Expansion made to order: Where the young owner of GJ Fish & Chicken is opening next

With a fryer full of business experience already bubbling behind the counter, 25-year-old Ali Modder is expanding his family’s restaurant business — scaling from South Kansas City, across to the state line, to what soon will be a sixth location for the popular GJ Fish & Chicken.

“My father was satisfied with the one restaurant, but if people like it, let’s open more locations,” Modder said of his expansion push and a menu that boasts a wider range of food than its name suggests.

After opening a fifth GJ Fish & Chicken restaurant in Midtown just weeks ago — inside the freestanding former Haha’s Kebabs building at 204 W. 39th St. — Modder is set to debut his next fried chicken spot in a strip center at 808 N. Ridgeview Road in Olathe.

Scheduled to open by mid-November after renovation work, the business takes the place of the former casual Latin American restaurant Santana’s Sazon.

A to-go order from GJ Fish & Chicken; photo by Joyce Smith

GJ’s menu is famous for includes wings, tenders, thighs, legs, breast, chicken livers, chicken gizzards, shrimp, cod, catfish, tilapia, perch, swat, and whiting.

“We are known for our lemon pepper,” Modder said, noting some customers find the seasoning particularly addicting. “People put it on everything.”

The young restaurateur’s burger was such a hit with his friends, he added that to the menu using 100% grass-fed beef. Cheesesteaks are a recent addition.

His GJ operations also sell chicken sandwiches, fish sandwiches, smashburgers, and desserts including carrot cake, strawberry cheesecake, and banana pudding. Sides include cheese fries, spaghetti, coleslaw, barbecue baked beans, cauliflower, tater togs, fried mushrooms, okra and onion rings.

“Some customers eat at GJ’s once a day, some twice a day,” Modder said. “So we wanted to offer different items so they don’t get burned out.”

Cooked-to-order items can take 15 to 30 minutes, so customers need to be patient, he noted. Or they can call in first to order. GJ also offers family-sized orders and catering.

“No warmers, no freezers, no preservatives,” Modder said. “The chicken is fresh. I get deliveries or pick them up three times a week.”

Originally from Pakistan, the GJ name pays homage to his family’s hometown of Gulistan-e-Johar.

“It’s a reminder of where we came from, one of the poorest and most dangerous places — so bad we couldn’t go outside. Falling asleep to gunshots,” said Modder, who didn’t even speak English when they emigrated. “But my parents taught me to focus on the positive, not outside energy. To focus on your mind, body and health, and be humble and selfless. They set an example more than saying it.”

Colorful signage inside the GJ Fish & Chicken location at 204 W. 39th St. in Kansas City; photo by Joyce Smith

Building on his father’s lessons

Modder began learning about entrepreneurship early — even before moving to the United States.

As a preteen, he eavesdropped on his father’s business dealings while playing Minecraft, he said. (The elder Modder built a successful manufacturing operation in Pakistan.) Later, as a 12-year-old living in Kansas City, he finally got firsthand experience.

Ali Modder stands outside the GJ Fish & Chicken location at 204 W. 39th St. in Kansas City; photo by Joyce Smith

The family had opened the original GJ at 6807 Longview Road, in 2014. At the time, the whole strip center where the restaurant debuted was struggling, Modder said, noting it had just one customer on its first day.

Not long after, the younger Modder was suspended from school when another student said something derogatory about his mother, he recalled, leading to a shoving match in the bathroom. His father used that short stint away from classes to put him to work in his GJ Fish & Chicken in South Kansas City.

“I got paid zero dollars,” Modder said. “But I was the kid upselling. Customers would come in and want five wings and I was ‘Are you sure you don’t want a combo?’”

By high school, he was working three jobs — at Chipotle, Life Time fitness center and as a detailer at Bob Allen Ford (and later one of its youngest salesmen before COVID-19 brought much of the economy to a halt).

During the pandemic, he ventured behind-the-scenes on music videos in Los Angeles, filling in for some professionals who were holed up safely in their homes.

He then moved to Arizona where his best friend’s father taught him daytrading. He made enough to return to Kansas City with some funds to expand GJ.

Once back, Modder worked at the Longview Road location for two more years, much like a management trainee, he said, “learning every little thing I could from my father.”

He’s steadily opened new GJ locations since then, using his savings and creating separate LLCs for each one. As Modder built up equity, he would open another, forgoing loans.

His first new spot was on Truman Road. Modder printed 400 flyers featuring the menu and ran down the street, handing them out to potential customers and introducing himself. He still has a philosophy of meeting everyone he can.

But he closed that location after just a couple of years. It was in a high-crime area that he had trouble staffing, Modder said, worrying when his mother was behind the counter. Adding to the equation, the neighborhood was relatively low income — so even though Modder considered GJ’s prices to be low, he said, many locals still couldn’t afford to eat there.

“That was my first baby, starting from scratch, first rodeo,” he said. “I learned location is the No. 1 thing for a restaurant. Even too far into the strip mall might not be good.”

The restaurant storefront for GJ Fish & Chicken location at 204 W. 39th St., featuring artwork by Mia Tobin of Mia Tobin Art; photo by Joyce Smith

Giving the brand colorful flavor

In early 2024, Modder opened a freestanding St. Louis location, along a road with a lot of chicken competitors.

“‘I gained so much weight trying every place, what their sauces were like, their employees,” he said.

Then he opened GJ at 12005 E. 47th St., at Blue Ridge Boulevard, in September 2024, and another in late 2025 at 7704 State Ave. in Kansas City, Kansas.

When Modder opened the Midtown location on 39th Street this fall, the site came with its own parking lot, but was so dreary inside he knew he needed to give the restaurant a boost.

So he brought in Mia Tobin of Mia Tobin Art to create a family-friendly vibe (and soon “chicken wings” on the side of the building for selfie photo op).

“All of my artwork is very colorful, I use a lot of three dimensional elements, bright and happy and fun to catch your eye,” Tobin said.

Her first commercial piece was a chicken mural at the GJ in Kansas City, Kansas. She’s built on that assignment and is now a full time commercial artist.

Tobin also will brighten up the next GJ location in Olathe, she said.

Keeping the family competitive

Modder doesn’t advertise the business, relying instead on word-of-mouth to build the operations. But he might start building more of a social media platform as he continues its expansion, he said.

He considers some local competitors good friends and knows some consumers are going to be Team GJ, while others are, say, Team Luna’s Chicken N Seafood, or Team J’s Fish & Chicken.

“Competition can be good,” he said. “I don’t care if I have a smaller profit margin if I have good quality.”

The keys to a successful operation, he said, lie in his emphasis on quality, as well as consistency, timing, giving people respect, and getting it back.

Modder travels to each metro location nearly daily; a self-driving Tesla allows him to use the time for business calls.

His five locations have a total of about a dozen employees including his parents, sister and an aunt.

“If employees see you working hard, they work harder,” Modder said. “I thank every one of them before I leave. I’m thankful they are there, showing up and helping.”

He plans to open three more area GJ locations, then perhaps he will create a new concept from scratch.

“The world is your oyster, you can create whatever you want,” Modder said. “If you asked me eight years ago, I would have been like I don’t know where I will end up. But it is amazing to see where it started from and where it came to.”