In this new series, TCU Magazine visits with alumni in the food and beverage industry. Send recommendations to tcumagazine@tcu.edu.

Imran “Immy” Khan ’13 MBA and his wife, Lauren, purchased The Lunch Box, known for its classic chicken salad, while he was in graduate school at TCU. In 2014, they added The Black Rooster Bakery, known for its artisanal pastries, to their portfolio. They later moved the bakery from Forest Park Boulevard to a new space by The Lunch Box, tucked into a courtyard off Camp Bowie Boulevard in Fort Worth. Today, the businesses operate side by side, offering dine-in, takeout and a brisk catering business that delivers to schools, churches and businesses across Tarrant County.

What drew you to the restaurant business? 

I grew up with three older siblings and we always had large gatherings around food and just enjoyed the camaraderie, whether at home or going out to a restaurant as a group. Being able to provide that experience to others was something that was attractive to me. The Lunch Box is a business that had been running successfully for a very long time, and like a lot of things in life, timing is everything. When I was getting my MBA at the Neeley School, the owner of The Lunch Box was looking to sell. We were able to acquire the restaurant for a dollar amount that was far lower than trying to start a new idea that would require a lot of build-out costs and other development and research costs. 

How did your MBA from TCU help you as an entrepreneur? 

It gave me the confidence to be able to understand all the facets that go into operating a business and to be able to make high-level decisions. The ability to move into an entrepreneurial project — whether it was signing a long-term lease for hundreds of thousands of dollars, negotiating contracts with vendors, hiring, being able to interact with employees of all different levels of experience — TCU just gave me that extra level of skill and personal development to enter into the business world and thrive in that tough environment. 

The Lunch Box has been open for more than 50 years, and The Black Rooster Bakery has been operating for 15 years. What have you kept the same, and what have you changed? 

We’ve tried to keep the core products the exact same — same recipes, same ingredients — regardless of the cost increases that have come along over the years, so we can maintain that consistency. Every decision we make is driven by feedback from our customers. In The Lunch Box, we’ve added the Napa Valley salad and the TCU Turkey sandwich that has been very popular for our catering customers as well. And in The Black Rooster, we took our basic croissant recipe and expanded into the various flavor options — meat-filled, fruit-filled, chocolate-filled. 

The Black Rooster Bakery operates adjacent to The Lunch Box in a courtyard off Camp Bowie Boulevard in southwest Fort Worth. Photo by Corey Zapata-Smith

What do you think has made The Lunch Box successful for so many decades? 

I think it’s keeping things simple, not chasing the latest fad and treating people the right way —both customers and employees.  

Do you have a regular order? 

I don’t — I try to sample all of our food. Our chicken salad is our most popular seller at The Lunch Box and with the plain croissant from The Black Rooster, that is really a great combination. My son, who’s now 18 months old, that’s his favorite thing to eat for lunch — he’s happy with chicken salad and a buttery croissant.