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Chef Andrew Gruel
- Celebrity chef and founder of American Gravy Restaurant Group, known for media appearances and award-winning restaurants like Slap Fish and, Calico Fish House.
- Raised over $500K for restaurant workers during Covid and gave away thousands of free meals.
- Outspoken advocate for small businesses, food sustainability, and community through cooking and humor.
- New! As of 2025, …Chef Gruel is a City Councilor for Huntington Beach, California.
Chef Andrew Gruel is one of America’s most popular and beloved celebrity chefs. In fact, he’s been dubbed as “America’s Chef”, not just for his media and TV appearances or for his innovative culinary creativity, but because he’s a chef of the people and for the people. Reason Magazine had said “Chef Andrew Gruel just might be the patron saint of restaurateurs, small-business owners, and service workers during the pandemic.”
And why would they say that? Because when the lockdowns happened in 2020 and the government forced so many restaurants to shut down, Chef Andrew Gruel started a fund in December 2020 to raise money for out-of-work restaurant workers, raising over $230,000 in the first three weeks alone. The fund, called 86 Restaurant Struggle, raised over Half A MILLION DOLLARS for the displaced and out of work restaurant employees that found themselves without a job, during the holiday season, no less. It is also worth mentioning that Chef Gruel via his one of his many restaurants, gave away thousands of free meals during that time – either as an outright free meal, or in food giveaways and charitable donations.
Andrew was very outspoken at the time, because regulations that closed restaurants came well before help from the government was available, leaving restaurant workers across the state with no way to earn an income. For those who worked paycheck to paycheck, it was a very trying time, and Andrew had to help.
Helping out workers isn’t the only cause our Celebrity Chef Speaker Andrew Gruel is involved in. As an environmentalist, he loves to discuss how aquaculture is beneficial for fish stocks, and how oceanic aquaculture is good for the environment and the surrounding communities that work in aquaculture, the jobs it brings and the sustainable, healthy food it provides; in fact, Chef Gruel has consulted with governments around the world about sustainable aquaculture; but beyond that, beyond helping struggling workers or improving the environment – beyond all that, at heart, Andrew’s passion is for his family and for his community, his country, and of course – for cooking up amazing food for his restaurant patrons and for TV audiences.
Andrew’s latest project is “American Gravy”, a new show that is about much more than just food. Check the “Sizzle” reel in the video section for more.
Videos
Speech Topics
American Gravy
Andrew believes that communities coming together over an amazing meal can help bridge a divided country – and he calls this coming together, this spirit of gathering for a meal – he calls it: “American Gravy”. American Gravy is not just the name of his newest company, it is the name of this keynote presentation as well. This talk, which encompasses food, politics, business, freedom and resiliency, helps to restore what it means to be not just an American, but to be human, too. It is a talk that will inspire you to cook, to serve others, and to gather with others, and to put politics aside – and to hopefully come together in ways we simply no longer do. It is a talk that will raise the spirit, whet your appetite and uplift the spirit of America and audiences around the world, too.
Andrew describes American Gravy like this: “Food is the center of my life, which I why I ended up in this field, and it weaves into the community element. Everything that relates to our daily lives, from leadership to politics can somehow be traced back to food, both literally and metaphorically. I use food to show how easy it is to help people, give back, make people laugh, resist government overreach, and educate about the environment. But – the main ingredients in American Gravy are… having a few things in common that drive us. In my case it’s: Family, Food, Community and Humor. Especially humor. Because if we can’t laugh through all of this, then we are doing it wrong.”
OTHER TOPICS:
Business: Food and Restaurant Marketing (Great for restaurant associations, entrepreneurs and retail food industries)
Environment: With a focus on open ocean aquaculture and sustainable fishing. For broader reach, Chef Gruel can speak about sustainable food production of all kinds.
Politics: This talk will focus on state/federal regulations and more, from minimum wage for fast food workers to Franchise Agreements, and more. Chef Gruel loves to discuss government over reach when it comes to the regulatory effect on small business, and how you as either a citizen OR restaurant owner (or both) can push back.
Cooking Demo:
Of course, Chef Gruel LOVES to perform cooking demo’s live for audiences of all kinds. Corporate Christmas Parties or Festive Gala’s gain that celebrity buzz when Andrew comes to cook for your private group – there are absolutely rave reviews about how much fun it was to have Chef Gruel cook live for them; audience members get to help out, and everyone (hopefully!) gets to try a bite of the delicacies created. It’s loads of fun for all and a great way for companies to bring their teams together – for any reason.
Biography
Andrew Gruel is a food entrepreneur, a member of the Huntington Beach, CA City Council, and sought-after expert guest by the most popular podcasts, streams, and TV shows – which includes Fox News’ Gutfeld!, on which he appears frequently. He’s also currently the co-host of The SoCal Restaurant Show on AM 830.
Chef Gruel is a graduate of Johnson & Wales University, and is CEO and founder of American Gravy Restaurant Group, which comprises Calico Fishhouse, Big Parm Pizza, Two Birds Chicken, Butterleaf, Lolo’s Tacos, and 101 Burger.
Chef Gruel is also a community advocate. During California’s extended Covid lockdown, Andrew and his wife Lauren established a fund to help employees stay afloat and pay their bills. They were named Pandemic Heroes by Restaurant Business Magazine, alongside Guy Fieri and Jose Andres. Years later, amid the Los Angeles fires of 2025, they set up a donation center for victims who had been burned out of their homes.
Andrew has a robust background in aquaculture and sustainable sourcing of seafood – which also extends to meat, poultry, and produce. He started a non-profit with the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, focused on marine conservation and sustainability. They visited fisheries and aquaculture operations, essentially doing an internal certification of the farms, feed, and fishery, in addition to connecting other chefs with the right fish. He was the founder of Slapfish Restaurant Group (40 locations) — the award-winning food truck turned international brick and mortar — based in Huntington Beach, CA. Andrew was a judge on Food Network’s ‘Chopped Junior’ with Megan Markle. He was the Host of FYI Series ‘Say It To My Face,’ as well as a judge on Food Network’s ‘Food Truck Face Off.’
He has made appearances on NBC’s TODAY, Fox News, CNN, NBC Nightly News, PBS, Cooking Channel, and has been featured in numerous publications including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Men’s Health, Food & Wine magazine, Entrepreneur, and Nation’s Restaurant News. He was named Top 25 Business Executives for Fast Casual magazine and featured in Nation’s Restaurant News’ 2017 Power List. In 2013, he was named among the top ‘40 under 40’ entrepreneurs in Orange County, CA.
