Burgers do well in city famous for noodles
Print Edition
AN American restaurant in one of China’s poorest regions has become a hit with local residents after a worrying start.
In 2012, when Joshua Trout and his Chinese wife Gao Jiemeizi opened their doors in Lanzhou, a city in northwest China’s Gansu Province, it did well at first. But patron numbers soon plummeted and it only managed to survive as word spread on social media.
The couple met when Trout was on a business trip to the city. “At the time, foreign food was alien to most local people, and there were few foreign customers,” Gao recalled.
Trout said that there were only a handful of Western-style restaurants in the city and their food was seen as a luxury.
Back then, the couple charged 25 yuan (US$3.8) for a hot dog, 35 yuan for a burger and 60 for a steak.
At the time, the annual per capita income of Lanzhou’s urban residents was about 18,400 yuan (US$2,800).
Beef noodles, the local favorite, cost just six yuan a bowl.
Lanzhou is renowned for its residents’ liking for traditional beef-soup lamian (hand-pulled noodles). In the city with a population of 4 million, there are easily more than 1,600 eateries serving the dish, which is often eaten for breakfast and for lunch.
The tough days for Western food in the city, however, didn’t last too long, thanks to rising incomes and increasingly tolerant tastes for food from other countries.
In the past two years, Western-style restaurants have mushroomed, Trout said, adding that the number of foreigners in the town had also grown.
Now, you can find more than 100 such restaurants and coffee shops in the city, including international chains, via apps providing group-buying and review services.
Today, the couple’s restaurant has queues every dinner and lunch time. “Burgers, hot dogs and steaks, we always sell out,” said Trout, a former aircraft engineer from Colorado.
The couple’s restaurant has never raised prices and its food is now more affordable. Last year, average incomes had climbed to around 27,000 yuan.
“It’s hugely different from Lanzhou food, but I think it’s delicious, clean and fast,” said regular patron Ma Hong.
Ma said he loves burgers, but is a fan of noodles as well. During the week, he often has burgers for lunch twice and noodles on the other days.
“In fact, locals don’t simply go to KFC or Pizza Hut, they also try Thai and Japanese dishes. It means they are more receptive on diversified food,” Gao said.
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