As the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) continues to dominate the NFT space, Orange County entrepreneur and Web3 enthusiast Andy Nguyen has announced the launch of Bored & Hungry – the world’s first restaurant based on a Bored Ape.
Bored & Hungry will be a smashburger concept powered by Trill Burgers and Beleaf Burgers – two “IRL (In Real Life)” concepts that Nguyen is bringing together under his Bored Ape brand. It will open at noon on April 9, 2022 at 2405 E 7th St. in Long Beach, Calif., in the former home of a Louisiana Famous Fried Chicken. All Bored Ape owners will receive a meal on grand opening day – which will feature more Web3 and NFT-related surprises. Merchandise will be available.
“The goal is to give back to the growing Web 3.0 community and open the doors to those who want to learn more about this new Web 3/NFT world,” Nguyen said. “Our job is to educate the public and show people that you can create a brand/business out of this IP — taking away the stigma of, ‘It’s just a jpeg.’”
Nguyen – dubbed the “mashup king in the food industry” by Food Network – is the co-founder of Afters Ice Cream and more than 10 other concepts, including Matte Black Coffee in Los Angeles. He purchased Bored Ape #6184 on March 1 and teased his plans for a restaurant in a tweet six days later. BAYC grants Bored Ape owners the complete rights to use their Ape’s intellectual property for personal or commercial use.
Nguyen plans to initially run Bored & Hungry as a pop-up for 90 days. It could be the first of multiple locations.
In addition to being the world’s first Bored Ape restaurant, Bored & Hungry will serve as the first brick-and-mortar location for Trill Burgers. Nguyen launched the smashburger concept in Houston in 2021 with rap legend Bun B and partners Patsy Vivares, Benson Vivares and Nick Scurfield.
Beleaf Burgers – a 100 percent plant based fast food restaurant from Chino – collaborated with Trill Burgers to make vegan smashburgers at 2021 ComplexCon Long Beach in November.
Follow @andythenguyen on Twitter and Instagram for more updates on Bored & Hungry.