April 4, 2025 • 39 mins
We have the CEO of Lin's Restaurant Group, Jason Lin joining us on the pod. He's the owner of some of the hottest Asian restaurants in Fresno, including Lin's Fusion, Spicy J's, Ramen Hayashi, Hino Oishi, just to name a few. We talk about a life of a restauranteur and a sneak peek of new spots he'll be opening in town.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Just could give me part podcast. I'm John Magic. That's Gizzo.
We are back.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
We got a special guest with us today, CEO of
Lyn's Restaurant Group, some of your favorite restaurants, Lyn's Fusion,
he Oishi, Spicy Jays. Welcome to the podcast, Jason Lynn.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
What's going on? Jason?
Speaker 4 (00:28):
How you doing? Guys? Thank you for having me today.
Pleasure to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
It's been a long time coming. I've been wanting to
do this podcast with you for a long time because
we've known each other for a lot of years now.
You've actually done business with our radio station and our
company for a few years now too, and we just
it's been a long time coming to get you in
here and talk about your story and your amazing restaurants.
(00:51):
And I know, Magic, you've been a former restaurant owner yourself,
and I know you got some questions.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yeah, definitely a lot because we ended up selling our
my restaurant with my business partners, and I guess we
could kind of start right there is do you feel
like people really need to be about this life to succeed,
because in my situation, it was just a bunch of
friends that we're like, yeah, let's put our money together
(01:17):
and let's open a restaurant. And to me, I think
to be successful, you have to be about this life.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
Definitely, Definitely. You have to enjoy what you do, wake
up excited to go in your restaurant and just do
your thing, and you gotta have passion for it. It's
got to be your love because if not. This is
the only business that I've been since right out of
high school. And I don't know much about any other businesses,
but this business, I feel like you have to be
(01:44):
fully committed and give it all your awe. And because
it can be so very very detail oriented from you're
dealing with it's a people business. You're dealing with.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
It's a hospitality business, right.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Yeah, exactly. You're not only dealing with the customers our
guests are clientel's, but you're also dealing with your employees,
our team members that you're having, our managers, and that's
a lot of people. And you got to be a
people person. And I have kind of slowly grown into that.
That's what kind of going back to what Jesus was
talking about, you know, it kind of took me a
while to kind of break out of my comfort zone
(02:18):
and come in here and talk with you guys, because
I'm not I'm not a great people person, but I'm
slowly getting into it because dealing with working with people
and with our customers and more interactions. So try to
be less nervous when things like this. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeah, So but let me let me take you back
to when I first met Jason, because this reminds me
of what he's just saying about fully being in it.
So the first time I met Jason is when I
went to you know what we see. This was probably
like the first year it was open, and I was
at tapping' Yaki and Jason was our cooks, our taping yockey. Yeah,
and this is my first time. So he's asking you
(02:54):
the classic questions, it's your first time here? Have you
ever been into any other Tapping Yackey spots? And I'm
somebody that I like to engage with the Tepping Yackey chefs.
I know some people are like really boring, but I
like what they do. And so Jason was like really
cool and I was like, I was a really good chef.
It was a good experience. I really liked this place.
I went back maybe a month later or something, and
I saw Jason again, but he was kind of looking
(03:16):
like he was wearing like a manager shirt. I was like, oh,
look at the cook for our cook last time. Good
for him. It looked like he moved up to like
manager or something like that. Right, And then I would
go in there often because honestly it's one of my
favorite spots. Side note, we had he know Oishi as
our top five restaurants in Fresno. We both did.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
So anyway, so I'd go back all the time and
I would see Jason here and there, and I'd be like, Okay,
this is interesting, like he's a manager. And I think
it was one of your employees or something that told
me like, no, he's the owner. And I was like,
I was mind blown because he was cooking for us.
I've seen him back there making sushi. I've seen him sweeping, mopping,
like you you couldn't tell this dude who was the
owner because he is just invested. And I always thought
(03:58):
that was really cool.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Sonumber one that makes I'm mind blown because there's there's
so many there I want to unpackage, but the whole
thing about cooking and you saw see him doing this,
yeah at my restaurant I was the dish I washed
dishes and also prep the food, you know, did the cutting.
So I understand that part. But wait, we're at that time.
(04:21):
Were you just because there was no cook so you
were cooking?
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Or once in a while. Back back then when I started,
you know, I only had run restaurant, so I was
there more often, and when we are short staff or
they're on break, I would fill in and cook. You know,
funny story, when I first started my first stepping Yaki
restaurant in in Annapolis, Indiana, I would manage and I
would funny is, during the break time, when everybody's on break,
(04:47):
I had to serve a customer and then kind of
like jump into like a phone booth, come out and
my chef uniform style cook for them. And then if
I have to cook in the kitchen, you know, you know,
I always tell my managers, is there, if there's anything
that you expect your team members to do, you should
be able to and you should be willing to do so.
So I cooked and I really enjoy it. That's how
(05:08):
I started to fall in love with the food business.
Started off as a tepeyaki chef nice right out of school,
and it really helps me get to know my customers.
And I really enjoy cooking. So funny story was last
night I actually cooked for a influencer that we invited
them to come in. Her name is Lauren, She's great.
(05:28):
Her Instagram name is like Choso fun or something like that,
and she did, Uh. I cooked for their family. Yeah,
and I was really happy that I haven't touched the
spatchal I would say over a year and I didn't
break anything, hurt anything burning me once. It came out good.
And if you check out our instagram out for you
know issue, you'll see that. Soon people they'll expect me
(05:48):
to be cooking and they'll be surprised and yeah, sometimes
they'll be like, oh, can we get the other chef
we had and then they'll then they'll let them know
who I was and things like that. I don't see
myself being any special from my chefs and my managers.
You know, I'm just one of them, you know, just
have wear a lot of more hats.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
I mean, can we start from the beginning there, because
I'm assuming this was a this was a family thing
that you kind of but was this or you said
out of high school you started.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Yes, so my parents always had and my brother had
Lyn's Fusion. So I was in the restaurant business growing up.
My dad immigrated from China, and when I was six
years old, I moved to He moved us to Tennessee
and we're in the little town and they had It's
one of those times where you have a couple of
Chinese families and a couple of Chinese restaurants and we
(06:34):
were one of them, and and that, and then I
grew up in that business. When I moved to California
in middle school, I went to Fort Millers in seventh grade.
And then when I got a little bit older, around
high school time, I started cooking at Lyn's Fusion when
it even when it was called New China Buffet. I
remember that, yes, that would be you know, I wouldn't
even be barely tall enough, but I would have to
(06:54):
grab like the longs bachelors a little bit closer so
I have enough power to cook that big batch of
chammaine and fight rice and things like that. That's how
I started cooking. But what really got me in cooking
at a younger age, when I was left with my
brother at home where my parents always working, and we
had to kind of cook our own food. And then
during that that age, I want to learn, I want
to cook better. And then uh, instead of watching you know,
(07:15):
food Network, I was, I mean, instead of watching cartoon Network,
watching food Network back in the day, you know, and
just fell in love with it and kept doing one
of my one of my dream when I was a
child was number one, being a basketball player, but my
height and my skills didn't let me do that, right,
But then h and the other one was to be
like a like a celebrity chef or something. So I
(07:37):
guess the closest thing I got to that was being
a restaurant owner. So I'm really happy that I'm in
a career that I love to do. You know, So
no culinary school, this is all so culinary school. This
is all self learning and also just learning on the job,
learning from learning from my dad, my parents, and then
(07:58):
my uncles that are in the restaurants. And I got
a lot of experience from hopping around different restaurants that
I worked at, and also just really being interested in it, looking,
watching and learning and then experimenting, and uh, you get
your you know, your your mistakes that you make and you.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Learn Okay, So you know Len's Fusion has been a
staple in Fresno that location for a really long time. Buffet.
It's a really great restaurant. It was a remodeled a
few years back. Yes, so what was the next move?
As you know when you were working at Lens, what
happened next? Did did he know come about or one
(08:33):
of those plans start coming?
Speaker 4 (08:34):
So? After so I was I went to Bullard High
School and after that that's Bullard. Yes, after that I
went to uh my dad was like, hey, if you're
not going to school going to college, maybe you should
start working. And he really pushed me to work. Not
very long after, I became a tepa yaki chef, and
with my background and my my skill set, I was
(08:57):
able to move up fairly quickly.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
But you went, so you left your dad, your parents'.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Business, left my parents' business.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Oh, were you at some restaurants out here? Learn in
or so?
Speaker 4 (09:06):
The first Tepeanyaki restaurant I entered that and learned was
called Osaka in uh Cedar, Rapids, Iowa. And after that
I went to Santa Rosa, California, and I worked as
a tappanyaki chef and not very long. I became the
head chef because they needed someone to run the show.
And out there a restaurant called Heikooney. And after that,
my dad, I guess he believed in me, and I
(09:28):
think that's what really kind of pushed me to open
my first restaurant. So I went back to help at Osaka.
When I was over there and see the rapids, my
dad's like, hey, your uncle wants heard about, you know,
one to do Teppanyaki. He wants to open a Japanese restaurant.
