Hi Square Sellers, This week's interview is with Hubert Lim, the Chef/Owner of Burma Bear in Oakland, California. We talk about his unique QSR concept as well as his approach to pre-order meals, protein kits, and delivery during shelter-in-place.
Journey into Ownership
My parents and I immigrated from Burma when I was very young and I grew up in San Francisco. We always ate authentic Burmese cuisine at home so that was my foundation. I was always cooking and as I got older I developed a love and passion for American-style bbq. At one point I realized I could marry the two different cuisines together. I began doing pop-ups towards the end of 2013. In 2014, I started with the Burma Bear concept at food and music festivals to test the waters. I had no background in restaurants so I’m completely self taught.
There was a marketplace in the Upper Haight neighborhood that had 5 vendors with some retail and a 10’ x 10’ space for food. I thought it would be a good chance to try this out. I opened in October of 2014. I was cooking the proteins and prepping in a commercial kitchen and then bringing most stuff in for service. It was an affordable opportunity despite all the constraints. I slowly added one employee as it became busy and then one more as business continued to grow.
In 2015, we started to do a recurring spot at Off the Grid in Fort Mason. I also launched catering for corporate events and companies out of the same commercial commissary kitchen in Oakland. The catering really took off but I was paying an hourly rate to use the rental kitchen so it didn’t make sense as a long term model. That’s when I began looking for my own space.
Brick and Mortar
In April of 2016 we opened at our current location. It had great foot traffic, lots of offices nearby, the 19th St Bart, and Kaiser Hospital so it has a strong lunch business. Most customers are on a concise lunch break so I knew the concept had to be efficient. We’ve been lucky enough to become a fan favorite in the neighborhood. We’re only open for lunch service Monday-Friday. We don’t do dinner or weekend service which has been really nice for a healthy work/life balance.
Fast Throughput
I find there’s too much competition for sit-down dining. I always thought a fast casual model would be the way to go. When I developed this concept I knew I wanted to make good food at a good price at a very fast speed. It’s proven to be a great approach for us and our customers. Our volume allows for us to have focused hours of operation.
Seller-Powered Delivery
The neighborhood doesn’t have enough residential foot traffic, it’s mostly businesses so instead of curbside, I pivoted to pre-order one time per week for pick-up in different parts of the city. I’ve talked through the numbers with my restaurant owner friends and the numbers just don’t work right now with using delivery services. I have different pick-up spots that are pre-arranged and more convenient for the customers. We have Caviar and Uber Eats but I shut them both off for now.
Take Home not Take Out
Customer behavior is changing. Now going to the grocery store is a challenge and a different experience at least in the Bay Area. I have been thinking about how I can prepare food differently and how my customers can best order multiple meals. I wanted to design a format that keeps well for when they are ready to eat. We have to pursue that grocery store business. We need to adjust to this new behavior and this new set of challenges.
So the meals I’m doing now for pick-up are held cold and designed to be reheated at home. Most of my customers are ordering several meals at a time and they know they can integrate it when ready into their week. I think that’s less pressure than a meal still hot in the box that needs to be eaten as quickly as possible. I’m working on some frozen meal options as well.
Garlic Noodle Kit
I’ve been toying around with a couple other ideas: Meal kits that are somewhere in between cold-held prepared meals that can be reheated later and meals that require a bit more cooking and assembly. Customers have more time now and I have a sense that many of them are enjoying cooking more than ever. It can be a nice creative outlet when you’re stuck on a computer all day or working from home. So in light of all of this, I’ve been developing a garlic noodle kit as well as a brisket fried rice kit. I’ve also been working on frozen protein kits. Sourcing new packaging and new containers to enhance the experience and efficiency of it all.
Specialty Pantry Items
I’ve always been too busy to bottle my bbq sauce or hot sauces. Demand for the shop and catering was just too high. Now I see how important it is and I’ve sourced great containers and have started the process. It will be a nice complement to the meal kits for people at home. I’ll look for other items we can start to providing that add value for our customers. This is the perfect time to integrate these types of items into our long term offering both in-store and for delivery.
The Future of Restaurants
I don’t see restaurants being the same until next year. Customers are not going to sit down. It’s going to be a very slow re-acclimation. We need to stay alert and agile. It’s so important to understand what our customers want and what this neighborhood will now want.
Thank you Chef! Great to chat.
