Justin Parvizimotlagh began E.A.R.L., an East Coast-style sandwich shop, in an Oʻahu parking lot. In the decade since, the sandwich eatery has expanded to three locations and, more recently, became an internet sensation with a viral video series.
Parvizimotlagh spoke with The Conversation about those videos and the beginnings of his business.
After moving to the islands in 2007 to attend Hawaiʻi Pacific University, Parvizimotlagh graduated and started working in the restaurant industry to prepare to one day open his own.
“I always knew that I wanted to open a restaurant. My father owned a restaurant when I was younger. So I was always kind of quietly working on my business plan, trying to make those steps towards opening the store,” Parvizimotlagh said.
In 2014, a tiny 300-square-foot space in Kaimukī became E.A.R.L.’s first location.
Parvizimotlagh told HPR that he was able to move his dad from Baltimore, Maryland, to Hawaiʻi to run the shop together.
“Then for about four or five years, we just had the one location. So in 2019, we opened up our Kakaʻako store, and that was a really big moment for us, because I actually had to do a full build-out of the space. … So that learning experience right there was crazy on its own, but figured that out, Kakaʻako is good to go, and now we opened up in Kapolei about a year and a half ago,” he said.
Parvizimotlagh plans to open more locations in the future, but said nothing is official yet.
E.A.R.L.’s vlog series started as a creative way for Parvizimotlagh to document the progress of the business. The first episode was titled “$40k & A Dream,” a reference to how much money he had to save to open the business.
As a small business owner, Parvizimotlagh has dealt with challenges related to food and rent costs.
"In Hawaiʻi, commercial rents are very expensive. Where I'm from, on the East Coast, if you want to open up a business, you're probably just looking into buying the building and purchasing the building, and you can do that for under a million dollars and get that going. ... But in Honolulu, that feat is almost impossible."
He said that running a restaurant is hard, though if you make it work, it’s extremely rewarding.
“I think anybody who does want to start a restaurant, the mindset should be just chip away, you're not going to be able to accomplish everything overnight,” Parvizimotlagh said. “Don't get frustrated if it does take time; it might take 10 years for you to open that restaurant and have some type of level of success. So if you're not ready to make that commitment, I would recommend doing something else.”
This story aired on The Conversation on Sept. 19, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this story for the web.
