Stir Crazy Do-it-yourself stir-fry restaurants cater to diners' desire to have it their way.

The food items on the menu can make or break a new restaurant.Before opening day rolls around, restaurant owners and their chefsspend hours planning menus and wondering whether their culinaryofferings will tickle consumers' taste buds and entice them tocome back for more. There is, however, a concept that offers asolution to this dilemma: Allow diners to choose ingredients from afresh-food bar containing a variety of meats and vegetables, selecta sauce or concoct their own, and then watch as a chef stir-friesthe dish in a wok or cooks it on a grill.

First known as Mongolian barbecue, the newest incarnation ofthis cuisine, do-it-yourself stir-fry restaurants, is takingAmerica by storm. Prior to the mid-20th century, restaurants in theUnited States serving Chinese and other Asian foods could only befound in the "Chinatowns" or other ethnic enclaves ofmajor cities such as Chicago and San Francisco. But by 1997, Asianrestaurants were cooking up nearly $10 billion per year in sales,and according to monthly magazine Chinese Restaurant News,today there are more than 30,000 such restaurants in the UnitedStates, a 36 percent increase since 1992.

Do-it-yourself stir-fry cuisine is just the latest in a longline of ethnic foods to undergo the transition from exotic foreigndelicacy to everyday staple. "In the past 20 years, there hasbeen a real ethnicization of Americans' taste buds," saysSusan Blank of New York City-based international marketing researchand consulting firm Roper Starch Worldwide Inc. "Ethnic foodsand concepts start out in immigrant areas and, over time, jump outto the population in general. This has happened with both Italianand Mexican food. Originally, Mexican food was only served in smallMexican-owned restaurants in ethnic areas, and gradually it becamea more American cuisine. In the process, the food has changed tosuit American palates, but eventually it gained universalacceptance."

Stirring The Pot

Do-it-yourself stir-fry restaurants may not yet enjoy universalacceptance among the general population, but if food trends are anyindication, it's only a matter of time. According to a pollfrom Roper Starch Worldwide, three in 10 Americans say they'realways looking for new and unusual flavors, and one in five arevery interested in foods from other countries. One in sevenAmericans likes to be among the first to try a new food, beverageor restaurant, and there is likely an even larger number ofadventurous palates among those who have traveled outside thecountry or attended college.

The do-it-yourself stir-fry concept has a lot going for it, forboth restaurant owners and consumers. Aside from giving diners avirtually infinite number of combinations to choose from,do-it-yourself fare is fun, healthy and reasonably priced.

Kevin Brown, executive vice president of Chicago-basedrestaurant management company Lettuce Entertain You EnterprisesInc., opened a two-restaurant chain of do-it-yourself stir-fryrestaurants called Big Bowl in the Chicago area in 1995. While BigBowl's menu contains a number of traditional Asian favoriteslike potstickers, summer rolls and assorted noodle dishes, therestaurant's Asian Vegetable Market section, where consumerschoose meats, vegetables and sauces that are cooked by a chef andserved over rice or noodles, has generated some real excitementamong diners. "Do-it-yourself is fresh," says Brown."Customers want more choices and control over what they'reeating. It's also a demographically desirable concept. Theyoung market is enthralled by it because it's hip and fun, andolder people really seem to like the value."

The do-it-yourself stir-fry dining experience offers more thanjust good food at good prices: The concept encourages a happy,noisy, party-like atmosphere that is attractive to groups offriends, families or co-workers. "People are verytime-constrained these days, and they want to make the most oftheir leisure time," says Blank. "These restaurants fitinto that trend by allowing people to go out and have anentertaining, interactive experience."

Healthy Choice

Health-conscious diners are always on the lookout for foods thatare both flavorful and diet-friendly, but in many restaurants, theymust specifically request low-fat, low-salt, low-calorie ormeatless dishes. And even when they do, there's no guaranteethe restaurant will comply with their requests. The fact thatdiners can pick and choose every ingredient in their meals meansdo-it-yourself stir-fry gives dieting diners total control overwhat they eat.

