I really love eating noodles and I can’t quite seem to figure out why I love eating them so much. I like to eat all types of noodles such as pho noodles, ho fun, spaghetti, and penne. I always like to frequent the same noodle restaurants and sometimes I venture out and try new ones. Shown in the photo above is “Nam Vang” which means Cambodian noodles and it’s from my favorite noodle restaurant of all time – Vien Huong (VH) located in the heart of Oakland Chinatown. I’ve been eating at VH since I was in diapers, something about the broth and all the different types of meat they put in it makes it just delicious. I’ve shared countless memories eating at VH and I’ve introduced the restaurant to many of my close friends.
VH is one of those restaurants that you usually have to wait in line to eat at. Anytime I step into a successful business like this one, I start to ask myself questions such as how the business became successful, who is the owner and what are their daily/yearly profits? From an Innovators perspective, I can’t help but to ask these questions even though I don’t have any interest in owning a restaurant. Throughout the years I’ve made several observations while eating at various noodle restaurants, I’ve observed that it doesn’t cost much to make a bowl of noodle soup and profits are fairly high. It’s always the same quality of food and over the years, the prices always increase and the current average is $10/bowl (w/tip). Most popular noodle restaurants that I frequent have been in business for over 20-30 years and the interior/exterior doesn’t change much, the owners rarely renovate or change the bowls and utensils which means the owners pocket a majority of the profits. Also from my observations, the most important factors of a successful noodle restaurant are good broth, consistency, and good quality meat. If you are an Innovator interested in opening a new noodle restaurant, I suggest that you start off by trying VH then compare it to other noodle restaurants.
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