And and at first I was like, okay. I was
very young age, I was pretty ambitious. I was like, sure,
sounds good. Let's let's look into it, you know, so
just just talking about it. And next thing, you know,
(09:50):
a couple of months later, I was like, hey, your
uncle found a spot. And I was like, oh wow,
that's quick. And then I was telling my dad. You know,
one night I was kind of thinking about it to myself.
I was like, if I'm ready, I told him, you know,
maybe we can just wait it all a little bit
and maybe get more more more experience and things like that.
He's like, I think you could do it. You got
to push yourself sometime and then he pushed me a
(10:11):
little bit to get into it, and then we did it.
It was it was differently a learning experience, and I
was fortunate and I was blessed at with my dad
and my uncle's guidance and with even though we made
a lot of mistakes and ran and learned a lot
of things. But at a very young age, I was
working pretty much like two years straight without having a
full day off the time I had no if I'm
(10:32):
had I was single. The only times I would be
off would be the one when the restaurants would close
in between the midday and I'll run to the gym
and hang out a little bit at the gym and
come back. And for the first year I went off
like half day and things like that. But first two
years I never had any days off, and I enjoyed it.
I was there, it wasn't as busy, but when it
(10:54):
got busier then it's kind of needing more time off
and things like that.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Yeah, because this was kind of still in the beginning
when Campus Point was really starting to still build, right,
you know.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
Yes, So I had my restaurant in Indiana for about
five years. It started off not as great, but slowly
built up. That restaurant is called Zakaya. It's still existing
till today. I sold my shirt to my uncle and
I moved back to help my dad and my brother
in Fresno with Lynd's fusion when they remodeled. After I
(11:22):
came back to Fresno, I had been to some of
the restaurants in town and I felt like it needed
Fresno could use a Tempanyaki restaurant that was doing more
tricks and more interactive and can improve I think I
could do, you know, still being humble and everything, I
feel like we could do better Tippanyaki restaurant in town
and that. And then funny thing was I was at
(11:46):
playing a basketball at when they had Dan Gamble. This
was back in the day Gamble was there, and one
of the basketball players was actually an attorney in town.
He just we just started talking and he was like, Hey,
they're building a campus point and you guys should put
a restaurant over there. So I went to look into it.
My brother knew a broker, so I was really grateful
to meet the right people and the puzzles coming in place,
(12:07):
and we went to talk and we thought that was
a good spot and we started from there. We were
lucky because the space was actually already occupied. There was
going to be a Japanese restaurant, you know who it was,
really I don't think it was going to be Teppanyaki.
It was just like, if you have one Japanese restaurant,
you can't have another one due to exclusivity. So we
were lucky and they backed out and that gave us
(12:28):
an opportunity to go on there. So everything worked out well.
That's how I started, he know, Oishi and and Fresno.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
I mean on our end, when my business partners and
I put together our money. Financially, it was still tough.
It was still tough to build that capital and all
this was yours just based off your past restaurants. Was
it easy for you to open new ones that financially?
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Definitely not. Financially. It was a challenge because opening a
business in California for the first time, the expenses and
the costs was a lot higher. I would say it
was like forty percent highre what we were prepared for. Wow,
So we were we had to get loans, We had
to get family loans, loans to make it work. Yeah,
(13:15):
it was a challenge, but I think it only kind
of made us stronger, but it was. It was not
easy at all, especially for a sixty five sixty five
hundred square for your restaurant, and all the equipment is
so costly.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Ours was so small, and compared to the giants that
you guys have over here. The big thing that happened
to us we were being We were successful. We opened
in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
By the way, I don't think you told them what
restaurant you kind of what kind of restaurant you had.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Yeah, we owned a Shabbu Shabou restaurant in La in
La La. Well, first we bought it off a former
owner and the name of the restaurant was after the
mom Yo Yogi, so it's called Yogi. And then we
bought it. We bought the we bought them out, and
we changed the name to Dip like Dip Shaboo Shaboo.
(14:04):
And it was just a u bar. It wasn't table seating,
it was a bar seating only. But twenty nineteen, man,
we were doing so well, like things were looking good.
I was just an investor because I lived here, but
every time I drove home, I loved working it. I
enjoyed learning about it, talking to the staff, teaching me
(14:27):
how to be a server. That was fun, learning how
to play everything. I enjoyed the restaurant business, but then
I would get sucked into the business part of it
with the money and scheduling.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
That was tough.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
So that's why that's why I was saying in the beginning,
you have to be about this life to be successful.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
I'm just a DJ.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Like it got too crazy for me. So we were successful,
but then the pandemic hit. I think that kind of
like definitely fucked us all. How did you get through
that time of getting shut down?
Speaker 4 (15:08):
That was definitely rough. That's a whole nother story itself.
You know, we had to shut down all the restaurants.
Long story short, we ended up me just me and
my couple, my brothers. We ended up doing takeout because
nobody was everybody was afraid to work. But we had
no choice because once everything shut down, we still have
bills coming in, We still had the payroll to take
(15:29):
care of and there was no help at that time,
so I had no choice. What I did was to
help Spicy Jy's what we did was we did tappanyaki
and sushi to Go, So we basically put a Tampa
yak grill inside the kitchen of Spicy J and when
they called would tell them would you mind picking up
at Spicy J. So we combined Spiccy JS and he
(15:52):
knows to Go because.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
I remember that, yeah, because I remember, like I was
doing some take out during that time, and I was like, wait,
I could get some food from he And.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
At that time SALJ needed some help with like getting
the name out and also doing takeout and stuff, and
I knew he knew it was gonna be popping because
they always did a really good job to go. So
we combined it and then eventually it was so it
was doing really well, and we slowly got so busy
we started bringing and when then things got a little
bit better. Yeah, we were bringing me in the sushi shares.
(16:22):
We were bringing in uh our managers to help, and
they were able to get a paycheck at that time,
and we were able to kind of get some make
some income for to take care of like the bills
and payroll and stuff. So it did really good for
three months, and then when they started opening back up,
we brought you know back and that really saved us
and that's in crucial moment. You gotta have a you know,
(16:43):
you gotta have the business mind, you gotta hustle.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Yeah, I think that's what fucked us up is shaboo shaboo.
We couldn't.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
That's not a takeout, Yeah, it's an experience dining.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
So that that messed us up. I mean, but we got.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Through it, and we we actually reopened, but it was
such a weird time where people weren't going out to
restaurants anymore, and I kind of want to get into
that where something that we dealt with with our restaurant
was Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and maybe even Thursday, hardly anyone's there.
But Friday, Saturday, Sunday it's packed right here in town.
(17:16):
With your restaurants, I feel like they're so popular, they're
always packed. Do you go through those like Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesdays slow and then definitely?
Speaker 4 (17:24):
Definitely, I think all the restaurants do. But I think
some of them are more fortunate locations. They don't drop
as much. Yeah, you know, some some drop like fifty
sixty percent, which is rough because you're still paying the rent,
the PG and E and your staff to be there
to work. But you're not you're barely making ends met
to cover all that. So it does get tough on
the weekdays, which is understandable because a lot of less
(17:47):
people eat out on the weekdays. You know, they got work,
they got things to do. But weekends is always busier.
But I think it's just being consistent and providing the experience.
And it's always a competition, but you know with other
restaurants too, because there's there's so many only so many
people eating out, but there's so many restaurants in places nowadays,
so it just got to be on top of your
(18:07):
game and do the best that you can and be
the best at a restaurant you can be to bring
in those people.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
What are some strategies you know, you don't have to
go through everything, but what are some strategies that made
your restaurants so popular in town?
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Like I think ICYJS, so he know, oh yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
Thank you. I think it has to be with not settling,
like not keeping up your your your quality. I think
it's very important because, like you know, the type of
state that we use from day one, we keep it
no matter how hard how high the prices get, like
during Christmas time, like New York will go up or
doing like for the July, like certain steak prices will
(18:43):
go up and flame mignon and things like that, but
we still use the same grades and quality. The portions
don't change. There's a lot of it can get real
technical when it comes to restaurant controlling your labor, controlling
your food costs, you know, day in and day out.
Yet it's something you have to admit every single day.
But some of the things that we are actually been
(19:04):
improving on and learning to do better is I think
marketing a lot. Before we would just rely on word
of mouth and the location itself, but now I know nowadays,
I think every restaurant's trying to get into being instagrammable,
having that presence right, and that's how we partner up
with B ninety five and iHeart and things like that,
(19:25):
and just getting the name out there, making sure that
everybody remembers us and just keep we do happy hours
and things like that and try to keep up with
the trend. Also keeping the menu more innovative and always
spending time on and never getting too comfortable because when
you have the same thing on the menu, people come back.
There's nothing new it You can get tired of it
(19:45):
and things like.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
That to kind of piggyback off that. Are there any
food trends you've embraced or resisted over the years.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
As far as like what exactly do you mean?
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Like it's certain like food, you know, things get popular
or desserts or you know that you see maybe out
there and you're just like I want to do that
at my restaurants, or you see something that's popular and
it's like, oh, that's just going to be kind of
a phase and I don't really want to get on
on that.
Speaker 4 (20:13):
Yes, we you know, we kind of got on a trend.
