Alvin Cailan


Alvin Cailan is a Filipino-American chef, author and former host of First We Feast’s The Burger Show which airs on YouTube and Hulu. Cailan launched Eggslut, a food truck that specialized in egg sandwiches. The food truck quickly became popular and often had waits that stretched to two hours long. Eggslut has brick-and-mortar locations, including at Los Angeles' Grand Central Market and Venice, Glendale, and Las Vegas.

Early life

Alvin Cailan grew up in Pico Rivera, California in a Filipino household. To keep him out of trouble, Cailan’s parents got him a job washing dishes at a retreat house, a kitchen that fed 150 people everyday. By the time he was a senior in high school, Cailan was cooking and serving as kitchen manager.

Education

Cailan studied business at California State University, Fullerton. After graduating, he worked for a construction company. The company was corrupt and paid Cailan two years severance so he would not be a whistleblower regarding the company's business practices. He then moved to Oregon and attended the Oregon Culinary Institute.

Career

After culinary school Cailan worked at Olympia Provisions, Bouchon, and The French Laundry. In 2010 Cailan founded Eggslut, an egg sandwich foodtruck in Los Angeles, with his cousin. After two year Eggslut opened its first brick-and-mortar location in Los Angeles's Grand Central Market. As of 2020 Eggslut had eight locations around the world including in Tokyo, London and Kuwait. A cookbook titled Amboy: Recipes from the Filipino-American Dream is set to be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2020.