Exotic tastes, familiar brands

Browsed a Cheesecake Factory menu lately? Maybe the Vietnamese shrimp summer rolls tempted you.

As Binh Nguyen tells it, diners at his Pho Hoa chain of Vietnamese restaurants have been ordering "summer rolls" -- a rough translation of goi cuon, which are shrimp, pork and vermicelli noodles wrapped in rice paper -- for the past 15 years. "We were the first one to use that name," he says.

Call them what you like: goi cuon and many other traditional ethnic foods have become staples on menus nationwide, a sign that the American palate craves more variety than ever.

Ethnic cuisine is familiar to Americans. It used to imply a special night out at a local, often immigrant-run, mom-and-pop restaurant. Even Italian was once a cultural experience.

But now, ethnic chains permeate the landscape. Asian and Mexican cuisine, especially, have become sizzling segments in the corporate restaurant world.

In 2003, large ethnic restaurant chains -- led by P.F. Chang’s China Bistro and a handful of Mexican establishments -- rang up $4.3 billion in sales. That's up from $2.5 billion in 1998, according to the research firm Mintel.

Two factors are at work.  First, demographics: In 2000, 4.2 percent of Americans were of Asian lineage, up from 2.7 percent a decade earlier -- including over 1.8 million Indians and 1.2 million Vietnamese, both groups that at least doubled since 1990. Among Hispanics, Mexicans alone jumped to 7.3 percent from 5.4 percent in the same period.

Second, Americans have demonstrated more diverse palates than ever, while simultaneously being drawn to familiar, brand-driven restaurants.  Some 3.5 percent of fast-food meals are Mexican and 2.3 percent are Asian, nearly double from 1989, according to the NPD Group, which tracks U.S. eating trends.  And more than one in five of all meals in this country are prepared by a restaurant.

"Americans are always exploring with their diet, looking for new flavors of existing things and looking for different things to try," says NPD vice president Harry Balzer. "It's just who we are."

Finding the right mix
Consider P.F. Chang's, the undisputed leader among Asian chains. Its largely authentic, if not adventuresome menu mixes lo mein beef and kung pao chicken with hybrid casual-dining dishes like wild sockeye salmon salad.

Chang's true innovation, CEO Rick Federico said, was to move Chinese fare from the local neon-and-lacquer pagoda to a family-friendly venue with well-honed service standards. The next step was to add casual-dining staples: a wine list, coffee service and desserts like the massive, 1,900-calorie Great Wall of Chocolate, which derives little besides its name from the Far East.

"We didn't think we could teach people how or what to eat," Federico said. Chinese was not a secret. People had been eating it for years."

The formula worked.  With $670 million in sales annually, P.F. Chang's 114 locations each welcome some 850 guests every night, with a $22 average tab.

But as Federico notes, Chinese food wasn't exactly new.  And as recently as the mid-1990s, Olive Garden owner Darden Corp. failed with its China Coast chain. Sometimes it's a matter of getting the right mix of customers through the door -- in P.F. Chang's case, a core of educated, affluent middle-class families.

When Pho Hoa, franchised by Nguyen's Aureflam Corp., began to expand in the late 1980s, it hand-picked locales with large Vietnamese populations.  Now, with 90 stores throughout the United States, Canada and Asia, Pho Hoa's clientele are about half Vietnamese.  Each location averages between $700,000 and $1 million in annual sales.

But Pho Hoa managers still face a delicate balance: drawing new customers without driving away its ethnic core. So menus contain photos and detailed descriptions to help explain pho -- the traditional soup made from beef broth, beef and vermicelli -- to newbies. And a beginners' section is tucked next to "The Adventurer's Choice," where die-hards can order up their beloved beef tendon and tripe.

"We don't want to emphasize that it's Vietnamese, but just a good, healthy noodle soup," Nguyen says.

Other restauranteurs see their menus as a quick gastronomic adventure for an ever more diverse populace -- with convenience as the main dish. None are even a fraction as large as a chain like Taco Bell, but they're growing. Franchises like L&L Hawaiian Barbecue have carried their original menu of lunch plates (staples like ground beef with fried eggs, plus rice and macaroni salad) all the way to New York City. 

The growing Mexican population, paired with Americans' desire to expand past the taco-burrito boundary, has allowed Mexican chains like California's El Torito to add items like Sonoran empanaditas and carnitas Michoacán to their menus.

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