Frankie Flav’z: Passion Turned Business

Food trucks have become a trendy option among new restaurant owners that allows them to offer a distinctive dining experience. Restauranteur Frank Macias operates Frankie Flav’z at the Point, Frankie Flav’z Craft BBQ Co. and Frankie Flav’z Craft Burger House in Harlingen, Texas. His initial plan began with a food truck and has grown tremendously since.

“To have three restaurants in Harlingen means you have to be doing something right,” Macias shared.

Macias began his culinary endeavor as a home cook while he pursued a different career path at Texas State Technical College.

“The semester was about to start for the LVN (licensed vocational nurse) program and in the same building they had the culinary program,” Macias said. “I would always smell the food and I’ve always had a passion for cooking.

Before the semester began, Macias said he used his spare time preparing meals for his wife, anurse at Valley Baptist hospital in Harlingen, to take to work. He would whip up anything from chicken fried steak to a seafood plate, burger or sandwich. His wife’s coworkers would see her appealing meal placed neatly in a to-go box as if she ordered from a restaurant.

“Her friends would ask where she got her lunch from and she’d say I made it,” Macias said. “They asked me if I would make them lunch one day and that they would pay me for it.”

Macias started out with 10 to 15 orders. Soon other nurses throughout the hospital heard of his menu and the orders quickly grew to 50. Due to increasing popularity, Frankie Flav’z then created a Facebook page and there was no going back. Within a month, Macias was preparing 150 orders each Friday.  He said he felt that his wife’s coworkers were being friendly and ordering food from him to be polite, but that idea quickly proved to be false. As his social media presence grew, people bombarded Macias with messages, fighting to reserve their spot for a plate.

As Macias saw success selling homemade food, he decided to change to culinary arts. He also decided to take his business on the road. He made an initial investment of $20,000 to a food truck builder to make him a food truck in Houston, Texas. But things did not go as expected.

“I had placed a down payment on a food truck in Houston, but I was conned and never saw the final product,” Macias said. “I put my head down for about a year because I had built up this clientele while cooking at home. I announced that I would be getting a food truck, but when it didn’t happen, I felt like a failure.”

Afterwards, Macias’s family reach out to understand what happened when an unexpected opportunity presented itself. His cousin, Arnulfo Chapa, an attorney in Washington D.C., wrote a check for the truck to be built locally, which ultimately allowed Frankie Flav’z to once again thrive. Due to loyal customers frequently supporting the food truck, Macias soon moved to his first restaurant location at the Point Bar and Grill in Harlingen, which has added two other locations.

Macias attributed Frankie Flav’z continued success to the wide variety of burgers with toppings ranging from brie cheese and compote to jalapeños and fried eggs. There are also freshly made signature fries sprinkled with cilantro and queso fresco, handmade ground chuck patties. His desire to let people taste the uniquely different ways to have a burger have attracted patrons from all over Texas.

“I want people to have that feeling when you walk in that this isn’t a mom and pop,” Macias said. “If you want to try something you would see on Food Network and feel like you aren’t here in the Valley, Frankie Flav’z is the place for you.”