Meet Greg Dulan | Owner at Dulan’s on Crenshaw

We had the good fortune of connecting with Greg Dulan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Greg, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
My thought process behind starting my own business was deeply rooted in my upbringing and a long-held aspiration nurtured by my family’s entrepreneurial spirit. My first real taste of the business world came as a young teenager working in our family’s hamburger stand. This wasn’t just about earning pocket money; it was an early education in customer service, efficiency, and the direct impact of hard work on the bottom line. Surprisingly, I discovered that I not only could handle the demands of the business but actually enjoyed it. I then went on to Howard University, with the intention of pursuing a business degree, and the hope of one day being able to run my father’s business.

What should our readers know about your business?
Dulan’s on Crenshaw is a family business started by my parents, Adolph and Mary Dulan. They opened a little hamburger stand in 1975 in the Crenshaw neighborhood of Los Angeles. As a child, I spent a lot of time at the restaurant, which fostered my own entrepreneurial spirit.

After attending Howard University, I returned to LA and opened Dulan’s on Crenshaw, a soul food restaurant, in 1992. Today, we serve traditional Southern classics like fried chicken, collard greens, mac and cheese, and peach cobbler — and the restaurant has become a neighborhood staple.

But over the last few years, the neighborhood has seen massive changes. SoFi Stadium opened nearby in 2020, offering access to NFL games, major concerts like Taylor Swift, and even the Big Game. In 2022, a new light rail line debuted in Crenshaw to improve transit access for the South Los Angeles community. Meanwhile, new high-rise apartments and major construction projects are reshaping the area, and the city is preparing to host the 2028 Summer Olympics. And Dulan’s on Crenshaw itself went through a years-long renovation, having just reopened in 2024 after a series of construction delays.

My father taught me early that entrepreneurship requires embracing risk, something that many people avoid, and it’s a lesson I’ve never forgotten. Throughout my career, I’ve consistently taken calculated risks, from transitioning our business from a restaurant to the school lunch sector, to purchasing and building a new food truck, and more recently undertaking a substantial $1 million remodel of our Dulan’s on Crenshaw restaurant. Even my initial skepticism and risk partnering with a third-party delivery was overcome after we engaged into an exclusive partnership with DoorDash, which resulted in a significant 25% revenue increase and broader customer reach. Risk has become something I’m comfortable with, and something that has proven to be both helpful and necessary in propelling our business forward.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
– My father has always been my foundational source of inspiration and guidance in the world
– My ex-wife, Brenda, who is still a dear friend. We went into business together, so we’ve been through everything right from the start.
– Brad Johnson, owner of Post and Beam, is my mentor. I have looked up to him in the greatest way. He is one of the best restauranters in America, with restaurants in LA and NY, and I’ve always wanted to emulate what he did.
– Our customers – when I hear things like ‘I’m so proud of you’ or ‘thank you for opening this restaurant’, it feels so wonderful to get that kind of recognition from different community organizations.
– The support and encouragement from our church community has been a vital aspect of my journey.

Website: https://dulansoulfood.com/los-angeles-dulan-s-on-crenshaw-about

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dulans_on_crenshaw/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-dulan-772b0a8a/

Image Credits
DoorDash