who worked in different restaurants throughout the city, started selling plates of food out of his house after an injury.
     “I was selling 50 plates in an hour,” Simpson said. “We put our heads together. We said we gotta take this thing on the road. If we could do 50 plates in an hour, there’s no telling how many we could do a little longer. We got demand, so we got a truck.”
    Simpson and Bonsu decided to take the operation on the road with a food truck. Simpson said once they got the truck and set up the legal end of the business, it took off. The first festival Phlavz did was at the Promontory for a passport event.
     “We had people waiting in line for an hour for the chicken rolls and was happy about it. We said, aw yeah, we got something going on right here,” Simpson said.
     Simpson and Bonsu said Urban Jerk is something for their peers and it’s something their peers can relate to. Simpson said it is not traditional jerk. He said, “The flavor is there, but we put a twist on it to make it more interesting, an egg roll, a jerk chicken roll, a salmon roll, things that’s in your face that you never thought of putting together.”
    Bonsu said a lot of people were looking for the food truck and they had limited hours, so they started looking for a brick and mortar for people to be able to grab something to eat and go.
     “It was just a blessing, we found the one on Maxwell Street, where people can actually sit down and dine-in, and eat and enjoy the vibe and partake in patronizing the place,” he said.
     Bonsu, who is from Ghana, said there are pictures on the wall of Jamaica, Ghana, historical landmarks of Chicago – the Regal Theater and Moo & Oink. It is meant to bring back memories for those who come into the restaurant.
     Simpson said the menu for the restaurant is the same as the food truck, the jerk chicken tacos, jerk chicken nachos and jerk chicken salad. The best seller is the jerk chicken tips.
     They also have a jerk chicken sandwich. For people who like seafood, they have salmon rolls, lobster fries, lobster alfredo and salmon alfredo. In addition, they have a beyond meat jerk burger. “We bring something so everybody can enjoy,” Simpson said.
Simpson said the most popular dishes on the menu right now are the lobster fries and salmon rolls. Simpson said his favorite dish on the menu is the smack yo mama fries, wings and the jerk cheeseburger. Bonsu agreed the jerk cheeseburger is his favorite, too and the salmon alfredo, which Bonsu said is a hit.
     Simpson and Bonsu said they have survived, and it has been a lesson. They said they haven’t been able to experience what it is like to run a business outside of COVID-19. “If we could make it through this, we can make it through anything. To God be the Glory,” Bonsu said.

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