Chicken and waffles — and what else?

Fred’s Chicken N’ Waffles offers, of course, chicken and waffles as well as a chicken burrito, quesadilla, crepe wrap, chapati wrap — a type of Indian flatbread — wings, and a range of sides. The coffee section offers standard coffee, lattes, cappuccinos, a white chocolate mocha, and tea. 

Mohamed estimated the pizza section of the restaurant will open by Labor Day.

Khalid Khalif, a 27-year-old customer who visited Wednesday, said as he waited for his chicken burrito he appreciated the overall feel of the restaurant.

“The aesthetics, the design, the whole garage door entrance thing, it’s pretty sweet,” Khalif said. “The whole thing’s got a good vibe to it.”

Mohamed, who described himself as entrepreneurial, has always had an interest in business. He attended Mankato State University and studied business administration. 

He previously owned two businesses — an Italian restaurant, Hamdi, and a wholesale market selling Egyptian, Italian, and Middle Eastern ingredients, If Tin.

In the two months since opening, Mohamed described business as steady, but views surrounding schools starting their fall semesters again as a chance to both attract more customers and hire students.

“I’m trying to give them opportunities,” Mohamed said. “They can cashier, they can do a lot of stuff, for like six hours a day. The rest of the day, they can go to class.”

While growing his business is important to Mohamed, so is fostering community. Mohamed sees the coffee portion of his restaurant as a good place to welcome students who want a quiet place to do homework, socialize or hang out.

“I'm open to anything possible that I can do for the community,” Mohamed said. “For the future, I'm trying to do the study thing where they can get their coffee and students can study.”

Not just limited to students, Mohamed said he is committed to the community around Fred’s and wants to use whatever knowledge, resources or experience he may have to help others.

Yash Bokade, 27, a cook at the restaurant and a graduate student at the University of Minnesota studying to get his master’s degree in engineering management, said he feels a sense of community in the restaurant when staff members invite their family to hang out in the space or they offer free food to those who may need it.

“Everybody brings their own kids,” Bokade said. “There's another guy that works here, and he brings his brothers and sisters. Sometimes there are kids that are outside that are homeless, so we try to help them as well – a little bit of community service.”

Mohamed is optimistic about the future of his restaurant and hopes to one day expand to more locations in Minnesota, but wants to develop the original location for now.

“It's going to get better, but I need more time to finish one space first, then we can go another step,” Mohamed said. “We have to give this one 100%. You can’t go fifty-fifty.”

While Mohamed said he will rely mainly on college students to support Fred’s Chicken N’ Waffles as customers, he can at least count on Khalif coming back for the chicken and waffles.

“It’s a solid 10 for sure,” Khalif said. “I’ll be back.”