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From renting out luxury cars and a career in tech to getting scammed on his first restaurant venture, the road to success for chef/entrepreneur Chad Dillon has had its twists and turns. But the founder of the wildly successful The Boiler Seafood and Crab Boil—an upscale seafood boil experience in Atlanta’s prominent Buckhead neighborhood—wouldn’t have it any other way.
“When you have a business, believe in it. Pursue it no matter what happens,” he shares about his personal success mantra. It’s a philosophy that serves him well. Dillon reveals the popular seafood boil restaurant earned $8 million in its first year when it opened in 2020.
A Drive For Success
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, to parents who emigrated from Jamaica, Dillon’s entrepreneurial journey began shortly after graduating from Howard University.
“Somebody wanted to get rid of this Bentley and I got a really great lease on it,” he recalls about the car that drew so much attention. So much so that people were clamoring to rent it from him. The luxury automobile paid for itself within six months. Dillon started his first company, Rent My Bentley and added three more cars to his fleet.
“I had plans on expanding the company to Atlanta,” says Dillon. “In New York, no one owned cars and there was no parking. So having cars on hand [for rental] was essential. But in Atlanta, it was the complete opposite. Everyone had vehicles, nice vehicles. So, I had to switch industries and explore new business ventures.”
Bumps On the Road To Success
With a desire to put his business/marketing degree to work in the tech sector, Dillon eventually made his way to Atlanta, a city he often visited during his college years. “I always had an eye for coming back to Atlanta to do business here,” says Dillon, who also saw opportunity in the city’s culinary scene and wanted to become part of it.
A self-described “hands-on” chef, he opened his first Atlanta restaurant when the opportunity to sublease an established kitchen space became available. “While I was building out the restaurant, I got a chef in, and I learned hands-on [the culinary skills] and I also did Uber Eats. We stayed open until 4:00 AM, so after the clubs closed, everybody came out to get some food [from us]. We served chicken wings, fries, Cajan pasta. It did very, very well,” recalls Dillon.
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That is, until the eviction notice arrived.
“I got scammed on my first restaurant,” recounts Dillon, who can laugh about the experience now. “Apparently the guy I was paying wasn’t paying the [building’s] landlord. So I had to leave that location. At that point, though, I had already got a taste of the restaurant business and there was no way I could stop.”
Noticing the crab boil food trend taking over the culinary scene, Dillon noted there wasn’t a restaurant serving a seafood boil to be found in Atlanta. “There’s a franchise restaurant called Juicy Crab, but there were none in the city of Atlanta; they were more [located] in the suburbs,” observed the chef/entrepreneur who applied to become a Juicy Crab franchisee and was turned down.
“At the time, I didn’t have the full culinary experience, so they didn’t feel comfortable with me,” says the entrepreneur.
Success With Seafood
Undaunted, Dillon scouted for a location in Atlanta to open his own seafood boil restaurant. “My instincts kicked in and I said, ‘If we’re able to put a crab boil restaurant right in the heart of the city, I guarantee it’ll do good,’” recalls the New York native.
The Boiler Seafood and Crab Boil found its home in the upscale Buckhead neighborhood. Opened in 2020 during the pandemic, Dillon attributes the success of his establishment to Atlanta being one of the first cities in the country to allow restaurants to remain open.
“People wanted to come outside, and they were looking for things to do. So we became kind of a hot spot. People were so excited they finally had a crab boil restaurant in the city,” notes Dillon. “We actually ended up being one of the biggest, fastest-growing Black-owned restaurants within the first year.”
Big Presentation at The Boiler Seafood and Crab Boil
But it’s the menu that dazzled customers and had them returning time and time again. He expanded the allure of a seafood boil featuring crab legs, mussels, and shrimp by giving customers a “big presentation” of items unique to his establishment.
A showstopping shrimp scampi served on a hot skillet emitting clouds of steam enticed diners with its sizzle and aroma, while the $200 fried king crab (two pounds of off-the-shell king crab fried to perfection) became a social media viral sensation. Dillon reveals he has offers to franchise The Boiler Seafood and Crab Boil throughout the country, but the entrepreneur isn’t ready to pull the trigger quite yet.
Though The Boiler Seafood and Crab Boil is the jewel in his expanding Privilege Restaurant Group empire, Dillon has plans to open two more restaurants (Italian and Asian fusion) along with a fish and chicken franchise to add to two other existing establishments: Sugar Baby Creamery (a rolled ice cream shop) and The Seafood Menu, a restaurant he opened with friend and rapper Lil Baby in late 2023.
Rap and The Seafood Menu
Located less than a mile from Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium, The Seafood Menu restaurant serves seafood with a twist. “We ended up doing a seafood crab boil—but we infused it with wing flavors. So we have lemon-pepper crab legs, jerk crab legs, honey hot crab legs and sweet chili crab legs,” details Dillon about the mouth-watering offerings.
Open for less than a year, The Seafood Menu is a family restaurant that’s become a top seller on Uber Eats and has already turned heads with the interior design of its 2000-square-foot space, which also offers a private dining area.
So will customers find Dillon in the kitchen at any of his restaurants? “For sure! I have no problem jumping in on the line to help get those plates out,” affirms the chef, who rotates working at his establishments and continues to create menus and recipes.
This method seems to be working just fine. According to Dillon, his roster of hotspot restaurants has pulled in about $20 million collectively since when The Boiler Seafood and Crab Boil first opened in 2020 until now.
Successfully Giving Back
The success of The Boiler Seafood and Crab Boil, and his other restaurants, allows Dillion to give back via The VO Foundation, the philanthropic organization he founded that helps formerly incarcerated individuals start their own businesses.
“If you look at the stats, recidivism is a big thing. People get released from jail and end up going back to jail—because they have no way to get hired for a job or to create income,” observes Dillon.
“I have restaurants, but I can’t hire everybody. So, I figured the way was to teach them how to start their own businesses.”
Dillon devised a 13-week course taught inside jails and re-education centers that focuses on how to identify entrepreneurial opportunities, teaches the art of writing a business plan and explores other professional skills needed. Once individuals finish the course, they present their plans to Dillon and a panel of experts.
“We pick 3-5 [plans], and we give them money toward starting their business,” he shares. While Dillon says the ideas run the gamut, one that stood out involved a bee harvesting enterprise where “bees were farmed to create honey and other products. It’s actually very profitable.”
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For serial entrepreneur and chef Dillon, finding opportunity in the highs and lows of the culinary scene is all part of the process—and path—to success. “When you have ideas, believe in them. If you feel this is the right business, and it makes sense, do it,” he encourages. And if you can help others along the way, then that’s even better.
The Boiler Seafood and Crab Boil is located at 2425 Piedmont Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30324. Visit the restaurant online and follow on Instagram @theboileratlanta.