Panda Express Is The Biggest Mom & Pop Chinese Restaurant: AAPI Businesses Shaping America | Forbes

i think what a lot of people don't know about panda is that we're a family business and i think the unique role that panda plays is that we were the first taste of chinese food for many in the u.s what i say about panda is we are the largest mom and pop chinese restaurant in the world and our cause has everything to do with being american chinese and everything to do with creating opportunities for people [Music] well i was born in china and i grew up in taiwan and spent about four and a half years in japan before i came to united states i was born in burma raised in hong kong and came over here for college education my husband after graduate he came over to california to open the restaurant with his father so panda inn was built in 1973 when we first started the restaurant business i thought it would be a lot easier to make money oh no it wasn't like that the first month we did like twelve thousand dollars that was like 400 bucks a day you know i used to make a couple hundred dollars just as a waiter my father was front of the house and greeting guests my grandfather was back of the house and he was making food for the guests my mom who was already an electrical engineer would come and be a hostess on the weekend and there was my grandmother and my uncles and my aunties and they'd all come together to really support this family business so in terms of growing up as part of this panda business what i knew about business was that business was going to be about family because of panda inn we got invited by the developer of glendale galleria to go and open a restaurant in the mall and that is when i really start to look at the possibilities because small is actually a new thing at that point of time we do our very best how to provide the food that we have we really have to focus on great food great service and we are beer i took what we serve from pandian and simplified it and made it work at the pan express i remember when we started we have the longest line i would say longer than most other restaurants i find it oh wow this is quite good it was easier to do and i went all the place to open restaurants my parents have done this incredible job they came to the us with nothing and they were able to build a business that's now a household name but when it comes to the second generation what does that mean what does it mean to honor the legacy the foundation that they've built but also what does stewardship look like for the second generation many of us that embody this duality and ethnic identity when we were growing up maybe it was being a little apologetic for the ethnic sides of our identity and we at panda are saying hey no we are unapologetically american chinese so that the next generation coming up can say not only are they not apologetic and unapologetically american chinese but they are celebrating their ethnic identity i think what's really important to recognize is that anti-asian hate isn't new because of appearance because of fear asian americans aapis may be labeled as forever foreigners and then it begs the question well if systemic racism exists what is the role that we can play what can panda do and that's where we launch the panda community fund and it is a five-year commitment of 10 million dollars and likely to continue but really what it is is looking into our communities identifying this local and those national programs the people that are already doing fantastic work to help the victims of racism and violence to help those that are already amplifying and educating people about the beauty and diversity of the u.s and supporting them in their work american dream is really defined by individuals differently and for me it's actually that you content with what you have and and also able to make a you know a good citizen in the community i think being the beneficiary of united states and being educated here people in the chinese community or maybe asian community we all know that we have to give him back as a second generation as we look to the third generation i think what it means is if we're moving from survival and stability to a level of stewardship and celebration the american dream means how can we have the freedom to honor the past and honor origin but also have the freedom for original expression only in america you know you get to do this and also i think i'm very proud that we did it right you know we work with our people we took good care of our people you know we make sure that in our ability that they grew our job really is continue to figure out ways that our people can prosper how do we pay them more how do we make the work easier and more functional and you know how do we get people to come back frequently over and over again so do every little thing do them exceptionally well it really is about modeling we don't manage people we lead them we lead them by setting an example this is how you could do like i have done when our people grow our business world

Channel: Forbes

Views: 146,986

Keywords: Forbes, Forbes Media, Forbes Magazine, Forbes Digital, Business, Finance, Entrepreneurship, Technology, Investing, Personal Finance, chinese food, chinese, food, panda, panda express, express, kung pow chichen, chinese chicken, mall chinese food, eating, eat, foodspo, dinner, meal, chinese dinner

Id: tdqcs7eQoHo

Length: 6min 48sec (408 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 26 2021