I am a Chinese student myself who always disliked going to the weekly family lunch at a chinese resturant. In chinese we call it "yum cha" the resturants where you sit down for tea and eat dim sum.

So i began to talk to a few friends to see if they shared the same opinion as i do and I found out, the younger generation dislike these places which make me think why and i formed a business plan.

What if, we changed the environment and marketed a different market?

Here is what i mean.

1) The enviornment for these resturants are always very traditional. They are all not unique. In fact, every resturant has the same designs of dragons and old statues. The environment is only set for adults which makes teens out of place. What if, we made it to a more modern environment. Stick with modern designs and not traditional designs. Make things more digital, keeping up with technology. Set up an enviornment where teens themselves would want to walk in with their friends.

2) On the topic of targeting teens to come. We all know that sex is a good marketing tool. This is where we come in with the staff we hire. Bringing in more young waiter/waitresses. One observation i've made in these resturants. There is absolutly NO STAFF MEMBER that is under the age of 30. Myself personally...i much rather see people around my age working, than have some 40 yr old serving me food.

3) This is kind of a chain reaction. Perhaps i just might be making assumptions, but i believe it will happen. If we can attract these teens come, we make teens appreciate and want to be here. Therefore, if we have teens that are loyal to parents, might take them out on a treat to come. Which then address the problem we first started out with. Teens not wanting to be there or feeling they don't belong.

4) Theory: Everyone wants to feel or look young. If you're in your 30s or 40s, not wanting to feel old, you come and you step inside a young environment. That's more modern and unique. Another observation, i see many more adults at the age of 30-40 hanging out in places where teens do. Which makes me believe this resturant plan might just work out.

5) I'm located in Toronto. Where the Chinese population is HUGEEEEE!!! Also, Toronto being a multicultural city, with many teens on the rise. I think there is potential already in the market itself.

Let me know what you guys think, It'd be much appreciated before i head out to investors.

Cheers,
Henry

Here's my opinion.

For a westerner, the experience of a Chinese restaurant is as good as the food. The more authentic the better. The problem I see with Chinese restaurants today is that they are becoming less Chinese all the time. If you take the culture out of the experience, all you're left with is a wide variety of stir fry.

Just some food for thought from the FWIWD (For What It's Worth Department).
gm

there is a US restaurant, PF Chang's China Bistro, which is always busy, day or night, and is very popular with younger people.

This restaurant combines a contemporary, trendy setting with traditional Chinese cuisine. Popular with the business crowd, cell phones complement this spot's decidedly urban decor. Heat lamps allow for year-round dining on an outdoor patio, although many guests simply prefer to dine at the full-service bar.

Sounds like what you were talking about.

1) The enviornment for these resturants are always very traditional. They are all not unique.

I agree Henry!

There are some amazingly cool things you could do with decor and ambiance that would keep with the chinese motif, but yet spice it up. I'm thinking blending a bit of hip Tokyo, with the traditional elements, and then add some 'mystery'.

I was at a rocking little place in San Fran. It was identified as a chinese restaurant, but it was really an upscale chinese bar. They really played up their surroundings too, it was dark, lots of koi, and great saki, but totally not tacky. The best part was, you were free to roam, but you could never see very much from one location, so it encouraged you to get up and look around. Of course, there were little drink set ups everywhere to keep you buying. They had some chinese inspired musician DJ guy, and lots of "floor tables" (i dunno what those are called). Man, I wish I could recall the name.....

The more I think about it, you should abandon the "parent" demographic and go for the single 21-30 crowd. Typically lots of disposable income, stay out later, etc.


(I hope I didn't offend with my lack of asian culture when describing the place.)


Good Luck!