The operator of the suburban restaurant chain Slaw Burger, recently launched in Palatine and Schaumburg, has lofty ambitions to fill both a niche in high-quality food options and the region with numerous convenient locations.
Owner Asad Khan of Addison also aims to raise funds for charitable efforts both locally and overseas, including in his native Pakistan.
“Our purpose is to feed the hungry,” he said. “We need to give a purpose to a business. Our purpose is to give back.”
Owner Asad Khan of Addison intends to open Slaw Burger restaurants throughout the region, but has started with a first location in Palatine and this second one in Schaumburg. A third is under development in Plainfield.
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With the lower costs in the developing countries he intends to serve, proceeds are already able to feed about 500 people a day. But Khan wants to have enough locations to feed 5,000 per day.
Once a month, from his own money, he also provides 200 to 500 sandwiches to the Chicago-based nonprofit agency Chi-Care.
But when it came to designing a business successful enough to meet these ambitions, Khan said his goals included high-quality ingredients like 100% Angus beef and certified by Halal Monitoring Services for Muslim patrons. That also opens up the menu to Jewish followers of kosher rules for food preparation, he added.
The new suburban restaurant chain Slaw Burger opened its second location on Roselle Road in Schaumburg last month.
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His confidence in the restaurants’ cole slaw, which can accompany the burgers, is demonstrated by his putting it in the eatery’s name.
Khan said he worked on a business model that allows him to rapidly open new locations.
He started where there was a dearth of halal options.
“We’ve seen there was a need for halal food in Palatine,” he said.
Slaw Burger’s flagship location at 1332 N. Roselle Road in Schaumburg is but one stop on the new restaurant chain’s ambitious expansion plans, which already include an existing one in Palatine and another on the way in Plainfield.
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That location at 1912 N. Rand Road opened earlier this year and created the inspiration to put the chain’s geographically strategic flagship at 1322 N. Roselle Road in Schaumburg, which opened just last month.
“We saw the demand in Palatine and a lot of people were coming from Schaumburg,” Khan said. “We think Schaumburg is an amazing spot.”
There’s a desire to make each site a comfortable hangout with television sets for sports and reflective of its town by referencing its high schools and other aspects in its interior design. Each is intended to host a lot of local events as well.
“I want this to be a very community-driven business,” Khan said.
The third location, at 13530 Route 59 in Plainfield, is expected to open within two months.
Khan already knows where the fourth location will be and will say so once Plainfield opens.
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