At Flat Top Grill, a do-it-yourself stir-fry restaurant withthree locations in the Chicago area, founder and owner KeeneAddington has become increasingly aware of his customers'desire for healthy fare. "The food can be as healthy as youwant it to be," says Addington, who opened the original FlatTop in 1995 after seeing firsthand how popular do-it-yourselfstir-fry restaurants were with Americans living in Hong Kong."If you want meat in it, you can have that, or you can chooseorganically grown vegetables and rice or noodles instead. We listthe sodium, fat and calorie content of our sauces as well assuggested recipes on blackboards behind the serving lines so youknow exactly what you're getting."

There is another aspect of the restaurant business that not manyrestaurateurs want to talk about: food safety. "Nowadays thereis a heightened awareness of food-handling safety andsanitation," says Addington. "In most restaurants, whatyou see is the finished, cooked product brought to the table. AtFlat Top, you see the pre-prepared product, the cooking process,all aspects of the food. The food never leaves your sight, and Ithink that's an attractive thing to people right now."

Do-it-yourself stir-fry restaurants typically boastall-you-can-eat-for-one-price formats, not including drinks or a lacarte items from the menu. Flat Top Grill charges $9.95 for eachall-you-can-eat meal, but the average ticket ends up being in the$11-to-$14 range. Big Bowl offers a $7.95 vegetable-only stir-fryand charges an extra $2 to $3 to add chicken, shrimp or beef to thedish. While all-you-can-eat may seem like a losing proposition forthe restaurant owner, the high perceived value encourages repeatbusiness--the lifeblood of any venture. Addington estimates that upto 50 percent of his customers return multiple times, which heattributes to the restaurant's comfortable atmosphere and thediversity of food items available.

Causing Quite A Stir

The cost of opening a do-it-yourself stir-fry restaurant may bea little higher than the average restaurant because of the uniqueinterior layout this type of operation requires, according toAddington. Pre-existing locations with large buffet serving areasand an open kitchen where customers can watch the chefs are rare,so the interior of a do-it-yourself stir-fry restaurant is usuallycustom-built.

"We look for plain, empty spaces," says Addington."When you go into a spot that was a former restaurant, you endup building around the old setup. We like to have a space that iscompletely bare and lay out the space exactly how we want it.We've found it's worth it to spend a little extra to startfrom scratch." Apparently, it has been more than worth it forFlat Top Grill: Addington opened his first location in 1995 with alittle more than $400,000 in start-up capital and the chain hassince grown to three locations.

So what does it take to make a do-it-yourself stir-fryrestaurant succeed? Despite the fact that diners customize theirmeals, the answer is still quality. "You have to maintain theproduct, the labor and the service," says Brown."It's just like a theater. What's [happening] on thestage may change, but the activity at the back of the house staysthe same. The rules and service standards that we keep here are nodifferent, regardless of the concept."

The popularity of these restaurants continues to grow unchecked.Nation's Restaurant News has honored a do-it-yourselfstir-fry restaurant, Stir Crazy in Chicago, as one of its 1998 HotConcept winners, and with diners throughout the country gettinginto the stir of things, do-it-yourself stir-fry just may be hereto stay.

Next Step

• Monthly magazine Chinese Restaurant News covers issuesand trends affecting Chinese restaurants and their suppliers in theUnited States. For more information, call (888) 727-8881.

• The National Restaurant Association publishes a monthlymagazine, Restaurants USA, for the restaurant industry. Tosubscribe, call (800) 424-5156 or write to the NationalRestaurant Association at 1200 17th St. N.W., Washington, DC20036-3097.

Contact Sources

Chinese Restaurant News, 28750 Hayward Blvd.,Hayward, CA 94542

Flat Top Grill, 1000 W. Washington St., Chicago, IL60607, (312) 829-4800

Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc., (312) 640-8888fax: (312) 640-1555

Nation's Restaurant News, http://www.nrn.com

Roper Starch Worldwide Inc., (714) 756-2600, http://www.roper.com