Today we’d like to introduce you to Isaac Hadley and Jordan Barrus.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My name is Jordan. I met Isaac, a Fort Worth native while going to college at BYU on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Isaac worked early mornings for one of the many shrimp trucks on the North Shore tediously preparing their daily Coconut Shrimp. He was amazed at how many people flocked to these small shrimp shacks and wondered why no-one had brought this idea back to the mainland. Once we graduated, I went back to San Clemente, California and got a soul-crushing corporate job while Isaac went back to Fort Worth with the dream of opening Fort Worth’s first Hawaiian Style Shrimp truck. Isaac bought an old 1970’s ambulance and built almost everything himself in the backyard of his parent’s house. Just as he was spending his last few pennies he had left in savings, he had his grand opening at the Fort Worth Food Park. Not everything went smooth for Isaac in the beginning but he is not one to give up easily. He pushed through a few slow weeks until a local Ace Hardware agreed to let him set up in their parking lot. Once the truck was in a permanent location, customers always knew where to find him and traffic steadily increased. after almost six months after he opened Coco Shrimp, I quit my life-sucking corporate job and moved out to Texas with my family to help build the company as 50/50 partners with Isaac. We’ve since opened a mobile event truck and are close to opening our brick and mortar location in the Near Southside area of Fort Worth.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Absolutely not. It was a struggle from day one. Isaac had contractors run out on him with half of his money, the engine in his truck blew up after he had already ordered the first shipment of shrimp which then went bad before he could fix the engine, fryers didn’t work… all while spending their savings and not having an income to feed his wife and new baby. After he pushed through all of that, the city of Fort Worth, who had gone through his business plan and were completely aware of what he was trying to do, failed his final inspection because they “didn’t allow seafood to be sold from a mobile truck”. After a long sit-down with city inspectors, he was able to submit a stack of forms to change city ordinances and codes for them to make an exception to his business. These are just a few of the issues he ran into before the truck was even open. At least once a week, there seems to be some catastrophic issue with the business but we have learned a lot and have hired well-trained employees who can put out flames without us having to intervene which has been key for us to be able to focus on building and expanding the company.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We sell Hawaiian Style Shrimp Plates. We serve your choice of four types of shrimp on a bed of buttery seasoned rice with a side of salad. Our menu is extremely simple but I like to think we do it well. Something that I am most proud of is that our employee turnover has been extremely low. Our main goal and focus is making our employees happy. We have learned that if our employees are happy, our customers are happy. If customers are happy we get more return customers who bring friends and spread the word of mouth which is the lifeblood to our small business.
What were you like growing up?
I grew up in a small beach town in Southern California called San Clemente. I love the ocean. I love spearfishing, diving, surfing… you name it. I like a good adrenaline rush every now and again so I’m always looking for the next big storm drain to raft or cliff to jump off of.
Isaac is the exact same way. We work well together cause its not just all business. We’ve worked hard setting the business up to run by itself mainly so we could have more time to have fun adventures.
That’s the vibe we want to show as you walk into Coco Shrimp. You’ll never see hula girls or plastic flower leis hanging from the walls, when you walk in we want it to be a direct representation of the things we love most and our personalities. We want it to truly feel like the North Shore of Hawaii.
Pricing:
- Coco Shrimp $11
- Butter Garlic, Lemon Herb, Spicy Shrimp $10
- Sampler (your choice of three shrimp flavors) $12
Contact Info:
- Address: Food Truck: 4440 Basswood Blvd, Fort Worth.Restaurant: 318 Bryan Ave, Fort Worth, TX
- Website: www.cocoshrimp.com
- Phone: 808-371-1760
- Email: cocoshrimp808@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cocoshrimp/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cocoshrimp1/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/coco-shrimp-fort-worth-2?start=20
Image Credit:
Mary Barrus and Lauren Hadley
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