Pei Wei Asian Diner: quick casual's 'platinum standard' cuts down on delivery time, but not quality of cuisine

Nation's Restaurant News, May 12, 2003 by Ron Ruggless

Pei Wei Asian Diner delivers much more than a pee-wee P.F. Chang's China Bistro, even though it comes from the same DNA. Pei Wei, now nearly 3 years old with 21 units in four states, has become what at least one analyst calls "the platinum standard" for quick-casual restaurants, those designed to offer higher-quality fare with the convenience of fast food. Officials say the concept's growth potential is strong. With average annual sales per unit at $2.2 million, Pei Wei boasts a menu of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese items; a striking, upscale decor; and a thriving take-out business.

"Pei Wei allows us to capture and complement a bigger piece of the overall Asian segment without compromising the bistro business," says Rick Federico, chairman and chief executive of Pei Wei parent P.F. Chang's China Bistro Inc. of Scottsdale, Ariz.

"Dining out is not a luxury anymore, it's a lifestyle," Federico says. "People have a variety of demands for their time, but they don't want to compromise intensity of flavors. They don't want to compromise the integrity of the product. They want some level of experience when they are dining out, and to a large degree they want the opportunity to enjoy some of those flavor profiles at home."

To cater to that crowd Pei Wei, pronounced "pay way," has dedicated takeout entrances and cash registers. Takeout sales account for about 40 percent of each unit's sales.

"We thought we'd be right in the sweet spot with this in terms of flavor profiles, sensitivity to time and product quality by putting it in a package where people didn't feel they were compromising because they wanted to do it in less time," Federico explains.

Pei Wei already has entered two new markets in 2003, with a new store each in Denver and Houston, and plans to debut in a third new market, Las Vegas, later this year. The concept has 10 units in the Phoenix-Scottsdale area, one in Tuscon, Ariz., six in Dallas, and two in Southern California.

Pei Wei borrows some items from the bistro menu, such as the popular lettuce wraps. Other bestsellers are honey-seared chicken, Mongolian beef and sweet-and-sour chicken. Per-person check averages are about $8.50, and units do about $42,000 a week in average sales.

Russell Owens, president of the Pei Wei division, says the concept has been given a leg up on expansion because of its connection to the bistro.

"One thing we benefit from internally is our affiliation with P.F. Chang's," Owens says. "We have pretty high standards to compare ourselves to and hold ourselves up to.

"And that helps us get trial guests once they realize we are affiliated with P.F. Chang's," he continues.

Reactions to the youthful concept have waxed poetic.

"Pei Wei is so hip, so convenient," says Dotty Griffith, restaurant critic for The Dallas Morning News, of the first unit in that Texas city. "The decor is utilitarian chic. Rich cherry wood lines the walls."

Alison Cook of the Houston Chronicle also lauds the casual-dining-style design in her review of that city's unit earlier this year.

"There's nothing corny or cliched about the smart design," Cook writes. "The floor is as shiny as red lip gloss. A grid of cinnamon-hued wood, suspended from the industrial-black ceiling, creates a mock-coffered effect that is handsome and substantial. The lighting is both clever and nicely calibrated.

"A palette of mustardy golds with reds and blacks gives the room a warmth that is reinforced by happy sound effects and aromas from the open kitchen," she continues. "Great whomps of steam, mighty whooshes of sizzle fill the yellowtiled galley as the multiethnic line cooks--who could pose for a colors-of-Benetton ad--churn Out orders."

Even the quick-casual form of ordering draws plaudits.

"The line moves reasonably briskly, for the most part, and once you've ordered and fetched your utensils and drinks, you pin your numbered circle to the top of an almost absurdly good-looking chopstick container," Cook writes. "Servers bring your food, and it is almost invariably so hot--from the wok, not from chiles--that it takes a while before you can really taste it."

That, of course, is by design, according to officials.

"Our focus on the finish-out is to keep it very casual and affordable but a little more comfortable and upscale than you otherwise might expect," Owens says. "That gives us some social validation as a dine-in restaurant in addition to a kitchen that pumps out food for the to-go business."

Owens, who joined Pei Wei soon after the second one opened in Arizona, says the evolution has been subtle.

"We've engineered some efficiencies in the kitchen," he says. "We've added another cash register for the to-go business. We've changed materials on the floor. But there have been no major design changes in the restaurant since the first one."

Table turns are generally 25 to 30 minutes for dine-in customers, he adds. The staff targets getting the food to guests' tables within eight to 10 minutes of their leaving the register. Sometimes it's as quick as four minutes, Owens says.