Viet Nguyen, CEO and executive chef of the restaurant groupKei Concepts, sees his business as an investment in the future of the community that raised him: Orange County’s Little Saigon, home to the largest Vietnamese American population outside Vietnam. Below, he shares the insights and inspiration that helped him execute on his vision and expand his concept to eight Asian fusion restaurants across Southern California.
Business:Kei Concepts,这在cludesSúp Noodle Bar,The Vox Kitchen,Gem Dining,Nếp Café,KIN Izakaya,ROL Hand Roll Bar,INI Ristorante, andKei Coffee House(coming soon)
Owner:Viet Nguyen
Location:Orange County, California
Yelp reviews:18,000+ across the platform
Business mission:“What we’re doing is not just restaurants—we’re feeding humanity. I think people need to take that responsibility into consideration when they’re tackling [one of humanity’s biggest] needs: food.”
What motivates him:“I was born in Saigon, Vietnam, and I really wanna make Little Saigon the second best place to live for Vietnamese people, so when they come here, this is their homebase in the U.S. Even if we end up not succeeding as a company, we still have to inspire during our journey.”
Best piece of advice:“When the customer comes in, treat them as somebody you absolutely love. If it was your mom, how would you treat her? If it was your dad, how would you treat him? If it was your best friend, treat them the exact same way.”
Key business takeaways:
- Service matters.When Viet launched his first concept—an elevated, fast-casual noodle bar—he invested in quality, service, and ambiance to set his concept apart from other phở restaurants.
- Trust in your team.When Kei Concepts was experiencing major difficulties, Viet momentarily considered closing his business, but his team ultimately gave him hope to persevere.
- Do what you love.Viet started in finance and software and ended up in the food world. It’s never too late to start pursuing your passions.
Keep reading for our full Q&A with Viet.
Viet Nguyen is not just building a restaurant group—he’s building a legacy. After immigrating from Vietnam to the United States as a teen, Viet said he poured his efforts into one question: “How can I inspire the next generation of Vietnamese people who come here to be a part of this American dream?”
Viet spent years training in finance and restaurant management, coding point-of-sale software, and even learning to cook at Le Cordon Bleu until he found the solution: Kei Concepts, a restaurant group with a mission to feed and inspire the next generation of Vietnamese American immigrants in Southern California.
“It’s even in the name,” Viet said. “We didn’t build these restaurant concepts for us. We specifically built it for the next generation—for [my daughter] Keira, for Kei.”
Focusing on the future helped Viet stay true to his vision and navigate challenges, from closing his first restaurant to choosing to staff up during the pandemic.
Below, Viet shares what it takes to succeed as a hospitality-focused, multi-location restaurant group and how he organizes his business model around people, rather than profits.
What’s the inspiration behind Kei Concepts?
我是一个移民。我来美国2002 when I was 16. I was looking for a corporation that was Vietnamese-owned and performing at a very high level—that could compete nationwide. I was looking for a leader who would guide me, but I couldn’t find anybody. I was having to learn from Korean groups, Japanese groups, American groups. But there was no Vietnamese group.
That was always bothering me, and it’s always in the back of my head. Vietnamese people have contributed so much to this country, and now I am on my way to being a U.S. citizen. I’m more proud than anybody to be a U.S. citizen. I always ask myself: “How can I contribute? How do Vietnamese people contribute to the U.S. economy, but also, in the meantime, [how can I] inspire the next generation of Vietnamese people who come here to be a part of this American dream?”
I had to find a vehicle, and I felt Kei Concept was my vehicle. It’s also in the name: We didn’t build these restaurant concepts for us. We specifically built it for the next generation—for [my daughter] Keira, for Kei.
What are some of your biggest learnings from launching Kei Concepts?
[We opened] our very first brand in 2014:Súp Noodle Bar. That was my first proof of concept. The first month we did maybe $30,000 a month. It was really not going well for the first year, and I was even considering selling it at one point because the business was not doing so well.
At that time, we were trying to sell phở at a higher price [than other restaurants]. For us to prove that we could also charge $10 to $12 a bowl, we had to have very good service and a beautiful ambience. That was the key.In the first year, nobody wanted to pay $10 for a bowl to $12 for a bowl, but we proved along the way that quality matters, service matters, ambience matters.By the second year, we gained some traction.
