MILWAUKEE — Sandra Robinson and her only child, Shatoia Robinson, are sharing a new take on egg rolls with Milwaukee.
They opened Ready to Roll inside Crossroads Collective, the food hall located on the corner of North and Farwell Avenues.
Their egg rolls mix culture and tradition. They offer different fillings like chicken philly, buffalo chicken and collard greens. They also offer some vegan fillings, such as their italian beef and mongolian beef and broccoli. They hand roll every single one.
It’s the brainchild of Shatoia Robinson, who grew up in Milwaukee. She said she started pursuing her passion for cooking while living and working in Chicago. She opened her own food truck business there, but she said her goal was always to build her business back in her hometown.
“My inspiration really comes from my culture and family,” said Shatoia Robinson. “Just learning how to cook in the kitchen with all the women in my family, and seeing how food makes people so happy, and it’s so universal. I love the fact that you can use food as a tool to build community and bring people together.”
Sandra Robinson couldn’t be prouder to work alongside her daughter.
“I’ve waited my entire life for this,” said Sandra Robinson. “I have wanted to work with Shatoia for so long. Being able to have this opportunity — it means the world to me.”
Sandra Robinson’s background is in local radio.
“Watching my mother wake up every single day and go after her dreams with such tenacity and such passion, it’s always been my inspiration,” said Shatoia Robinson. “I’ve always wanted to be just like her, so now I get to do that, and do it with her.”
Shatoia and Sandra Robinson navigate the kitchen seamlessly together because they’ve had years of practice.
“Working in the kitchen has just been a natural thing for us because that’s where we’ve always hung out,” said Sandra Robinson. “I don’t care about how much space we had in the house, everybody ended up in the kitchen.”
They said they look forward to working in the kitchen together for years to come and creating more unique flavors to share.
To learn more about the business, you can follow @ReadytoRoll_Eggrolls on Instagram.. They hand roll every single one.