Emack & Bolio's
Dining · 53+ locations · NYC, Boston, Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Manila
A Boston music lawyer's basement ice cream project now runs more shops in Asia than in America. The company owns only its Boston-area shops and franchises the rest, with no outside investor on record.
The Big Picture
Emack & Bolio's grew from a Brookline basement to more than fifty shops, most of them in Asia, without ever taking outside capital. Almost all of those shops belong to independent franchisees, which means pay and conditions are set shop by shop with no published company-wide standard. Founder Bob Rook's family still runs the company, and it answers to them rather than to investors.
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Explore all diningCompany data last updated August 2026
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