Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Lee.
Kevin, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
About two and a half years ago, I met Louie Kim, the VP of Operations, when he was working with his dad developing the concept of Sushiyaa. I was working on a different project called Menooing and soon Louie, his dad, and I started working together. We worked on the Menooing project for two years and as a biproduct of the project, called Eaters8, was born. It was a new restaurant concept fit to satisfy the rapidly changing of the restaurant industry and its consumers. We just converted one of our Sushiyaa locations to this concept in February and we are using this restaurant to test our newest concept called “Eaters & Chefs” Eaters & Chef is a coworking restaurant space that provides the necessities to operate a restaurant at an affordable price. New restauranteurs can rent space, equipment, and managerial assistance that we provide and minimize the entry cost, risk, and workload that it takes to start a restaurant. We focus on maximizing efficiency and synergy by taking advantage of the ‘shared’ characteristics of the concept. Please visit our website to find out more about it.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has been an exciting time for us, developing and renovating things with new concepts. However, the common struggle all entrepreneurs and business owners face is the constraint of resources. The uncertainty of investing the time, money, and work on creating something new is a struggle of its own. However, having been an entrepreneur for over 17 years, I know that we can do so much more with so much fewer resources, thanks to the advancement of technology.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Eaters & Chefs – what should we know?
Entry into the restaurant industry is a capital heavy, risky investment and new restaurateurs may lack experience in running a restaurant. In short, Eaters & Chefs want to be ‘WeWork’ of a restaurant.
Eaters & Chefs will provide the followings so the chef can focus on what they do the best, making food:
– Full Furbished Kitchen & Dining Space
– Highest quality equipment and everything else you need to run a restaurant is provided.
– Restaurant Backend Assistance
– Health inspections, cleanup, marketing – we’ll do the heavy lifting, you do what you do best: make food.
– Omnichannel: Total Access
– Consumers will have access to their meals in all channels: dine in, take out, online ordering and delivery
– Our chef-entrepreneur can now rent the space as little as a few months.
The thing that I’m most proud of as a company is that we try new ventures together and always push to challenge the status quo. We keep different projects running to continue to work towards realizing a vision that is bigger than ourselves.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Tim Kim (the founder of Sushiyaa) – let us do what we do at his restaurants
Louie Kim (VP of operation) – my partner
Rick Huerta – creative designer
Contact Info:
- Address: 6305 Precint line rd #300
N. Richland Hills, TX 76180 - Website: eaterschefs.com
- Phone: 817-849-5611
- Email: info@eaterschefs.com
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