Asian Flavors opened its doors to more than 1,000 customers during its first week, according to owner Tom Gera.
Gera said he was surprised by the large turnout in the vendor’s first week — he hadn’t expected to have this kind of volume until six months into the restaurant’s opening.
Gera, who also owns the Mudbox, Ward Café, Megabytes and the Katzen Café, said he chose to add Asian Flavors due to the lack of Asian food on campus.
“The customer response is very good,” Gera said. “I’m surprised about the students’ knowledge about Asian food.”
Asian Flavors has its own chef who will cater to students’ requests and modify the food based on student feedback, according to Gera.
Different entrees are offered every day at Asian Flavors, and there is no set menu yet.
Asian Flavors is similar to the fast-food Chinese chain Panda Express, but the dishes come from the entire Asian continent, Gera said.
“We don’t want to be Chinese food,” Gera said. “We want to be Asian food, which means we have a few things from Korea, a few things from Mongolia, a little bit of Chinese and a little bit of Japanese.”
The restaurant accepts cash and EagleBucks.
School of International Service junior Graham Salinger has eaten at Asian Flavors three times since its opening last week.
“It’s good ’cause they give you a lot of portions relative to the other places, and they’re pretty much the same price,” he said. “And they have a really good variety with entrees, so you can pick your own and they’re not always the same thing.”
The new restaurant has filled a gap in multicultural food options on campus, Gera said.
“We’re filling a vacuum right now,” he said.
The restaurant opened March 21 after months of delays and problems with inspections.
nglass@theeagleonline.com
