1 week Ago By [email protected] (Davina Jethwa)
A restaurant boss-turned TikToker is using his newfound fame and money to feed the homeless and give back to the community. ‘Burgerman Serj’, who runs Hungry House Burgers and Kebab in Chatham High Street, has gained over 285,000 followers and 2.7m likes on the video-sharing platform.
But unlike other influences, the social media star is using the money he generates from his account for a selfless cause. On average, he hands out 80 to 90 hot meals a week to those in need coming to him from across Medway and Maidstone. Serj said: “The initiative is trying to help out the community - it's always been something important for me.
“I come from a background where my working-class mum would work hard but always help out where she could.” “So, when someone comes to the shop when we're about to close, and asks for food, I just can't say no.” The 27-year-old who is originally from north London opened his restaurant in September 2021 after being encouraged by his family to explore a new venture.
Despite it being his first business, and having little cooking experience, it has been a success thanks to his live-streaming on TikTok. Serj films himself cooking and serving up burgers while interacting with customers, or chatting with followers during quiet trade times for up to 10 hours every day. He said: “We saw a lot of people online do something similar - not with burgers but the likes of Spud Man, Spud Bros and I even saw people in the States do hot dogs or burritos.
“I was just sitting down one day and one of my good friends was walking by, and said, ‘Hey, Serge, you’re sitting down, waiting for people to come, why don't you make some videos online and promote your business.’ “And I thought he had a really good point so, I started to make a few.” In December 2023, Serj set up his phone against a little cup on a shelf behind him, pressed the record button and turned back to serving customers as usual.
He said: “That's when things changed.” Within minutes, he went from having a few viewers to hundreds of people watching and commenting. Now, it’s in the thousands.
The restaurant boss said: “I was as red as a tomato. “I've never been in a situation like that with that many people watching me from a phone online. “I didn't know what to say.
I didn't know what to do. I was shaking whilst making burgers. “It was a surreal moment.
” Since first setting up his shop, Serj would typically get around five people a week in need of food without any money who he would serve for free. But as his TikTok journey has taken off, he has been able to take it further. A big turning point was when he had a particularly devastated customer turn up at his eatery.
He said: “It was a random evening when we were about to close up and a man came to the shop and walked inside. “He had about three of his kids with him, and his English wasn't great. I didn't know what he was saying but he looked really, really upset.
” “Another customer, who could speak Arabic, spoke to the man who explained he had just moved to the area and didn’t have a place to stay or food for his family. “Tears started rolling down his eyes and the man next to me said, ‘he is asking for some food for his kids and his wife’ so I said it was no problem at all. “We put some burgers on and the man offered to pay for his meals but I said: ‘my friend, you don't have to, we do this every single week - don't worry’.
“From that day, I said, if anybody ever comes to me asking for food, I just simply cannot deny anyone.” Since then, he has prioritised dedicating one day a week where he puts everything aside and spends it giving out free food. It's currently Thursday from around 3pm to 7pm.
During his live streams, watchers provide Serj with “gifts” which translate into money. On average, he gets around 50 to 60 from different people each stream. The income from these is what he uses to fund the meals for the homeless, as well as donations he receives occasionally from PayPal or other customers coming to his shop.
He said: “There are a lot of businesses that try to do something similar, but to do something like this every week is very difficult. “You need massive backing. You can't do it alone.
“I can do three, four meals alone a week, but I can't do as many as we do without the support.” Asked whether he ever imagined this level of success on TikTok, Serj said: “Absolutely never. “I'm not good with speaking to large crowds but for some reason, when I turn that live stream on all of a sudden, I become confident.
“If you feel like you can give something to the world, if you feel like your presence on social media could make a difference, or you can add some sort of value or some entertainment, whatever it is and whatever form I recommend everybody to do it.”.
