Starting up pho Vietnamese restaurant in big bear

[TacoSoup]

Originally Posted by lgiamette

We have contemplated opening restaurants in big bear. If a crappy restaurant can survive on the mountain then a good one should be able to and there are plenty of crappy ones. Pho does well here in the coachella valley and it's also a seasonal area with few Asian residents. Everyone loves pho.

So true. My wife and I have a cabin in Running Springs and the bar is set pretty low from Lake Arrowhead to Big Bear when it comes to eating establishments. Granted there’s plenty of good ones, but we can’t believe how some have remained in business for so long. All I can say is treat the locals good.

Originally Posted by Phoever

I really need to go to city chamber of commerce and see number of tourism go there in summer time.

I can tell you from experience there’s no shortage of tourists in the summer. As someone in the bar and restaurant business myself, I’d be more concerned with high expectations, and having a down winter season, like this year after last year record breaking snowfall, and the slower fall and spring seasons, than I would summer. If you do something right, and don’t alienate the locals (word spreads fast amongst them), you could be successful.

Originally Posted by malcorub16

Have it be a Pho-Ramen Noodle place to cater to a wider audience.

This is what I would do. Also disregard what others said about not wanting to eat it when it’s hot out, there’s no shortage of people eating pho, and ramen, in the summertime in San Diego. We’d go to one in Big Bear in a heartbeat when we’re up there. Do your homework, you could be onto something. Good luck

[Electrician4you]

Originally Posted by Phoever

I am thinking maybe a pho fast food joint. Simple menus focus on Togo and serve ready for customer. Maybe employ no more than 5 employees and I will be there for a year to
run and manage but after that I will hire trusted local person there to take care for us. Judging on what you said I really need to go to city chamber of commerce and see number of tourism go there in summer time.
I am planning to open year round of course otherwise pho food truck is another option I have mind that I can do just for the winter time. Anyways, I am very appreciated your feedback

My wife and I had a cabin up there for years. Most of the businesses heavily relied on locals to stay in business. And winter time business was booming. When we had the long droughts those businesses closed down and some floundered

If I were to do what you planned I would do seasonal out of a food truck to start. You can do it down here year round and do a test run up the hill for constant cash flow and hopefully a huge bump in the winter time if there is snow. The thing about a food truck is that if it doesn’t make what you want you can park it or sell it or do it on weekends only. Far easier to get a few employees to run it. If you go with a brick and mortar you’re looking at locked in a lease, the initial investment of remodeling the place to a restaurant, the kitchen setup costs, the food inspector, fire inspector, building inspector, CofO, ADA compliance Christ I know I’m missing stuff. Either way you’re looking at a huge investment. And on average most food places fail in their first year.

We had a BBQ joint open up in the city I live in. Everyone was waiting and we went. Horrible service on top of even more horrible food. Place was closed down I kid you not 2-3 months after opening.

I lived in Westminster for a few years too and had Pho. Some Pho is better than other. If your Pho is good I would do a test run in Westminster or similar area to get the reviews.

[Brandon Graves]

The only phó vu restaurant that I have ever eaten at was, well, Pho Vu in La Quinta. I read that there is going to be a third location of the Pho Vu Vietnamese Restaurant franchise in Palm Springs (the second being in Palm Desert). So, basically, all of the restaurants with the same name are local out here in the desert.

The cuisine itself is healthy, and quite delicious.

[nighthouse66]

Wow, I am pretty astounded by the replies on here they say "Asians mostly eat pho". Uh, what planet are y'all from? This white girl- and tons of others- LOVES her some banh mi (tho I am not a huge fan of pho). Bring it on! I will bet that once people try it word will get round. I have found that no matter where you are located, if you have good food, people will come- doesn't matter how humble or what backroad or whatever. Good food, people will find. And Big Bear could stand some diversifying. Good luck.

[NYSD1995]

High turnover for restaurants, it’s all going to come down to your lease terms. Plenty of people would want to buy if you can stay open long enough to serve them. There’s barely even decent pizza up there which is really saying something

[Granite60]

My friend took me to a Vietnamese restaurant and it was the freshest food, we had a huge bowl of Pho. I could not eat it all. I asked them to open up a restaurant in Prescott, AZ located at 5200 ft in the mountains. The owner said he shops daily for his food, it needs to be fresh. He said he would have to drive over two hours one way and it would not be profitable.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by Phoever

I was recently taking a nice vacation up in Big Bear Lake. I am contemplating if I should open a Vietnamese restaurant offering Pho, hot soup in a cold snowy days for hungry skiers and snowboarders seem like a great idea. I wonder if BBL is a business friendly city ? What are the cons and pros of open a new business idea in BBL ? I am excited but skeptical if the ideas is good any recommendation is greatly appreciated

No one has asked this yet, so I will: Do you have any experience owning and running a restaurant?