Joshua Dat, founder and owner of Datz Deli in New York, is proud of his Guyanese heritage. Many people incorrectly attribute his heritage to Africa instead of South America. So he eventually saw an opportunity to elevate knowledge and appreciation of his culture through one key vessel: his dad’s cooking. “I just wanted to let people know more about my culture, our food, and where it comes from. So I had to push the best food from our culture, and my dad is an amazing chef.”
His dad had been a Caribbean chef in restaurants across Queens. He also experienced a career full of what Dat described as “broken dreams.” So at 17 years old, Dat gave his father a message. “Dad, you have something the world needs, let me invest in you,” he said. “I got $2,000 saved up. Let’s go get a store.” Initially, his dad just laughed.
But that tenacity stayed with Dat. He spent the next 10 years working construction and odd jobs to save enough money to bring his vision to life. In November 2022, he got the keys to Datz Deli’s first location and they opened for business in January 2023, selling what they describe as “Guyanese-style comfort food” composed of different sandwiches made of chicken, beef patties, and more. And by 2024, they were featured in The New York Times list of “57 Sandwiches that Define New York City”.
Overcoming the birthing pains of a new business
When Datz first opened for business, Dat quickly realized that introducing Guyanese food to the masses was going to be a challenge. Customers would come into the deli and ask for American dishes like bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches. The business didn’t sell that. Instead, they sold saltfish and baked corned beef sandwiches (a Guyana breakfast sandwich), and customers would always respond: “What is that?”
But Dat was so determined to introduce the dish to the community that he would sometimes give it to customers that hadn’t had it before for free if they tried it and didn’t like it. And while this method did convert some customers, the business was at a point where it was only bringing in $200 a day. He knew he needed to stand out in order to increase cash flow. But in a city with thousands of delis and equally as many Caribbean restaurants, how was he going to do it?
The “eureka” moment that led to success
He did it with the Macpatty — an accidental sandwich born out of frustration. “One night when we were closing down, I was making a beef patty with cheese but all the cheese had gone to our mac and cheese, so now I’m mad,” he laughed. “But I saw the mac and cheese, and I just threw it in the sandwich,” he recalled. The moment he went to cut the sandwich open, he remembers shutting it closed because it looked so good. He called out for his sister to come and record him showing off the sandwich so they could post it on Instagram because he just knew this had the potential to be a viral moment – and he was right.
The video had customers coming in just to try the sandwich, some even requesting to add a twist like adding oxtails or oxtail gravy. Pretty soon, influencers caught wind of it, with one particular video leading to 30 million views. And that demand eventually led to customers lining up outside the deli before it was even open. Soon Dat opened a table at Smorgasburg NYC, a food market, to establish another customer touchpoint for customers unable to make it to Queens.
Broadening reach with seamless technology
However, to get up and running in an outdoor environment, the family team needed a quick and foolproof solution. “I have so much going on in my mind. And to have something that’s making you do so much just to get a transaction done blows it. It’s like I’d rather not even do the transaction at this point,” Dat said.
To make his transactions seamless while also keeping up with his busy brain, Dat began leveraging Square Terminal to take payments. The first time his sister set up the Square system at Smorgasburg, Dat was in awe: “At first, I didn’t know what it was, but then I saw cards tapping against it, and I’m like ‘oh, it works!’ Then my sister told me it would send money directly to our account, and I was like ‘It’s that easy? Wow! I love this thing.’”
After setting up the system at Smorgasburg , Dat decided to adopt more Square tools when they branched out to their second location, this time expanding with Square for Restaurants. “You can have it in your hand, and you can grow with it,” Dat noted. Now the business is fresh off television appearances on shows like The Kelly Clarkson Show and the opening of their third location in Times Square, strongly considering branching out into other states like Florida.
According to Dat, the technology component of wherever he launches next is already figured out and that takes some of the worry out of scaling. “I just need something that’s going to work and that I don’t have to worry about…Square is ready when you turn it on.”
