RamenRoad: Food Truck to Brick-and-Mortar Accelerator for Immigrant Chefs

Restaurant owners: Would you start with a food truck or a brick-and-mortar in our situation? Are we undercapitalized?

Definitely food truck or trailer. Ramen is a great late night food. Park in front of movie theatres, concerts, bars, etc... . If u d any festivals more fried foods like tempura. You want to see ur competition (similiar foods) have an alt menu when competition is nearby.

I’m not in the restaurant game. But I own a business that services restaurants and I’ve gleaned a lot over 15 years of working with restaurant owners. And I’ll tell you, it’s bleak out there for traditional brick and mortar restaurants at the moment. Higher end restaurants are doing very well while lower end is struggling. I would never get into the restaurant game. It’s not for me. But I see trends that seem to work better others. Restaurants that are smaller, have counter service and more limited menus tend to do better because you keep overhead lower and it appears to allow people to maximize profit margins. You also cut down on how much staff is needed for a place like that. A traditional ramen place could work really well if you can keep it affordable for your patrons, especially in this economy. My wife loves Thai food and we control to order out for it because it’s cheaper to do that than for us to try to make it ourselves. You’ll need to be able to provide great ramen at a rate that makes it so your patrons will eat there vs making it on their own or getting a cheap option. If I were in your shoes, buying a smaller already built out restaurant space may be the winner. But you have to find the right space. Don’t reach for something that’s bigger and more expensive than what you need just because it may be the best option available. Failing that, I would do a food truck. Much less risk than overreaching for a space that is more than you need. Where a lot of new business owners set themselves up for failure is taking on too much because they can’t find the right thing. “Oh it’s only a few hundred square feet more than we need.” “Whats two more items on the menu because a few people requested it?” Don’t get distracted by the shiny possibilities and focus on your core product until you have that down and turn a profit with it.

With you having debt i personally would not make a move until debt is paid off. I am a 40 year old M who owns a small restaurant in san diego for the past 4+ years. The pressure you would feel trying to see instant return or profit from owing lenders / debt