Sombonos began working at Dairy Den, which was his father’s restaurant located in Ridgeway, just south of South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg. He worked there for years earning only very little, but gaining a lot of knowledge and experience in running a restaurant. He flew to the United States in 1972 and that provided the spark for him to want to make his father’s business better. He tasted burgers, chicken and all sorts of fast food menu items looking for that perfect flavor they were missing out on in South Africa. He found what he was looking for in a restaurant that served chicken in Texas. It took a bit of convincing, but the restaurant-owner sold his recipe to Sombonos which made its way to Dairy Den’s kitchen without his father knowing it. This recipe change had a positive impact on the store’s sales, but instead of being rewarded by his father for his initiative, he was even reprimanded.
Dairy Den faced competition in the mid-70s in the form of Kentucky Fried Chicken which had finally planted roots in South Africa. Though the father and son team did not see eye to eye on how to run the business, they were able to make it work until the older Sombonos died in 1980. The following year, George Sombonos formed a new company. One of his waiters suggested the name Chicken Licken, and the rest, as the cliché goes, is history. Today, Chicken Licken is the 2nd largest brand in South Africa’s fast food industry.