We had two roly rollies.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that.
Speaker 4 (20:20):
Yeah, so so that's something new that Rode ice cream
was very popular.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
But the strategy we went with, and there's a lot
of things that we didn't think about, was like it
was very seasonal. So it was very seasonal, and it's
also a luxury to pay for ice cream that it's
like ten bucks or so, yeah, it was seasonal, and
it's you only get that business during after school and
after dinner, so throughout.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
The whole day it's slow.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
It's slow, so it's inconsistent. So that was what's kind
of tough for us. And one thing too, because we
focus on making sure that whatever product we provide, it's
the best quality can be. Like a lot of other
ones that we looked into, we use like powder to
make the ice cream we had to make. We made
ours with straight milk cream, California milk cream and eggelk,
(21:08):
which is so expensive. Yeah, on top of the food
costs being expensive, every single ice cream had to be
handmade and it took a lot of staff and team.
So then that labor and the food costs adding up
and it being very seasonal. We unfortunately, we didn't do
very well. So we closed down to both of the
locations and one of them were actually coming up with
(21:29):
a new concept. Oh nice that we are working on.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
I mean, just to put it out there. I was
also a fan of really Rally, but I had seen
that it had kind of disappeared and I figured there
was something there that was just a tough business to
get into.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Yes, yeah, that's that's a great tip for you know,
if any business owners.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
He talked about.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
The ingredients of keeping things the same, because I think
that's that's something that we faced, Like for example, Enoki mushrooms.
We were buying them for like seventy five cents a bag,
you know, and then after the pandemic, it was like
four dollars like a bag and we had to get
rid of it. But it made our bowls different, like
(22:11):
everything changed. We we were looking for cheaper items. Obviously
we didn't want to do, but money wise, yeah, had
no choice.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
It's tough to be in that decision because do you
get the cheaper ingredient to keep your prices the same
or do you keep the quality and then you have
to raise pop absolutely and the piece people get mad
about that, you know.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
Right right. I think a lot of it is finding
that balance and looking at your numbers, what sells well.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
What people like.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
So we had like a eight hour meeting today and
just dissecting into our our our reports and seeing what
people like and what people don't like. And it's a
balance and you have to make that decision, and you
don't know what the outcome is until you make that decision.
And then you gotta see, like, did I make the
right decision by taking this off or it's something that
(22:58):
people like. Yeah, Yeah, It's definitely a lot of decision
making and it could be right or wrong.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
So yeah, yeah, Now you recently opened up your newest restaurant, Oiza,
right there at River Park and Fresno. I got to
experience that during your guys is like I don't know
what they call it, like soft openings, I guess, and
it was. It was really good. But I've heard that
the menu has changed a lot even since then, and
I haven't had a chance to go back in. How
how have things been in the customer response to that restaurant.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
To be honest, I'm really grateful that we've been really
uh fortunate that the market loves what they if you
what we have brought to Fresno. A lot of comments
we get is that they're surprised that they can find
this type of restaurant in Fresno.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Super elegant, great location, great quality.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
I have not yet to try it, but I attempted to,
but it was a two hour wait, so.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
I guess I was like, this is a lot hungry.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
You had to hit me up next time, and I
got we got you. But we are really happy with
the results because right now we are a four point
six on Google and four point seven on Yelp. Hugs
and that's the highest and weather or restaurants. And with
this restaurant being the latest one we open, and from
opening all the other restaurants previously, we have gained a
(24:19):
lot of experience and whether it's training, whether it's the
market and the food and and all of that has
been pretty much all the experience we learn have put
into Oeza. So we had a really good start.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
You learned something from all your restaurants.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
Right, Yes, we learn about the market, we learn about
the food, uh, and the and then the This is
a new venture that we kind of have to redevelop
all the menus. Uh. It was it was good. Everybody
really is enjoy it. The one thing that we're coming
out with the menu change is more lunch options. And
I feel like Fresnel or in general lunch nice fancy
(24:56):
or nice upscale restaurant doesn't do a lot of lunch.
So I want to to kind of bring that and
to work on that market because if I'm trying to
take out go to lunch, nice lunch or even meeting
or something like that, I think always we are able
to do other other places. They're nicer, they're always close
for lunch.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
So for the people that are not familiar with this
new always a spot. How would you how would you
describe this new restaurant.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Definitely, it's it's I consider like modern Japanese cuisine with
really really fresh fish and sushi. That's what the sushi
has been popping. It's been busy when.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
I had the sushi there, bro.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
Esthetically pleasing, like you eat with your eyes and you
can tell just the color of the vibrant color of
our fish. You can tell the freshness, bringing different things
like a five wagu beef bowl Marrowby and the shrim
is literally live in like a little tank in the
behind the sushi bar. So we have really really fresh sushi,
(25:59):
and we try to incorporate and be a little bit
more innovative when it comes to We have like we
took risotto and made it like a little bit of
Japanese version, using a dashi and kambu to make that,
and we do sea bass, we do ribbi. What's been
very popular is our habachi. It's just kind of like
similar to Heino tappeyaki, but we cook it in the
back and we use really really great quality and of rice,
(26:25):
different type of vegetables and broccolini and things like that.
To elevate it and people has been a big fan
of it. It is selling a lot, selling really good.
I think people don't think that we could. We do
a lot of to go, but are to go. It's
it's just as good as our dining. Like if they
come in and they get to go, if you don't,
if you don't, can't, don't have the time or pleasure,
(26:46):
it leads you to go out. You can bring it home.
It's just as beautiful, just as delicious.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Yeah. Has that affected you in any way at any
of your restaurants, because I've noticed, you know, since the pandemic,
there's been a lot of takeout orders. It seems to
be the new thing. Like people stopping in to eat
not so much and the whole pickup door dash, you know,
grub hub, that thing has been more popular. Are there
(27:11):
things that you're implementing to sort of you know, combat
that I know, like ram and hai Ashui for example.
You guys got that like that window that's right there
for pickup orders. Is that something else that you're implementing,
you know in your businesses?
Speaker 4 (27:26):
Yes? I think we always a lot of our business
do really good with door dash and all that, and
in the beginning when pandemic stopped, I think the dining
business was actually better than we expected because people was
tired of being at home.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Yeah, that's for sure.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
And going out is you know, people gather around food.
That's what food bringing people together. You're always there for
celebration anniversaries. Without food, you're just going to be sitting
and talking. Yeah. Yeah, So I think the dining and
the to go it's a good balance. It's an experience, yes,
and we want that takeout and that dining, that to
(28:03):
go business, but the dining is what brings people together.
And they still and Fresno, I feel like there's not
a lot to do. They're coming in to have a
great dinner and have that experience, especially when you have
like a little bit of table side cooking and something
new like jpie that hot pots isn't in front of you.
It just makes it more fun, you know. And that
hasn't affect us much. We would in good both aspects
(28:25):
of it.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Nice with your personal life, what are you eating out
or what are you cooking or eating at home?
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Because you're around your restaurants.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
When I was at my restaurant, I loved eating our
stuff all the time, I was like, I'm gonna eat this,
but what are you eating in your personal life?
Speaker 4 (28:41):
We eat a little bit at everything. A majority of
the food that we eat is like Chinese family style.
So we'll cook some rice, make some meat entrees, and
then make some vegetables. You know, when I have the time,
I try to go home and cook for the family.
When we have gatherings and stuff like that, I do
most of the cooking. So we cook at bunch of
all different foods. Once once in a while, will do
(29:01):
hot pot, sometime we'll do cream barbecue. Sometimes we'll cook
up some noodles or pan fried stuff and things like that.
Majority of agent for once in a while we'll cook
up some steak, some barbecue and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
How are you balancing your personal life with the business life?
Like you said, you're you're in this, this is your life.
You're passionate about it, but you have to have a
personal life too.
Speaker 3 (29:22):
A lot of basketball, right, balancing.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
That just uh, you know, doing what I enjoy. I
think another thing is uh, you know, working out and
balance that that kind of gives my release my stress
for me also being with the family going uh, you know,
my daughters and dance and going to dance competitions, my
sons in basketball, going to UH basketball competitions and games
like that, tournaments outside of town. You got to have
(29:46):
that balance because I think at the end of the day,
the most important thing is you know, family in your
in your life, because that's what kind of feel feels
you to do even better at work. So even my
my team, my managers always let them know, you know,
you gotta have a rest. You got to get that
life and work balance, because weren't it for the for
me at least, we're in it for the long run,
so we got to keep going. You know, you don't
(30:07):
want to you don't want to bring yourself out that.
It's not easy. It's not easy.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Yeah, I know. You say you grew up watching like
the Food Network. I'm a fan of like a lot
of those shows. Do you have a favorite celebrity chef
for somebody that you always like to watch.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
When I was younger, it was like Emerald Lagatzi, Yeah,
Marimoto and Iron Iron Chef and things like that, Bobby Flay,
There's a lot of different chef and and when I
was working in Santa Rosa, that's when Guy Fieri's from
Santa Rosa and that's when he was getting popular. And
their personalities. I really enjoyed them. But a lot of
(30:41):
it is I pick up a lot from watching those shows,
all the really techniques and things like that.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
So wow, yeah, I think that's watching those Food Network
challenges kind of like where I learned how to chop
like my knife.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
I'm not good at it, but I could you know.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Chops just watch watching it. Speaking of celebrities, is there
any stories I could random? Celebrities are always in town?
