Johannesburg, South Africa — At the June 4 grand opening of Munch O’Holics, a new eatery in the Melville neighborhood of Johannesburg, restaurant owner Andrew Rasemene offered samples of the restaurant’s fare to passersby in 27 Boxes, a shopping complex made up of repurposed shipping containers. 

Smells of fried food, cured meats and South African spices emanated from the Munch O’Holics corner container that is decorated with local art, a chalkboard menu and hookah pipes.

Standing outside his shop in a black crewneck sweatshirt emblazoned with gold letters that read, “change the world by being yourself,” 27-year-old Rasemene explained the many hats he has worn over the years, from his career as a professional cricket player, his journey of entrepreneurship as a restaurant owner and his family life as a husband and father of twins. 

South Africans may know Rasemene’s name from his professional cricket career. Most recently, he played bowler for The Northern Cape Heat 2021-22 squad. Rasemene also has a fan base of eaters, who have been lining up for his food since his college days.  

As a student at the University of Johannesburg, where he studied public management and governance, Rasemene began buying and selling kotas for his classmates who weren’t satisfied with the food options on campus. A kota is a quarter loaf of bread that has been hollowed out and filled with meat, egg, cheese, sauce and potato chips. 

“I used to get into trouble because I’d have to travel with the food in my bag, and I’d use my cricket bag because it was big enough for me to put like 20, 40 [kotas],” Rasemene said.

The business started small but grew quickly, forcing Rasemene to up his supply to sell kotas to more and more students on campus.

“It was a problem for a bit,” Rasemene said. “Then, luckily, I spoke to my history teacher, and he [said] to me, ‘I’ve got a store room in my office. If you want to, you could use that.’”

In trade, Rasemene said he had to give his teacher one free kota a day.

“I was like, that’s a sweet deal for myself, you know? He was actually one of my favorite teachers,” Rasemene said.

From the start, Rasemene’s main customer base was made up of his friends on campus, where dinner places closed early. This created a need for delivery options after hours, and Rasemene stepped in with a solution.

“Shops closed early there. I did free delivery within five Ks [kilometers],” Rasemene said.

Rasemene and his wife later turned to selling burgers to his college friends from their home kitchen. Rasemene said this is where Munch O’ Holics began.

The restaurant’s name, Munch O’ Holics, is inspired by the desire for “munchies” after drinking or smoking, Rasemene said. Although it makes for a memorable name, Rasemene said he does not want to limit his customer base to drinkers and smokers. Munch O’ Holics is open to anyone and everyone in the community, he said..

“Whether you smoke or not, you can come. Whether you drink or not, you can come,” Rasemene said.

At Munch O’Holics, Rasemene said he prioritizes keeping the food accessible for everyone by choosing affordable price points and incorporating daily deals and specials.

“If you look at our pricing and the menu, we are trying to feed everyone. We’ve got small chips for 15 rands ($1). Even a car guard can come,” Rasemene said. 

There are a variety of tasty and affordable meals on the menu, including pizza bread, wors rolls, fish and chips and chicken wraps. A wors roll is a sausage in a bun, most like an American hot dog. Prices range from R20 to R85 ($1.25 to $5.30). 

Matt Nkofo and Thuto Makuta were first-time customers at Munch O’ Holics a week after it opened. They each selected a Dagwood — a beef patty on bread topped with lettuce, cheese, caramelized onions, bacon, and tomato — with a side of Almighty Chips for their Saturday afternoon meal. Almighty Chips are loaded fries topped with cheese, jalapeños and bacon bits.

Nkofo said he and Makuta were walking around 27 Boxes, which they frequent often, when they came across the new eatery. 

“Then I smelled something very good, and I was like, ‘wait, where is that smell coming from?’” Nkofo said.

Nkofo said he was not only pleased with his food’s aroma but also with the price he paid.

“It’s pretty affordable for something like that. You usually pay more at some other places,” Nkofo added.

The first week it was open, the restaurant saw a steady stream of business, Rasemene said, and he kept Munch O’ Holics open an extra two hours to fill Uber Eats and Mr. D’s (South Africa’s food delivery service) orders. 

That made for long days for one of the cooks, Candace Esbene, Rasemene’s sister in-law, who worked from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. 

“My feet were hurting so much yesterday and my back, but doing this job is fun,” Esbene said.  

Esbene said she is inspired by her favorite cooking influencer, Gordon Ramsay, a British restaurateur, cookbook author and international TV celebrity.

“I love cooking. Food is my passion,” Esbene said. “I never went to go study cooking or anything. I guess it just runs in the blood.”

Rasemene’s story as an entrepreneur is coming full circle as he has a contract in the works with a cricket club in Randburg, a municipality on the southern border of Johannesburg, where he will cater for three teams’ meals every weekend.

“Once we’ve signed and everything is sorted, then we can pop the champagne,” Rasemene said.

For now, customers can pop a savory bite of Almighty Chips.