In 1989, Lowell Hawthorne, along with his wife Lorna, four of his siblings and their spouses, pooled all of their resources to open the first Golden Krust restaurant on East Gun Hill Road in the Bronx, New York. The pivotal year of 1993 signified Golden Krust’s relocation of its manufacturing operations to the South Bronx, eventually purchasing nearly the entire block from 172nd Street to Claremont Parkway on Park Avenue.
The business became so successful that the Hawthornes were encouraged to create franchises, and they seized the opportunity to do just that. Golden Krust became the first Caribbean-owned business in the U.S to be granted a franchise license. By 1996, they owned 17 restaurants throughout New York City. Today, Golden Krust Caribbean Restaurants operates over 125 restaurants in North America.