Have you ever met any any stories where celebrities came
to your restaurant?
Speaker 4 (31:12):
That's a great question right off the top of my head.
I'm sure there is.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Don't you have a Steph Curry jersey in one of
your restaurants?
Speaker 4 (31:19):
Yeah, but I just got that auction.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
I know, like was always here a lot of NBA boys.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
I mean I was restaurants that count.
Speaker 4 (31:31):
Yeah, we have a I have a couple of Buddy
Greg Smith, he used to play an NBA He comes
into a restaurants. I'm sure there is. There was a
I can't remember. There was a Hispanic artist that was
very popular that came uh and performed and went to
heo and everybody was taking pictures of him, and there's
a couple, but you know, I think, I think not
(31:51):
not the too many that I can remember right off
the top of my head.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
All right, this is the Okay, So this is the
final thing that's on my list that I wanted to cover.
There's so I'm originally from la but I've been living
here for twenty years, so this is basically.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
Home for me.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
There's two two styles of restaurants that I that I
think would work here in town. Well one is one
is more it's it's a it's a chain back in l.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
A okay, but it's Yoshinoya. I don't know if you're
familiar Yosha with.
Speaker 4 (32:19):
The quick casual Japanese type.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Of For me, I believe if Yoshanoya was here, it
would work for a franchise or if someone opened a
similar style like that would work.
Speaker 4 (32:31):
Taky bulls and you do.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
And yeah, simple yep.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
And then my style of restaurant, I don't know if
there's a shabboo legit shabu shaboo restaurant.
Speaker 4 (32:42):
So you you it's funny you mentioned so we are
working on one and we started construction and it's going
to be a legit Shabu shaboo and with waggy beef
and the hot pop right in front of you. Oh
yeah that, and it's going to be located right across
from you know Ishi, it's the previous Wayside Noodle space. Yeah,
(33:04):
so we.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Are If you need consulting, I'm familiar with this. I'll
be consultant.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Wow, that's cool.
Speaker 4 (33:10):
We got to pick your brain.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
Yeah, that was actually gonna be a question. I asked
if you know some of the other restaurants you were
looking to open or were are you moving Heino or expanding?
Speaker 4 (33:19):
Yes, Oh, we are moving and expanding Heino, and hopefully
it'll be.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
That place is already big as it is.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
You're it's packed all the time, man, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
I think I was just there last week. I think
for lunch.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
Yeah, we were there January for my birthday for sure.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
But I think the one thing is our kitchen is
really small. Oh yeah, so yes, so this place is
gonna be quite quite big, bigger and our kitchen sometimes
we got our team members. We got about forty fifty
people working on a busy day, you know, so it's
really crowded and it can be a hazard sometimes and
it's limited us to to be the best that we
(33:56):
can be as a restaurant. We couldn't do door dash.
We have to give to our weights things like that.
And the longest way we ever had was like three
and a half hours on Mother's Day. And we can't
take larger parties or reservations when it's holidays. So this
new that we're building, it's right on the on the
coda sack of chestnut, right there, across from the Bulldog Shop.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
It's going to be so kind of it's still on
campus point.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
Yes, I didn't want to move too far. I want
it to be right there because we already have that following.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
But you're going to close this one then, no, sir.
Speaker 4 (34:26):
Oh we've got some coming for you. And it's going
to be Korean barbecue.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
Oh that's another one we could use. I know there's
some other spots.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
Well well I'm not gonna know. I'm not just sing
any the ones that are here, but there.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
There could be some better ones here.
Speaker 4 (34:44):
Jason's here to stay, Yes, I'm you know, it's been
on my it's been on my mind. It's been on
my list for years, you know, and you know this
is a perfect opportunity because I didn't want the previous
infrastructure of the restaurant build out already to go to
wat Yeah, okay, I can still use the hood. We
still got the bathrooms, use a kitchen, our bars, real
(35:04):
nice already. So we're just gonna, you know, remodel on
the inside and once we move over. So it's a
one way. It's a great center. It's gonna be growing
and getting bigger and more stuff. The new Heno, Now
that's gonna be something that is very very it's gonna
be very exciting. It's gonna be sixteen thousand square feet.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (35:25):
So we're gonna have twenty tepanyaki grills.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Wow, we're gonna do this.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
I don't know if you guys heard of Omakase. So
we have a little area in the back, very exclusive
for Omakase that was only we'll probably do one or
two seatings a night, and it's gonna be just ten
people right in front of the sushi chef.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Yeah, I'm familiar with the thank you. So it's a
small area and it's the chef. It's a certain menu.
This is what you're getting. Yeah, and only a few.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
People, like, only a few people and you eat what
they cook or USA okay yeah, or if.
Speaker 4 (35:57):
It's raw sushi then we don't even cook it.
Speaker 3 (35:59):
But that Wow, I can't Yeah, I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
Go go ahead.
Speaker 4 (36:03):
Yeah. And our new he know is going to have
twenty tip yaki grills. Wow. So we're pretty much have
all the state of the our equipment better for the exhaust,
you know. Always one thing I didn't like about tip
of yaki is I'll go in there and leave smelling
like bacon.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Right yeah.
Speaker 4 (36:19):
Yeah, So just hopefully with the new grills, they're they're better.
They don't have they have a down draft, and we
have twenty grills. We have four in the private room.
Our private room could be divided into in half and
they'll see twenty on one side and twenty on the
other side, so you'd be more private and you can
also have your own you have your own private restroom
in there. So it's gonna be in. Our bar is
(36:40):
going to be huge. So the bar, you know, that's
why people like to be out on the Yeah, it's
gonna see that about just a bar rail alone about
thirty people. Wow.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
So man, that's something that look, I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
That's a great thing to look forward to, Shabby Shaw,
New Cream Barbie spot on New Yeah wow, yeah you
want to run down all his spots again?
Speaker 2 (37:00):
I mean, he Knowshi Spicy Jay's, you got a j Pot.
We didn't even really get into Ramen Hayashi Len's Fusion
you got j T. Actually, I've been stopping in there
recently because you know, now that it's getting hotter, I've
been getting some some tea and some boba. Am I
missing anything Fusion.
Speaker 4 (37:21):
So our new Shabby spot is called Ichi Shabu. Okay,
that's our new shabby spot. And the one that we're
transforming from Roly Roly is going to be called Sushi Box.
It's a quick shadow sushi.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
Now you are you guys gonna do legit Shabby Shabby
because I know legit because people, you know, when they
talk about j Pot and they're like, oh, isn't that it?
Speaker 3 (37:42):
Like, no, isn't that Chinese?
Speaker 4 (37:44):
That's Jot, That mini hot pot is actually Taiwanese, Taiwanese.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
And then Shabby Sha a.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
Japanese hot pot right where the broth comes with nothing
in it?
Speaker 3 (37:54):
Yes, and then okay, so okay.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
So I actually never been to town Magic's restaurant, even
though you a lot of times now I get to
try to Jason.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
Yeah for sure.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
I mean, like I said, I love plating. I love
doing the plating and slicing the meat. So I'm familiar
with all that. So in case you know this radio
thing ends for me, I'm.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Call Jason there you go get a job.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Yeah, I mean the slice are all even washed dishes,
because I'm used to that too.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
But I'm looking forward to that.
Speaker 4 (38:23):
We have you guys come out when we do our
friends and family and have you guys taste it. And
last you know, we got we're gonna have like spicy
miso ton Katu broth and the shabby Shabu broth and
things like that. We're gonna have the Waguo beef Australia
and Japanese Wagou seafood and all that. So it's it's
a whole different experience.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
Yeah. So if you've been to you know, these restaurants
that we've mentioned, they're all under a lens a restaurant group,
And uh, that's probably why you're like, wow, that makes
sense because I like all these restaurants. Yeah, Jason, I
know you've taken these restaurants to the next level. Is
there any last thing that you want to say before
we like you go, because I know you're a busy man.
(39:01):
Uh you know, if you want to plug anything. I
know we talked about upcoming restaurants, maybe websites or Instagram
or anything like that.
Speaker 4 (39:08):
I think I just want to make a shout out
to my team, my managers, and everybody that made this possible.
It's my team that they're grinding every day in there.
I want to thank them, and I want to thank
the community for supporting us and coming out. Without them,
none of this will be possible. Then that's it.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
There you go, There you go.
Speaker 3 (39:24):
Is there gonna wait? Last thing for me? Is there
going to be sukiyaki broth?
Speaker 4 (39:27):
Yes, there is. You gotta have that sukiyaki that was our.
Speaker 3 (39:31):
Popular seller, our big seller.
Speaker 2 (39:33):
I'm excited.
Speaker 3 (39:34):
Yeah, I'm excited, and yeah, until next time.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
This could get me fire. Podcasts
Just could give me part podcast. I'm John Magic. That's Gizzo.
