Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean Wen.
Sean Wen and Andrew Ho became college buds during their undergraduate time at the University of Texas at Austin. Both Wen and Ho, Houston natives and first-generation Americans born to immigrant parents, began hosting crawfish boils for their friends. They found a niche creating delicious boils drawn from their Southeast Asian culture and Houston upbringing, but decided to focus on other career paths after they graduated. Ho later moved to Thailand and Vietnam for three years and worked at a popular and acclaimed Vietnamese barbecue restaurant, Quan Ut Ut. Wen left to pursue a career in finance at Goldman Sachs and then later joined Venture for America, a fellowship program that connects graduates with startups in cities with emerging entrepreneurial ecosystems.
In 2016, Wen and Ho reconnected to turn their previous culinary ambitions into a reality by moving to San Antonio and beginning to build a brand around their crawfish boils. Originally, Pinch was formed as pop-up crawfish boils to support the idea of creating a fun environment for families and communities to enjoy food deeply rooted in Asian culture. Today, and after 2.5 years of pop-ups, Wen and Ho have expanded their initial idea to a physical restaurant — Pinch Boil House — where the mission still remains the same. The acclaimed restaurant features Southeast Asian-inspired seafood, street food and beer.
Has it been a smooth road?
It’s been anything but smooth, but as difficult as it has been, it’s been equally fulfilling. Many of our struggles are/were predicated on the fact that we opened this restaurant with no outside angel investment and no loans, as we bootstrapped this entire establishment. Because restaurants require so much capital upfront, we had to operate as lean as possible, and we had to get creative. During our first three months of operation, there was also heavy construction being done right in front of our restaurant — to the point where we did not have access to our front door and we did not even have a street or sidewalk! On top of all this, we are situated in a less than ideal location (we are under a parking garage, next to a carwash). To be able to survive those days helped give us a sense of confidence. Since then, the San Antonio community has really embraced us, and we literally have a line out the door every single day! It’s truly unreal and humbling!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Pinch Boil House story. Tell us more about it.
We specialize in Southeast Asian-inspired seafood. In San Antonio, there really is no one else doing what we are doing. I grew up in Houston where much of this food is accessible, but when I got to San Antonio, I missed eating it, and more importantly, didn’t know where to find it. This is why Andrew and I created this restaurant — to be able to tell a story about our culture and as our upbringing as Asian Americans in Texas. That’s what makes us so proud and so fulfilled. As people enjoy our food, we bring a little more power and representation to young Asian Americans.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I think the biggest shift is going to happen with automation/technology. As restaurants begin competing with in-house food delivery (i.e. Deliveroo — which is being purchased by Amazon — and Uber Eats), a price war will begin to emerge. Restaurants won’t be able to price their food as competitively as these large tech companies, and thus many mom-and-pop restaurants will struggle to gain a large piece of the market share. Virtual kitchens are already becoming more and more commonplace, and I believe in the next couple years if your restaurant concept is not thinking of ways to be more “experiential” — making the dining experience itself memorable and unique — you will have a tough time surviving.
Pricing:
- Our signature Banh Mi Bowls are $7.95
- Our seafood ranges from $8/lb to $20/lb
- Our famous Prawn Star Bowl is $9.95
Contact Info:
- Address: 124 N. Main Avenue
San Antonio, TX 78205 - Website: www.pinchboilhouse.com
- Phone: 210-971-7774
- Email: holler@pinchboilhouse.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pinchboilhouse
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pinchboilhouse
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/pinchboilhouse
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/pinch-boil-house-san-antonio
Image Credit:
Jon Ryan Garcia
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