Andrew Gruel is a food entrepreneur, a member of the Huntington Beach, CA City Council, and sought-after expert guest by the most popular podcasts, streams, and TV shows – which includes Fox News’ Gutfeld!, on which he appears frequently. He’s also currently the co-host of The SoCal Restaurant Show on AM 830.
Chef Gruel is a graduate of Johnson & Wales University, and is CEO and founder of American Gravy Restaurant Group, which comprises Calico Fishhouse, Big Parm Pizza, Two Birds Chicken, Butterleaf, Lolo’s Tacos, and 101 Burger.
He’s also a community advocate. During California’s extended Covid lockdown, Andrew and his wife Lauren established a fund to help employees stay afloat and pay their bills. They were named Pandemic Heroes by Restaurant Business Magazine, alongside Guy Fieri and Jose Andres. Years later, amid the Los Angeles fires of 2025, they set up a donation center for victims who had been burned out of their homes.
Andrew has a robust background in aquaculture and sustainable sourcing of seafood – which also extends to meat, poultry, and produce. He started a non-profit with the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, focused on marine conservation and sustainability. They visited fisheries and aquaculture operations, essentially doing an internal certification of the farms, feed, and fishery, in addition to connecting other chefs with the right fish.
He was the founder of Slapfish Restaurant Group (40 locations) -- the award-winning food truck turned international brick and mortar -- based in Huntington Beach, CA. Andrew was a judge on Food Network’s 'Chopped Junior' with Megan Markle. He was the Host of FYI Series 'Say It To My Face,' as well as a judge on Food Network’s 'Food Truck Face Off.'
He has made appearances on NBC's TODAY, Fox News, CNN, NBC Nightly News, PBS, Cooking Channel, and has been featured in numerous publications including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Men’s Health, Food & Wine magazine, Entrepreneur, and Nation’s Restaurant News. He was named Top 25 Business Executives for Fast Casual magazine and featured in Nation’s Restaurant News’ 2017 Power List. In 2013, he was named among the top ‘40 under 40’ entrepreneurs in Orange County, CA.