We are back.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
We got a special guest with us today, CEO of
Lyn's Restaurant Group, some of your favorite restaurants, Lyn's Fusion,
he Oishi, Spicy Jays. Welcome to the podcast, Jason Lynn.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
What's going on? Jason?
Speaker 4 (00:28):
How you doing? Guys? Thank you for having me today.
Pleasure to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
It's been a long time coming. I've been wanting to
do this podcast with you for a long time because
we've known each other for a lot of years now.
You've actually done business with our radio station and our
company for a few years now too, and we just
it's been a long time coming to get you in
here and talk about your story and your amazing restaurants.
(00:51):
And I know, Magic, you've been a former restaurant owner yourself,
and I know you got some questions.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yeah, definitely a lot because we ended up selling our
my restaurant with my business partners, and I guess we
could kind of start right there is do you feel
like people really need to be about this life to succeed,
because in my situation, it was just a bunch of
friends that we're like, yeah, let's put our money together
(01:17):
and let's open a restaurant. And to me, I think
to be successful, you have to be about this life.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
Definitely, Definitely. You have to enjoy what you do, wake
up excited to go in your restaurant and just do
your thing, and you gotta have passion for it. It's
got to be your love because if not. This is
the only business that I've been since right out of
high school. And I don't know much about any other businesses,
but this business, I feel like you have to be
(01:44):
fully committed and give it all your awe. And because
it can be so very very detail oriented from you're
dealing with it's a people business. You're dealing with.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
It's a hospitality business, right.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Yeah, exactly. You're not only dealing with the customers our
guests are clientel's, but you're also dealing with your employees,
our team members that you're having, our managers, and that's
a lot of people. And you got to be a
people person. And I have kind of slowly grown into that.
That's what kind of going back to what Jesus was
talking about, you know, it kind of took me a
while to kind of break out of my comfort zone
(02:18):
and come in here and talk with you guys, because
I'm not I'm not a great people person, but I'm
slowly getting into it because dealing with working with people
and with our customers and more interactions. So try to
be less nervous when things like this. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeah, So but let me let me take you back
to when I first met Jason, because this reminds me
of what he's just saying about fully being in it.
So the first time I met Jason is when I
went to you know what we see. This was probably
like the first year it was open, and I was
at tapping' Yaki and Jason was our cooks, our taping yockey. Yeah,
and this is my first time. So he's asking you
(02:54):
the classic questions, it's your first time here? Have you
ever been into any other Tapping Yackey spots? And I'm
somebody that I like to engage with the Tepping Yackey chefs.
I know some people are like really boring, but I
like what they do. And so Jason was like really
cool and I was like, I was a really good chef.
It was a good experience. I really liked this place.
I went back maybe a month later or something, and
I saw Jason again, but he was kind of looking
(03:16):
like he was wearing like a manager shirt. I was like, oh,
look at the cook for our cook last time. Good
for him. It looked like he moved up to like
manager or something like that. Right, And then I would
go in there often because honestly it's one of my
favorite spots. Side note, we had he know Oishi as
our top five restaurants in Fresno. We both did.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Yeah yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
So anyway, so I'd go back all the time and
I would see Jason here and there, and I'd be like, Okay,
this is interesting, like he's a manager. And I think
it was one of your employees or something that told
me like, no, he's the owner. And I was like,
I was mind blown because he was cooking for us.
I've seen him back there making sushi. I've seen him sweeping, mopping,
like you you couldn't tell this dude who was the
owner because he is just invested. And I always thought
(03:58):
that was really cool.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Sonumber one that makes I'm mind blown because there's there's
so many there I want to unpackage, but the whole
thing about cooking and you saw see him doing this,
yeah at my restaurant I was the dish I washed
dishes and also prep the food, you know, did the cutting.
So I understand that part. But wait, we're at that time.
(04:21):
Were you just because there was no cook so you
were cooking?
Speaker 4 (04:23):
Or once in a while. Back back then when I started,
you know, I only had run restaurant, so I was
there more often, and when we are short staff or
they're on break, I would fill in and cook. You know,
funny story, when I first started my first stepping Yaki
restaurant in in Annapolis, Indiana, I would manage and I
would funny is, during the break time, when everybody's on break,
(04:47):
I had to serve a customer and then kind of
like jump into like a phone booth, come out and
my chef uniform style cook for them. And then if
I have to cook in the kitchen, you know, you know,
I always tell my managers, is there, if there's anything
that you expect your team members to do, you should
be able to and you should be willing to do so.
So I cooked and I really enjoy it. That's how
(05:08):
I started to fall in love with the food business.
Started off as a tepeyaki chef nice right out of school,
and it really helps me get to know my customers.
And I really enjoy cooking. So funny story was last
night I actually cooked for a influencer that we invited
them to come in. Her name is Lauren, She's great.
(05:28):
Her Instagram name is like Choso fun or something like that,
and she did, Uh. I cooked for their family. Yeah,
and I was really happy that I haven't touched the
spatchal I would say over a year and I didn't
break anything, hurt anything burning me once. It came out good.
And if you check out our instagram out for you
know issue, you'll see that. Soon people they'll expect me
(05:48):
to be cooking and they'll be surprised and yeah, sometimes
they'll be like, oh, can we get the other chef
we had and then they'll then they'll let them know
who I was and things like that. I don't see
myself being any special from my chefs and my managers.
You know, I'm just one of them, you know, just
have wear a lot of more hats.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (06:04):
I mean, can we start from the beginning there, because
I'm assuming this was a this was a family thing
that you kind of but was this or you said
out of high school you started.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Yes, so my parents always had and my brother had
Lyn's Fusion. So I was in the restaurant business growing up.
My dad immigrated from China, and when I was six
years old, I moved to He moved us to Tennessee
and we're in the little town and they had It's
one of those times where you have a couple of
Chinese families and a couple of Chinese restaurants and we
(06:34):
were one of them, and and that, and then I
grew up in that business. When I moved to California
in middle school, I went to Fort Millers in seventh grade.
And then when I got a little bit older, around
high school time, I started cooking at Lyn's Fusion when
it even when it was called New China Buffet. I
remember that, yes, that would be you know, I wouldn't
even be barely tall enough, but I would have to
(06:54):
grab like the longs bachelors a little bit closer so
I have enough power to cook that big batch of
chammaine and fight rice and things like that. That's how
I started cooking. But what really got me in cooking
at a younger age, when I was left with my
brother at home where my parents always working, and we
had to kind of cook our own food. And then
during that that age, I want to learn, I want
to cook better. And then uh, instead of watching you know,
(07:15):
food Network, I was, I mean, instead of watching cartoon Network,
watching food Network back in the day, you know, and
just fell in love with it and kept doing one
of my one of my dream when I was a
child was number one, being a basketball player, but my
height and my skills didn't let me do that, right,
But then h and the other one was to be
like a like a celebrity chef or something. So I
(07:37):
guess the closest thing I got to that was being
a restaurant owner. So I'm really happy that I'm in
a career that I love to do. You know, So
no culinary school, this is all so culinary school. This
is all self learning and also just learning on the job,
learning from learning from my dad, my parents, and then
(07:58):
my uncles that are in the restaurants. And I got
a lot of experience from hopping around different restaurants that
I worked at, and also just really being interested in it, looking,
watching and learning and then experimenting, and uh, you get
your you know, your your mistakes that you make and you.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
Learn Okay, So you know Len's Fusion has been a
staple in Fresno that location for a really long time. Buffet.
It's a really great restaurant. It was a remodeled a
few years back. Yes, so what was the next move?
As you know when you were working at Lens, what
happened next? Did did he know come about or one
(08:33):
of those plans start coming?
Speaker 4 (08:34):
So? After so I was I went to Bullard High
School and after that that's Bullard. Yes, after that I
went to uh my dad was like, hey, if you're
not going to school going to college, maybe you should
start working. And he really pushed me to work. Not
very long after, I became a tepa yaki chef, and
with my background and my my skill set, I was
(08:57):
able to move up fairly quickly.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
But you went, so you left your dad, your parents'.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Business, left my parents' business.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Oh, were you at some restaurants out here? Learn in
or so?
Speaker 4 (09:06):
The first Tepeanyaki restaurant I entered that and learned was
called Osaka in uh Cedar, Rapids, Iowa. And after that
I went to Santa Rosa, California, and I worked as
a tappanyaki chef and not very long. I became the
head chef because they needed someone to run the show.
And out there a restaurant called Heikooney. And after that,
my dad, I guess he believed in me, and I
(09:28):
think that's what really kind of pushed me to open
my first restaurant. So I went back to help at Osaka.
When I was over there and see the rapids, my
dad's like, hey, your uncle wants heard about, you know,
one to do Teppanyaki. He wants to open a Japanese restaurant.
And and at first I was like, okay. I was
very young age, I was pretty ambitious. I was like, sure,
sounds good. Let's let's look into it, you know, so
just just talking about it. And next thing, you know,
(09:50):
a couple of months later, I was like, hey, your
uncle found a spot. And I was like, oh wow,
that's quick. And then I was telling my dad. You know,
one night I was kind of thinking about it to myself.
I was like, if I'm ready, I told him, you know,
maybe we can just wait it all a little bit
and maybe get more more more experience and things like that.
