The Dak Prescott-touted ‘Bonnie & Clyde of Food’ are set to open first restaurant in Plano

In just a few short years, Ashley Johnson and her fiancé Thaddeus Bell went from homeless New Orleans expats to Paydirt with a Cajun food trailer, the Bells Sweet Factory. They call themselves “Bonnie and Clyde of Food”.

Celebrity clients like Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott have helped them gain over 80,000 followers on Instagram and they often sell out. Now they are opening an upscale restaurant in the kitchen in Plano.

“We were broke,” said Johnson, looking back on moving to North Texas in May 2018 to live with her mother.

She’d worked as an office manager and Bell was a foreman on the freeway.

“We caught each other with the wrong crowd and things took a turn,” said Johnson, who was convicted in 2018 for using false IDs and bank statements to procure a vehicle. “We have lost everything and have hit rock bottom. We lost our house. We literally had forty dollars. No cell phone, no car. “

Once in Texas, Johnson borrowed her cousin’s car and they went to a grocery store. It’s very common in New Orleans to sell plates of car food, Johnson says. Cajun food runs in the family, so Bell grew up cooking. Within days of arriving in Texas, they were selling plates for $ 10 in nail salons, barbershops, and hair salons.

“Everyone loved it and word of mouth has always got around,” said Johnson.

They worked six or seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. and kept selling plates. Within 6 weeks they made enough money to rent an apartment. Their business continued to grow and high profile clients like Megan Thee Stallion and Prescott helped create a huge presence for the Bells Sweet Factory on social media.

“We sold so well that we got our food truck last year,” says Johnson. “Three hundred people showed up on the first day, and now it’s nearly half a million dollars.”

The Saint’s 24-karat gold steak photographed at the new Bells Sweet Factory in Plano, TX on October 1, 2021. (Jason Janik / Special Contributor)(Jason Janik / special article)

The gumbo, fried fish, and crab cakes have the authenticity and flavor of generations of New Orleans home cooking. But a homely Cajun Alfredo sauce used in most dishes keeps people coming back to Bell’s.

“It’s authentic New Orleans food,” says Johnson. “And everyone loves our story. We’re African American, we’re young, and they watched us build from scratch this empire that will be a million dollar company. We did this alone, with no funding, no good credit. That’s not normal. We are the Bonnie and Clyde of food. “

Bell’s Sweet Factory even has an OnlyFans account in the works, but that’s not what you think. Johnson says it will include recipes and a mentoring program for aspiring restaurant owners.

“In our DMs there are people with questions every day,” she says. “Some of them are where we were a few years ago. You may think you need certain resources, but everything you need could be right in front of you. “

Bell’s Sweet Factory opens on October 17th at 2109 W. Parker Road, Suite 210 in Plano. In the meantime, the food truck drives in front of the upcoming restaurant from 12 noon to 5 p.m. on the weekend. During the same hours on weekdays, it can be found at 2600 K Ave. thebellssweetfactory.com.

A side of Sticky Mac ‘n Cheese photographed at the new Bells Sweet Factory in Plano, TX on October 1, 2021. (Jason Janik / Special Contributor)(Jason Janik / special article)

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