After long dreaming about owning a restaurant together, Dr. Maya Johnstone and Dr. Kala Johnstone opened FoodChasers Kitchen in Elkins Park, where they’re serving up the menu they’ve been dreaming of.

“From the moment our doors opened, we’ve been hamsters on a wheel but it has truly been a blessing,” co-owners Maya and Kala said. “When people ask, ‘How is it going?’ We reply, ‘We are living our dream.’”

The pair were both school principals in Philadelphia before retiring last year.

However, they didn’t believe two school teachers could ever open a restaurant, so for years, it simply remained a dream.

During that time, they faithfully watched Food Network and would travel to restaurants around the nation.

“We would text food pictures to our family and friends. Our friends and family encouraged us to start a social media page to show others our ‘food finds,’” the pair said. “Thus, FoodChasers on Instagram was born. We quickly gained a large following. People loved that there was an account that made it easy to find food.”

After some time, their followers started asking for catering services, and they loosely catered. Then, when the pandemic happened, their catering services really picked up.

This allowed Maya and Kala to finally make the jump and pursue their dream of opening a restaurant.

“It’s not easy to categorize our menu,” Maya and Kala said. “Yes, we serve breakfast and lunch but our number one seller for breakfast is French Toast topped with Fried Shrimp tossed in our housemade Spicy Honey Sauce. Our top lunch seller is our Salmon Cheesesteak with garlic cheese and a seafood seasoning mayonnaise. Our Creamy Chicken Cheesesteak Jawn and Seafood Grits are also fan favorites.”

Check out FoodChasers Kitchen at its website or on Instagram.