He's like, I think you could do it. You got
to push yourself sometime and then he pushed me a
(10:11):
little bit to get into it, and then we did it.
It was it was differently a learning experience, and I
was fortunate and I was blessed at with my dad
and my uncle's guidance and with even though we made
a lot of mistakes and ran and learned a lot
of things. But at a very young age, I was
working pretty much like two years straight without having a
full day off the time I had no if I'm
(10:32):
had I was single. The only times I would be
off would be the one when the restaurants would close
in between the midday and I'll run to the gym
and hang out a little bit at the gym and
come back. And for the first year I went off
like half day and things like that. But first two
years I never had any days off, and I enjoyed it.
I was there, it wasn't as busy, but when it
(10:54):
got busier then it's kind of needing more time off
and things like that.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Yeah, because this was kind of still in the beginning
when Campus Point was really starting to still build, right,
you know.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
Yes, So I had my restaurant in Indiana for about
five years. It started off not as great, but slowly
built up. That restaurant is called Zakaya. It's still existing
till today. I sold my shirt to my uncle and
I moved back to help my dad and my brother
in Fresno with Lynd's fusion when they remodeled. After I
(11:22):
came back to Fresno, I had been to some of
the restaurants in town and I felt like it needed
Fresno could use a Tempanyaki restaurant that was doing more
tricks and more interactive and can improve I think I
could do, you know, still being humble and everything, I
feel like we could do better Tippanyaki restaurant in town
and that. And then funny thing was I was at
(11:46):
playing a basketball at when they had Dan Gamble. This
was back in the day Gamble was there, and one
of the basketball players was actually an attorney in town.
He just we just started talking and he was like, Hey,
they're building a campus point and you guys should put
a restaurant over there. So I went to look into it.
My brother knew a broker, so I was really grateful
to meet the right people and the puzzles coming in place,
(12:07):
and we went to talk and we thought that was
a good spot and we started from there. We were
lucky because the space was actually already occupied. There was
going to be a Japanese restaurant, you know who it was,
really I don't think it was going to be Teppanyaki.
It was just like, if you have one Japanese restaurant,
you can't have another one due to exclusivity. So we
were lucky and they backed out and that gave us
(12:28):
an opportunity to go on there. So everything worked out well.
That's how I started, he know, Oishi and and Fresno.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
I mean on our end, when my business partners and
I put together our money. Financially, it was still tough.
It was still tough to build that capital and all
this was yours just based off your past restaurants. Was
it easy for you to open new ones that financially?
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Definitely not. Financially. It was a challenge because opening a
business in California for the first time, the expenses and
the costs was a lot higher. I would say it
was like forty percent highre what we were prepared for. Wow,
So we were we had to get loans, We had
to get family loans, loans to make it work. Yeah,
(13:15):
it was a challenge, but I think it only kind
of made us stronger, but it was. It was not
easy at all, especially for a sixty five sixty five
hundred square for your restaurant, and all the equipment is
so costly.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Ours was so small, and compared to the giants that
you guys have over here. The big thing that happened
to us we were being We were successful. We opened
in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
By the way, I don't think you told them what
restaurant you kind of what kind of restaurant you had.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Yeah, we owned a Shabbu Shabou restaurant in La in
La La. Well, first we bought it off a former
owner and the name of the restaurant was after the
mom Yo Yogi, so it's called Yogi. And then we
bought it. We bought the we bought them out, and
we changed the name to Dip like Dip Shaboo Shaboo.
(14:04):
And it was just a u bar. It wasn't table seating,
it was a bar seating only. But twenty nineteen, man,
we were doing so well, like things were looking good.
I was just an investor because I lived here, but
every time I drove home, I loved working it. I
enjoyed learning about it, talking to the staff, teaching me
(14:27):
how to be a server. That was fun, learning how
to play everything. I enjoyed the restaurant business, but then
I would get sucked into the business part of it
with the money and scheduling.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
That was tough.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
So that's why that's why I was saying in the beginning,
you have to be about this life to be successful.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
I'm just a DJ.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
Like it got too crazy for me. So we were successful,
but then the pandemic hit. I think that kind of
like definitely fucked us all. How did you get through
that time of getting shut down?
Speaker 4 (15:08):
That was definitely rough. That's a whole nother story itself.
You know, we had to shut down all the restaurants.
Long story short, we ended up me just me and
my couple, my brothers. We ended up doing takeout because
nobody was everybody was afraid to work. But we had
no choice because once everything shut down, we still have
bills coming in, We still had the payroll to take
(15:29):
care of and there was no help at that time,
so I had no choice. What I did was to
help Spicy Jy's what we did was we did tappanyaki
and sushi to Go, So we basically put a Tampa
yak grill inside the kitchen of Spicy J and when
they called would tell them would you mind picking up
at Spicy J. So we combined Spiccy JS and he
(15:52):
knows to Go because.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
I remember that, yeah, because I remember, like I was
doing some take out during that time, and I was like, wait,
I could get some food from he And.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
At that time SALJ needed some help with like getting
the name out and also doing takeout and stuff, and
I knew he knew it was gonna be popping because
they always did a really good job to go. So
we combined it and then eventually it was so it
was doing really well, and we slowly got so busy
we started bringing and when then things got a little
bit better. Yeah, we were bringing me in the sushi shares.
(16:22):
We were bringing in uh our managers to help, and
they were able to get a paycheck at that time,
and we were able to kind of get some make
some income for to take care of like the bills
and payroll and stuff. So it did really good for
three months, and then when they started opening back up,
we brought you know back and that really saved us
and that's in crucial moment. You gotta have a you know,
(16:43):
you gotta have the business mind, you gotta hustle.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
Yeah, I think that's what fucked us up is shaboo shaboo.
We couldn't.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
That's not a takeout, Yeah, it's an experience dining.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
So that that messed us up. I mean, but we got.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Through it, and we we actually reopened, but it was
such a weird time where people weren't going out to
restaurants anymore, and I kind of want to get into
that where something that we dealt with with our restaurant
was Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and maybe even Thursday, hardly anyone's there.
But Friday, Saturday, Sunday it's packed right here in town.
(17:16):
With your restaurants, I feel like they're so popular, they're
always packed. Do you go through those like Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesdays slow and then definitely?
Speaker 4 (17:24):
Definitely, I think all the restaurants do. But I think
some of them are more fortunate locations. They don't drop
as much. Yeah, you know, some some drop like fifty
sixty percent, which is rough because you're still paying the rent,
the PG and E and your staff to be there
to work. But you're not you're barely making ends met
to cover all that. So it does get tough on
the weekdays, which is understandable because a lot of less
(17:47):
people eat out on the weekdays. You know, they got work,
they got things to do. But weekends is always busier.
But I think it's just being consistent and providing the experience.
And it's always a competition, but you know with other
restaurants too, because there's there's so many only so many
people eating out, but there's so many restaurants in places nowadays,
so it just got to be on top of your
(18:07):
game and do the best that you can and be
the best at a restaurant you can be to bring
in those people.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
What are some strategies you know, you don't have to
go through everything, but what are some strategies that made
your restaurants so popular in town?
Speaker 3 (18:19):
Like I think ICYJS, so he know, oh yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
Thank you. I think it has to be with not settling,
like not keeping up your your your quality. I think
it's very important because, like you know, the type of
state that we use from day one, we keep it
no matter how hard how high the prices get, like
during Christmas time, like New York will go up or
doing like for the July, like certain steak prices will
(18:43):
go up and flame mignon and things like that, but
we still use the same grades and quality. The portions
don't change. There's a lot of it can get real
technical when it comes to restaurant controlling your labor, controlling
your food costs, you know, day in and day out.
Yet it's something you have to admit every single day.
But some of the things that we are actually been
(19:04):
improving on and learning to do better is I think
marketing a lot. Before we would just rely on word
of mouth and the location itself, but now I know nowadays,
I think every restaurant's trying to get into being instagrammable,
having that presence right, and that's how we partner up
with B ninety five and iHeart and things like that,
(19:25):
and just getting the name out there, making sure that
everybody remembers us and just keep we do happy hours
and things like that and try to keep up with
the trend. Also keeping the menu more innovative and always
spending time on and never getting too comfortable because when
you have the same thing on the menu, people come back.
There's nothing new it You can get tired of it
(19:45):
and things like.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
That to kind of piggyback off that. Are there any
food trends you've embraced or resisted over the years.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
As far as like what exactly do you mean?
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Like it's certain like food, you know, things get popular
or desserts or you know that you see maybe out
there and you're just like I want to do that
at my restaurants, or you see something that's popular and
it's like, oh, that's just going to be kind of
a phase and I don't really want to get on
on that.
Speaker 4 (20:13):
Yes, we you know, we kind of got on a trend.
We had two roly rollies.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that.
Speaker 4 (20:20):
Yeah, so so that's something new that Rode ice cream
was very popular.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
But the strategy we went with, and there's a lot
of things that we didn't think about, was like it
was very seasonal. So it was very seasonal, and it's
also a luxury to pay for ice cream that it's
like ten bucks or so, yeah, it was seasonal, and
it's you only get that business during after school and
after dinner, so throughout.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
The whole day it's slow.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
It's slow, so it's inconsistent. So that was what's kind
of tough for us. And one thing too, because we
focus on making sure that whatever product we provide, it's
the best quality can be. Like a lot of other
ones that we looked into, we use like powder to
make the ice cream we had to make. We made
ours with straight milk cream, California milk cream and eggelk,
(21:08):
which is so expensive. Yeah, on top of the food
costs being expensive, every single ice cream had to be
handmade and it took a lot of staff and team.
