Today we’d like to introduce you to Viet Cao.
Hi Viet, We are so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
In 2016, the company where I worked for 6 six years decided to close and move overseas. At that time, the dying Gladstone Plaza was bought by a developer with a vision to turn it into a little Saigon, just like the ones in California or Texas. He opened the first broken rice restaurant in the plaza and KC metro area, but it’s the only 1 in the Midwest. Many people who eat Vietnamese only know about pho or banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich), but Com Tam (broken rice) is a big deal in everyday Vietnamese street food. They grill the thin pork chops right on the edge of the street so anyone passing by on their motorbikes can smell the irresistible smoky meats. Broken Rice restaurant is a good idea. Opening a new restaurant is hard work, but selling something 90% of the population needs to learn about is almost impossible.
Since I was still unemployed, we could buy the failing restaurant. Our family, me and my wife Emma, took over the restaurant in 2018. We knew we had to change the menu to attract more customers. We added more street food items, pho, and soups from different regions of Vietnam. Like most Vietnamese women, my wife is a nail technician who never cooked professionally and was reluctant to take over the restaurant. She would cook something, and I tasted it; it was mostly trial and error for us. I paid, but Emma worked without pay for almost half a year. We were content that we broke even every month. I told her any food is just a matter of preference. Most restaurants sell the same dishes, but different tastes will cater to different customers. The only thing we can control is the customer service, which will make a difference. We barely have any budget for advertising besides Facebook posts. I told her we have to do it slowly, word of mouth. We would ask and listen to customer feedback on certain dishes or even how we pack the to-go orders. The bottom line is that we just made sure we take care of our customers so they can keep on supporting us.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It was tough at the beginning, with no business experience besides some business classes in college, from learning to cook and adhere to health codes to how to deal with building management, customers, and employees. So many companies are trying to sell you something, and being new makes it hard to tell who will help you and who will take advantage of you. Many big corporations have incentives and tax breaks, but not mom-and-pop places like ours. Either we make it, or we lose everything. That in itself was our motivation. During the pandemic, we thought it was the end of the road when we had to close for 3 months. It was hard and still is to find good, reliable help. Finding help is easy, but employees who meet our high customer service standards are rare. Most restaurants today will tell you how much the cost of goods has increased. They can fluctuate weekly, but we can’t change our prices every week; we have to deal with it.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might need to become more familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I installed tiles for most of my 20s and 30s. I have a computer science degree and worked as a maintenance technician for a semiconductor company before owning the restaurant. I’m most proud of my wife, the chef. She had only been in America for 5 years and still needed to improve her English, but she won many customers’ hearts with sincerity. I adapt quickly and easily to different environments. Life and trends change rapidly nowadays, and if you adapt, you will survive like in business.
Networking and finding a mentor can positively impact one’s life and career. Any advice?
Starting from scratch, I made many mistakes but learned from them and made better decisions as time passed. I was part of a network marketing company and met many great and inspiring people. I quickly realized that only about 5 percent of the people make it, but the most I got out of it was always to be positive and treat people with respect. The world we live in today is somewhat disconnected and divided. Food always brings people together, so serving and talking to our customers are always nice.
Contact Info:
- Website: brokenricemo.com
