The California Restaurant Association Foundation (CRAF) has named Anil Yadav as one of the state’s two winners of the 2018 Faces of Diversity Award, CRAF announced today.

The winners were recognized at the California Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Day at the Capitol on April 24.

Yadav’s story is a classic tale of someone who pulled himself from an entry-level job to the very top of the restaurant industry. He has gone from being a fry cook at a Jack in the Box in 1984 – a skill he can teach to this day – to being the country's largest operator of the same restaurant concept.

Yadav emigrated from India to America in 1981 when he was 17 years old in the hopes of a better education and life. With his family, he lived in a small, two-room house in San Francisco.

He soon went to work for a Jack in the Box restaurant on El Camino Real, just three blocks from his house, where he landed a position as a fry cook making tacos. Over time, Yadav was promoted to better fryer positions, then to team leader, assistant manager, and finally, restaurant manager of the same store.

In 1989, he applied and was accepted to be a franchisee with Jack in the Box, and with help from his friends and family, was able to purchase that same restaurant, Jack #516, in San Francisco.

Today, Yadav, who is still based in the Bay Area, owns 221 Jack in the Box locations in Northern California and Texas. He is a majority owner, with his partner Ali Morovat, in the Jack in the Box restaurants in Lake County.

He now also owns and operates 75 TGI Friday's, 37 Denny's, 10 El Pollo Locos, nine Corner Bakery Cafés and five Sizzler locations.

He leads his empire with an open-door policy and an emphasis on doing the right thing, being honest, and working hard. His motto is, “You only get lucky if you do things right.”

In addition to running his vast business, Yadav helps countless others through his partnerships with Denny’s “No Kid Hungry” campaign, Jack in the Box’s “Blessings in a Backpack,” the March of Dimes, and Big Brothers/Big Sisters. In addition, he contributes to a program of international broadcaster Univision to provide scholarships to high-achieving Hispanic students.

“Anil exemplifies the spirit of this award, and we are thrilled to name him as a recipient,” CRAF Executive Director Alycia Harshfield said. “From his humble roots to overseeing the vast organization that he does today, he inspires greatness.”

In addition, Yadav is a national recipient of this award by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation.

The restaurant and foodservice profession is one of the most diverse in the United States. Restaurants employ more minority managers than any other kind of business. Women represent 55 percent of the restaurant workforce, and more than a fourth of all foodservice managers are foreign-born.

The Faces of Diversity Awards program honors individuals in the restaurant community who have realized the American dream through hard work, determination and enterprise.