So then that labor and the food costs adding up
and it being very seasonal. We unfortunately, we didn't do
very well. So we closed down to both of the
locations and one of them were actually coming up with
(21:29):
a new concept. Oh nice that we are working on.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
I mean, just to put it out there. I was
also a fan of really Rally, but I had seen
that it had kind of disappeared and I figured there
was something there that was just a tough business to
get into.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Yes, yeah, that's that's a great tip for you know,
if any business owners.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
He talked about.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
The ingredients of keeping things the same, because I think
that's that's something that we faced, Like for example, Enoki mushrooms.
We were buying them for like seventy five cents a bag,
you know, and then after the pandemic, it was like
four dollars like a bag and we had to get
rid of it. But it made our bowls different, like
(22:11):
everything changed. We we were looking for cheaper items. Obviously
we didn't want to do, but money wise, yeah, had
no choice.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
It's tough to be in that decision because do you
get the cheaper ingredient to keep your prices the same
or do you keep the quality and then you have
to raise pop absolutely and the piece people get mad
about that, you know.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
Right right. I think a lot of it is finding
that balance and looking at your numbers, what sells well.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
What people like.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
So we had like a eight hour meeting today and
just dissecting into our our our reports and seeing what
people like and what people don't like. And it's a
balance and you have to make that decision, and you
don't know what the outcome is until you make that decision.
And then you gotta see, like, did I make the
right decision by taking this off or it's something that
(22:58):
people like. Yeah, Yeah, It's definitely a lot of decision
making and it could be right or wrong.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
So yeah, yeah, Now you recently opened up your newest restaurant, Oiza,
right there at River Park and Fresno. I got to
experience that during your guys is like I don't know
what they call it, like soft openings, I guess, and
it was. It was really good. But I've heard that
the menu has changed a lot even since then, and
I haven't had a chance to go back in. How
how have things been in the customer response to that restaurant.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
To be honest, I'm really grateful that we've been really
uh fortunate that the market loves what they if you
what we have brought to Fresno. A lot of comments
we get is that they're surprised that they can find
this type of restaurant in Fresno.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Super elegant, great location, great quality.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
I have not yet to try it, but I attempted to,
but it was a two hour wait, so.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
I guess I was like, this is a lot hungry.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
You had to hit me up next time, and I
got we got you. But we are really happy with
the results because right now we are a four point
six on Google and four point seven on Yelp. Hugs
and that's the highest and weather or restaurants. And with
this restaurant being the latest one we open, and from
opening all the other restaurants previously, we have gained a
(24:19):
lot of experience and whether it's training, whether it's the
market and the food and and all of that has
been pretty much all the experience we learn have put
into Oeza. So we had a really good start.
Speaker 2 (24:31):
You learned something from all your restaurants.
Speaker 4 (24:33):
Right, Yes, we learn about the market, we learn about
the food, uh, and the and then the This is
a new venture that we kind of have to redevelop
all the menus. Uh. It was it was good. Everybody
really is enjoy it. The one thing that we're coming
out with the menu change is more lunch options. And
I feel like Fresnel or in general lunch nice fancy
(24:56):
or nice upscale restaurant doesn't do a lot of lunch.
So I want to to kind of bring that and
to work on that market because if I'm trying to
take out go to lunch, nice lunch or even meeting
or something like that, I think always we are able
to do other other places. They're nicer, they're always close
for lunch.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
So for the people that are not familiar with this
new always a spot. How would you how would you
describe this new restaurant.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Definitely, it's it's I consider like modern Japanese cuisine with
really really fresh fish and sushi. That's what the sushi
has been popping. It's been busy when.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
I had the sushi there, bro.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
Esthetically pleasing, like you eat with your eyes and you
can tell just the color of the vibrant color of
our fish. You can tell the freshness, bringing different things
like a five wagu beef bowl Marrowby and the shrim
is literally live in like a little tank in the
behind the sushi bar. So we have really really fresh sushi,
(25:59):
and we try to incorporate and be a little bit
more innovative when it comes to We have like we
took risotto and made it like a little bit of
Japanese version, using a dashi and kambu to make that,
and we do sea bass, we do ribbi. What's been
very popular is our habachi. It's just kind of like
similar to Heino tappeyaki, but we cook it in the
back and we use really really great quality and of rice,
(26:25):
different type of vegetables and broccolini and things like that.
To elevate it and people has been a big fan
of it. It is selling a lot, selling really good.
I think people don't think that we could. We do
a lot of to go, but are to go. It's
it's just as good as our dining. Like if they
come in and they get to go, if you don't,
if you don't, can't, don't have the time or pleasure,
(26:46):
it leads you to go out. You can bring it home.
It's just as beautiful, just as delicious.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Yeah. Has that affected you in any way at any
of your restaurants, because I've noticed, you know, since the pandemic,
there's been a lot of takeout orders. It seems to
be the new thing. Like people stopping in to eat
not so much and the whole pickup door dash, you know,
grub hub, that thing has been more popular. Are there
(27:11):
things that you're implementing to sort of you know, combat
that I know, like ram and hai Ashui for example.
You guys got that like that window that's right there
for pickup orders. Is that something else that you're implementing,
you know in your businesses?
Speaker 4 (27:26):
Yes? I think we always a lot of our business
do really good with door dash and all that, and
in the beginning when pandemic stopped, I think the dining
business was actually better than we expected because people was
tired of being at home.
Speaker 2 (27:42):
Yeah, that's for sure.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
And going out is you know, people gather around food.
That's what food bringing people together. You're always there for
celebration anniversaries. Without food, you're just going to be sitting
and talking. Yeah. Yeah, So I think the dining and
the to go it's a good balance. It's an experience, yes,
and we want that takeout and that dining, that to
(28:03):
go business, but the dining is what brings people together.
And they still and Fresno, I feel like there's not
a lot to do. They're coming in to have a
great dinner and have that experience, especially when you have
like a little bit of table side cooking and something
new like jpie that hot pots isn't in front of you.
It just makes it more fun, you know. And that
hasn't affect us much. We would in good both aspects
(28:25):
of it.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
Nice with your personal life, what are you eating out
or what are you cooking or eating at home?
Speaker 3 (28:31):
Because you're around your restaurants.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
When I was at my restaurant, I loved eating our
stuff all the time, I was like, I'm gonna eat this,
but what are you eating in your personal life?
Speaker 4 (28:41):
We eat a little bit at everything. A majority of
the food that we eat is like Chinese family style.
So we'll cook some rice, make some meat entrees, and
then make some vegetables. You know, when I have the time,
I try to go home and cook for the family.
When we have gatherings and stuff like that, I do
most of the cooking. So we cook at bunch of
all different foods. Once once in a while, will do
(29:01):
hot pot, sometime we'll do cream barbecue. Sometimes we'll cook
up some noodles or pan fried stuff and things like that.
Majority of agent for once in a while we'll cook
up some steak, some barbecue and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
How are you balancing your personal life with the business life?
Like you said, you're you're in this, this is your life.
You're passionate about it, but you have to have a
personal life too.
Speaker 3 (29:22):
A lot of basketball, right, balancing.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
That just uh, you know, doing what I enjoy. I
think another thing is uh, you know, working out and
balance that that kind of gives my release my stress
for me also being with the family going uh, you know,
my daughters and dance and going to dance competitions, my
sons in basketball, going to UH basketball competitions and games
like that, tournaments outside of town. You got to have
(29:46):
that balance because I think at the end of the day,
the most important thing is you know, family in your
in your life, because that's what kind of feel feels
you to do even better at work. So even my
my team, my managers always let them know, you know,
you gotta have a rest. You got to get that
life and work balance, because weren't it for the for
me at least, we're in it for the long run,
so we got to keep going. You know, you don't
(30:07):
want to you don't want to bring yourself out that.
It's not easy. It's not easy.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
Yeah, I know. You say you grew up watching like
the Food Network. I'm a fan of like a lot
of those shows. Do you have a favorite celebrity chef
for somebody that you always like to watch.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
When I was younger, it was like Emerald Lagatzi, Yeah,
Marimoto and Iron Iron Chef and things like that, Bobby Flay,
There's a lot of different chef and and when I
was working in Santa Rosa, that's when Guy Fieri's from
Santa Rosa and that's when he was getting popular. And
their personalities. I really enjoyed them. But a lot of
(30:41):
it is I pick up a lot from watching those shows,
all the really techniques and things like that.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
So wow, yeah, I think that's watching those Food Network
challenges kind of like where I learned how to chop
like my knife.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
I'm not good at it, but I could you know.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Chops just watch watching it. Speaking of celebrities, is there
any stories I could random? Celebrities are always in town?
Have you ever met any any stories where celebrities came
to your restaurant?
