An East Kilbride snack bar has taken TikTok by storm with their wonderfully creative food items and charismatic owner behind the counter.
Ron's Quality Snax is renowned in the new town, however, it now has a whole new fan base after going viral on the social media platform. Face of the business, Ron McClure, has owned arguably Scotland's most famous snack bar for 32 years and it has remained on the same site since it first threw open the doors in 1991.
The 72-year-old told Glasgow Live: "I was made redundant from the company I worked for 32-years-ago and I decided to go out on my own. I opened the snack bar on July 1, 1991. It started off small and grew into what it is today.
"The business has always been getting bigger and when that happens you need bigger premises. My first snack bar was 7ft by 4ft a very, very small vehicle and now I am in a much bigger premises today."
READ MORE: Low Emission Zone vehicle checker launched ahead of Glasgow enforcement
With costs increasing and the pandemic damaging a number of businesses, Ron was open to new ways to promote his tasty treats.
Little did he know that one video posted on TikTok would put a smile on millions of faces across the globe - and turn him into somewhat of a local celebrity.
He explained: "I knew about TikTok and I wasn't particularly keen on it, I wasn't even keen on Facebook.
"My generation isn't into modern technology, I know we should be and we're trying to develop along with it.
"My grandson said to me 'papa, if you want extra business go onto TikTok'. I told him I didn't like doing it but he persuaded me.
"I did some food prep and a dish for TikTok, he posted it and it just snowballed. I couldn't believe it, we put it on at 2pm Saturday and on Saturday night my phone was dinging every two seconds.
"That night I had a quarter of million views and by Sunday morning I had half a million. On Tuesday it was one million then it shot up to 1.3million.
"My grandson got me into it and now he might be looking for a bonus."
The TikTok account boasts nearly 26,000 followers and the videos usually garner well over 200,000 views. His tutorial on how to make a New York Chicken sub has been viewed over 1.3million times.
Now the snack bar owner has become somewhat of a celebrity in East Kilbride, with people recognising him from social media and customers travelling from as far as Dundee just to sample his food, which he finds completely baffling.
Ron said: "I went down the town centre a couple weeks ago and some young lads stopped me and wanted to do a selfie.
"It was quite funny actually. It's ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous.
"I was only doing it to improve my sales but I'm now being recognised. We were already well known in East Kilbride but now we are getting customers from further afield.
"Customers are coming from Hamilton, Stirling, Bellshill and Bathgate. They aren't passing by they are purposely coming here to get the food which is good.
"It has really accelerated the business."
Ron's Quality Snax isn't your run of the mill snack bar frequented by lorry drivers, it boasts a wide variety of different options, including a colossal 10 egg omelette.
It also has a number of 'man vs food' challenges which constantly change. Ron now looks at TikTok as a way he can not only promote the business but also show why his snack bar is so unique and loved.
He said: "I want them to see how the items are made and how fast I can cook it.
"Our Boston belly-buster is the signature dish which started 32-years-ago. A lorry driver came to the snack bar and asked what can I have in a roll.
"I showed him the menu and he said he wanted something that was going to burst his belly.
"It's a roll with square sausage, beef burger, bacon with no fat, fried egg and a fried potato scone. When I was in America I heard of these places called McDonalds and Wendy's but I'd never seen this place called Subway before.
"I saw these big rolls and I thought that was an idea.
"So I think I was the first in Scotland to do subs 32 years ago before they ever came to the UK."
READ NEXT:
Train passenger praised after refusing to give up seat for 'entitled' passenger
Low Emission Zone vehicle checker launched ahead of Glasgow enforcement
MSP vows to take Flamingo Land to court if Loch Lomond waterpark plans green lit
Inspirational Dad takes on series of crazy challenges after mum's death
Glasgow schoolboy left stranded after being refused entry onto First Bus over washed ticket
