I spent my life savings on a NYC deli that was infested with rodents. Now, I bring in up to $4,000 a day thanks to 1 viral sandwich.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Joshua Dat, 33, owner of Datz Deli and creator of the Mac Patty in New York City. It has been edited for length and clarity.

My dad is an amazing chef. He’d been working in kitchens his whole life, and I felt like people never valued him the way they should have.

When I turned 29, I took all the money I’d saved from age 17 and invested it in opening a store in Hollis, Queens, with him. We named it Datz Deli — now home of the famous Mac Patty.

It was a struggle in the beginning. I discovered the place was infested with rodents when I came in one morning and found half of my food supply eaten.

During those first few months, we were making about $200 to $300 a day — not enough to sustain the business. I thought I had messed up, and that all the money I had saved my whole life was gone.

Today, we have two shops — the original in Queens and another in Manhattan. Each brings in between $1,000 to $4,000 a day.

I started Datz because I wanted to support my family

Growing up, we didn’t have much. After my parents divorced when I was young, it was mostly my mom supporting us four kids.

I would go around the house and about town collecting loose change I could find, so I could give it to my mom when she’d cry about the water bill or the electricity bill.

Some days, we struggled to have meals. Growing up like that is something you never want to go back to.

As I got older, I promised myself no one in my family would ever have to live like that again. Because of the business, they won’t.

The Mac Patty changed everything in the summer of 2023

By early 2023, we’d been open for a few months, and nothing was going right. I tried attracting customers with new creations like chopped cheeses on butter bread and roti burritos, but nothing clicked.

Then, one night, I was hungry for a beef patty with cheese, but we didn’t have any cheese left because my dad had used it all for the mac and cheese.

So, I put the mac and cheese in the patty, cut it in half, looked at it, and just had a feeling this was it. This was going to go viral.

My little sister posted a pic of it on Instagram. The next morning, people came into the store asking for it. Soon, we had lines out the door.

The Mac Patty wasn’t like anything else we had tried before. That gave me the confidence to keep building around it.

At first, I was paying influencers to visit the store and promote it. Now, I don’t have to pay anyone; the store has gained its own reputation, and I was able to open the second shop in Manhattan from our success.

I couldn’t have done it without my family

My mom quit her full-time job in bill collecting to come help with the business. She, my father, and my older brother run the shop in Manhattan.

My little sister and uncle run the shop in Queens, and I help out with online content and whatever else they need me for. I remember walking my little sis to school, and now to watch her help run this business — it’s crazy.

Working every day with your family is like what you might expect — terrible. We can fight like it’s World War III, but we know that no matter what is said or what happens, we’re all showing back up at the gate tomorrow to open the shops because we’re all so proud of what it’s become.

My mother taught us growing up that you need people who’ll never give up on you, no matter how hard it gets. And that’s what we are for each other. Nothing breaks us apart.

I like to say that I started this business, but it’s my family that keeps it going. Once we started seeing success, they really showed up for me at times when I didn’t even want to show up for myself. And I’m so grateful for that.

Next, we’re looking to open a location in Orlando — and my older sister will run it.