Speaker 4 (31:12):
That's a great question right off the top of my head.
I'm sure there is.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Don't you have a Steph Curry jersey in one of
your restaurants?
Speaker 4 (31:19):
Yeah, but I just got that auction.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
I know, like was always here a lot of NBA boys.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
I mean I was restaurants that count.
Speaker 4 (31:31):
Yeah, we have a I have a couple of Buddy
Greg Smith, he used to play an NBA He comes
into a restaurants. I'm sure there is. There was a
I can't remember. There was a Hispanic artist that was
very popular that came uh and performed and went to
heo and everybody was taking pictures of him, and there's
a couple, but you know, I think, I think not
(31:51):
not the too many that I can remember right off
the top of my head.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
All right, this is the Okay, So this is the
final thing that's on my list that I wanted to cover.
There's so I'm originally from la but I've been living
here for twenty years, so this is basically.
Speaker 3 (32:03):
Home for me.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
There's two two styles of restaurants that I that I
think would work here in town. Well one is one
is more it's it's a it's a chain back in l.
Speaker 3 (32:15):
A okay, but it's Yoshinoya. I don't know if you're
familiar Yosha with.
Speaker 4 (32:19):
The quick casual Japanese type.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Of For me, I believe if Yoshanoya was here, it
would work for a franchise or if someone opened a
similar style like that would work.
Speaker 4 (32:31):
Taky bulls and you do.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
And yeah, simple yep.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
And then my style of restaurant, I don't know if
there's a shabboo legit shabu shaboo restaurant.
Speaker 4 (32:42):
So you you it's funny you mentioned so we are
working on one and we started construction and it's going
to be a legit Shabu shaboo and with waggy beef
and the hot pop right in front of you. Oh
yeah that, and it's going to be located right across
from you know Ishi, it's the previous Wayside Noodle space. Yeah,
(33:04):
so we.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Are If you need consulting, I'm familiar with this. I'll
be consultant.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Wow, that's cool.
Speaker 4 (33:10):
We got to pick your brain.
Speaker 2 (33:11):
Yeah, that was actually gonna be a question. I asked
if you know some of the other restaurants you were
looking to open or were are you moving Heino or expanding?
Speaker 4 (33:19):
Yes, Oh, we are moving and expanding Heino, and hopefully
it'll be.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
That place is already big as it is.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
You're it's packed all the time, man, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
I think I was just there last week. I think
for lunch.
Speaker 2 (33:30):
Yeah, we were there January for my birthday for sure.
Speaker 4 (33:33):
But I think the one thing is our kitchen is
really small. Oh yeah, so yes, so this place is
gonna be quite quite big, bigger and our kitchen sometimes
we got our team members. We got about forty fifty
people working on a busy day, you know, so it's
really crowded and it can be a hazard sometimes and
it's limited us to to be the best that we
(33:56):
can be as a restaurant. We couldn't do door dash.
We have to give to our weights things like that.
And the longest way we ever had was like three
and a half hours on Mother's Day. And we can't
take larger parties or reservations when it's holidays. So this
new that we're building, it's right on the on the
coda sack of chestnut, right there, across from the Bulldog Shop.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
It's going to be so kind of it's still on
campus point.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
Yes, I didn't want to move too far. I want
it to be right there because we already have that following.
Speaker 3 (34:24):
But you're going to close this one then, no, sir.
Speaker 4 (34:26):
Oh we've got some coming for you. And it's going
to be Korean barbecue.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
Oh that's another one we could use. I know there's
some other spots.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
Well well I'm not gonna know. I'm not just sing
any the ones that are here, but there.
Speaker 2 (34:41):
There could be some better ones here.
Speaker 4 (34:44):
Jason's here to stay, Yes, I'm you know, it's been
on my it's been on my mind. It's been on
my list for years, you know, and you know this
is a perfect opportunity because I didn't want the previous
infrastructure of the restaurant build out already to go to
wat Yeah, okay, I can still use the hood. We
still got the bathrooms, use a kitchen, our bars, real
(35:04):
nice already. So we're just gonna, you know, remodel on
the inside and once we move over. So it's a
one way. It's a great center. It's gonna be growing
and getting bigger and more stuff. The new Heno, Now
that's gonna be something that is very very it's gonna
be very exciting. It's gonna be sixteen thousand square feet.
Speaker 2 (35:24):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (35:25):
So we're gonna have twenty tepanyaki grills.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Wow, we're gonna do this.
Speaker 4 (35:29):
I don't know if you guys heard of Omakase. So
we have a little area in the back, very exclusive
for Omakase that was only we'll probably do one or
two seatings a night, and it's gonna be just ten
people right in front of the sushi chef.
Speaker 1 (35:41):
Yeah, I'm familiar with the thank you. So it's a
small area and it's the chef. It's a certain menu.
This is what you're getting. Yeah, and only a few.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
People, like, only a few people and you eat what
they cook or USA okay yeah, or if.
Speaker 4 (35:57):
It's raw sushi then we don't even cook it.
Speaker 3 (35:59):
But that Wow, I can't Yeah, I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (36:02):
Go go ahead.
Speaker 4 (36:03):
Yeah. And our new he know is going to have
twenty tip yaki grills. Wow. So we're pretty much have
all the state of the our equipment better for the exhaust,
you know. Always one thing I didn't like about tip
of yaki is I'll go in there and leave smelling
like bacon.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
Right yeah.
Speaker 4 (36:19):
Yeah, So just hopefully with the new grills, they're they're better.
They don't have they have a down draft, and we
have twenty grills. We have four in the private room.
Our private room could be divided into in half and
they'll see twenty on one side and twenty on the
other side, so you'd be more private and you can
also have your own you have your own private restroom
in there. So it's gonna be in. Our bar is
(36:40):
going to be huge. So the bar, you know, that's
why people like to be out on the Yeah, it's
gonna see that about just a bar rail alone about
thirty people. Wow.
Speaker 3 (36:49):
So man, that's something that look, I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (36:52):
That's a great thing to look forward to, Shabby Shaw,
New Cream Barbie spot on New Yeah wow, yeah you
want to run down all his spots again?
Speaker 2 (37:00):
I mean, he Knowshi Spicy Jay's, you got a j Pot.
We didn't even really get into Ramen Hayashi Len's Fusion
you got j T. Actually, I've been stopping in there
recently because you know, now that it's getting hotter, I've
been getting some some tea and some boba. Am I
missing anything Fusion.
Speaker 4 (37:21):
So our new Shabby spot is called Ichi Shabu. Okay,
that's our new shabby spot. And the one that we're
transforming from Roly Roly is going to be called Sushi Box.
It's a quick shadow sushi.
Speaker 1 (37:34):
Now you are you guys gonna do legit Shabby Shabby
because I know legit because people, you know, when they
talk about j Pot and they're like, oh, isn't that it?
Speaker 3 (37:42):
Like, no, isn't that Chinese?
Speaker 4 (37:44):
That's Jot, That mini hot pot is actually Taiwanese, Taiwanese.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
And then Shabby Sha a.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
Japanese hot pot right where the broth comes with nothing
in it?
Speaker 3 (37:54):
Yes, and then okay, so okay.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
So I actually never been to town Magic's restaurant, even
though you a lot of times now I get to
try to Jason.
Speaker 3 (38:02):
Yeah for sure.
Speaker 1 (38:03):
I mean, like I said, I love plating. I love
doing the plating and slicing the meat. So I'm familiar
with all that. So in case you know this radio
thing ends for me, I'm.
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Call Jason there you go get a job.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
Yeah, I mean the slice are all even washed dishes,
because I'm used to that too.
Speaker 3 (38:21):
But I'm looking forward to that.
Speaker 4 (38:23):
We have you guys come out when we do our
friends and family and have you guys taste it. And
last you know, we got we're gonna have like spicy
miso ton Katu broth and the shabby Shabu broth and
things like that. We're gonna have the Waguo beef Australia
and Japanese Wagou seafood and all that. So it's it's
a whole different experience.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
Yeah. So if you've been to you know, these restaurants
that we've mentioned, they're all under a lens a restaurant group,
And uh, that's probably why you're like, wow, that makes
sense because I like all these restaurants. Yeah, Jason, I
know you've taken these restaurants to the next level. Is
there any last thing that you want to say before
we like you go, because I know you're a busy man.
(39:01):
Uh you know, if you want to plug anything. I
know we talked about upcoming restaurants, maybe websites or Instagram
or anything like that.
Speaker 4 (39:08):
I think I just want to make a shout out
to my team, my managers, and everybody that made this possible.
It's my team that they're grinding every day in there.
I want to thank them, and I want to thank
the community for supporting us and coming out. Without them,
none of this will be possible. Then that's it.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
There you go, There you go.
Speaker 3 (39:24):
Is there gonna wait? Last thing for me? Is there
going to be sukiyaki broth?
Speaker 4 (39:27):
Yes, there is. You gotta have that sukiyaki that was our.
Speaker 3 (39:31):
Popular seller, our big seller.
Speaker 2 (39:33):
I'm excited.
Speaker 3 (39:34):
Yeah, I'm excited, and yeah, until next time.
Speaker 2 (39:37):
This could get me fire. Podcasts
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