Alvin Cailan (born 1983) is an American chef, author,[5] and television host. He is the host of
First We Feast’s The Burger Show which airs on
YouTube[1] and
Hulu.[6] Cailan launched
Eggslut, a food truck that specialized in egg sandwiches.[3] The food truck quickly became popular and often had waits that stretched to two hours long.[3][7] Eggslut has brick-and-mortar locations, including at Los Angeles'
Grand Central Market and Venice, Glendale, and Las Vegas.[8] Cailan was named the head chef of
Umami Burger in 2021.
Early life and education
Alvin Cailan grew up in
Pico Rivera, California in a Filipino household.[9][3] To keep him out of trouble, Cailan’s parents got him a job washing dishes at a retreat house,[3] a kitchen that fed 150 people every day. By the time he was a senior in high school, Cailan was cooking and serving as kitchen manager.[8]
In 2011 Cailan founded
Eggslut, an egg sandwich food truck in Los Angeles, with his cousin.[10][11] In 2013, Eggslut opened its first brick-and-mortar location in Los Angeles's
Grand Central Market.[10]MSNBC declared Eggslut the most
Instagrammed restaurants in the world, and Bon Appétit named it one of the Top 50 best Restaurants in the United States.[12] As of 2020 Eggslut has eight locations around the world including in Tokyo, London, Kuwait, and Korea.[13]
Cailan's cookbook titled Amboy: Recipes from the Filipino-American Dream was published by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in August 2020.[5]
In 2021, Cailan was named the new head chef of
Umami Burger.[14]