Albert Okura, also known as the “Chicken Man” throughout the Inland Empire, is the founder of the Juan Pollo Restaurant franchise where rotisserie chicken is served after roasting for 5 hours in stand up broilers. The entrepreneur spent a number of years in Mexico perfecting the tasty technique.
Upon returning to Los Angeles, the Chicken Man opened Juan Pollo restaurant where he currently operates a chain of twenty-five locations. Not to be outdone, the chicken man settled his franchise headquarters on a parcel of land where the original McDonald’s restaurant once stood.
“McDonald’s is the greatest entity to ever come out of San Bernardino,” enamored the Chicken Man. “Everywhere I go, everyone, I talk to, national or Foreign adults, children, everybody has a positive memory of McDonald’s.”
On the historical site, Mr. Okura has created a McDonald’s Museum in conjunction with a museum dedicated to his own Juan Pollo franchise. It’s extra special because of the location along the historic Route 66, the Mother Road of the U.S.A. This museum highlights and details the history of the original McDonald’s brother restaurant owned and operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald. The museum stands as an homage to the history of McDonald’s prior to the Ray Kroc buyout.
“We contacted some of the original bells hops so to get an accurate account of the landscape,” chimed Jack Marcus, museum tour guide, and cartoonist for the Juan Pollo franchise. “Essentially, the brothers already had their expansion guy but he died, allowing the opportunity for Ray Kroc to step in and position himself for the buyout. He was awed by the dynamics of the business and initially pushed the brothers to purchase more milk (shake) machines.”
The museum is steadfast. Filling up with memorabilia and has seen a fair share of international travelers from as close as Canada and Brazil and as far away as Saudi Arabia and France. Mr. Okada encourages visitors near and far to donate happy meal toys for display in the museum so to give every visitor a chance to share their McDonald’s memories.
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