In 2016, [we started thinking:] What if we bring this concept over to Little Saigon? That’s where our home base is. In the U.S., there’s more than 2 million Vietnamese people living here. In Southern California alone, it’s about 400,000 people. In Little Saigon alone, there are almost 300,000 people of Vietnamese descent. So we felt, what if we bring this ideal of a restaurant group that is Vietnamese-owned or Asian-owned that is doing things as standardized as [big restaurant groups like]Darden Restaurantsback to Little Saigon?
[We opened a second location in Little Saigon, along with another] concept that failed in 2017, an Asian fusion taco spot. We ended up turning it around to a brand new concept,The Vox Kitchen. That was also the same year that my daughter was born. That’s when we were like: “You know what? We could become a restaurant group.” In 2018, we officially [launched] as Kei Concepts.
How have you navigated challenges in your business?
[When COVID-19 hit,] I was scared, and I wanted to close all the restaurants. I wanted to let go. But my team and all of the managers said:“We’re not quitting now. If you are willing to ride with us to the end, we’re gonna ride it with you.”So we came up with a plan to pull in another few million dollars during that time—get a loan, do whatever we could—and we actually tripled our staff. We went from a hundred something employees to 300+ employees during that time, and we signed a bunch of different brands.
Looking back at [our decision to stay open during the] COVID-19 pandemic, that was one of the biggest events that ever happened [to Kei Concepts]. It really helped us form who we are, and the fact that we could create a community and take care of each other really took off. I think that’s how the customer would sense it too when they come into any of our establishments. Because we don’t really teach [our employees] how to service customers—we really just teach them how to take care of each other and themselves and [encourage them to] just have fun. And the customer can feel it throughout.
Kei Concepts has grown rapidly over the years. What unites your businesses?
[When we open a new concept] and the teams come in, we explain to them exactly why we do the thing we do. We ask two very important questions: the who and the what. Who are we serving? And what do they need?If we know why we exist, and we know who needs [our service], then we can figure out how to deliver that message.
The culture that we explain to our staff is: We’re not here to make a buck or two. We’re here to provide a hospitality solution to a lot of problems in the market. When the customer comes in, treat them as somebody you absolutely love. If it was your mom, how would you treat her? If it was your dad, how would you treat him? If it was your best friend, treat them the exact same way.
As staff or as a manager, you can look [your customers] in the face and say: “It’s okay. Everything’s gonna be okay. Let me feed you, let’s have a drink. Tomorrow is gonna be a better day.”如果我们只做一遍又一遍又一遍,you can literally change people’s lives for the better.
One of the things I really like about the Kei Concepts restaurants is that the food is great everywhere, the service is great everywhere, so you can tell they have some sort of formula or training system worked out, but it really doesn’t feel like ‘copy and paste.’ They still feel like distinct entities and have their own identities and personalities as well.
—Yelp Elite reviewerSabrina Y.
How do customer reviews impact your business?
I have a confession to make. In the very beginning stage of my career, when I had a negative review, I would go back there and I would publicly fight until the end. It was embarrassing. The PR team and the marketing team pretty much banned me from doing that ever again.
Now when I get a negative review, sometimes it really points out a big problem—even if it seems outrageous, and they’re like: “We waited 30 minutes for your restaurant, and I’m leaving.” or “There’s no parking. One star.”
The silver lining is if 10 of them keep talking about parking—even if they give you one star—maybe there’s some room for you to talk to the landlord. Or what if we turn the wait time into something very positive, like having hot chocolate and music outside? Or do something fun and play some sort of video?That [review] changes our mindset forever. Yes, it’s negative sometimes, but if you can see the pattern, it always helps.Now we have 17,000 reviews with Yelp across the board.
What are your hopes for the future of Kei Concepts?
I’m getting close to 40, so in the second half of my life, I’m asking myself: What is the legacy I wanna leave behind? I felt Kei Concept is my gateway—my solution to get to that point. If there’s one thing that I can leave this world, it’s in Little Saigon. Because I was born in Saigon, Vietnam,I really wanna make Little Saigon the second best place to live for Vietnamese people, so when they come here, this is their homebase in the U.S. Even if we end up not succeeding as a company, we still have to inspire during our journey.
For example, I just got a letter from a customer who invited us to their wedding because they first met at Vox Kitchen. I thought it was beautiful. I love reading letters like that from customers, where we are making an impact.
Obviously, making money is a part of [running a restaurant].But money will come. How we add value to another human being’s life is [even more] important.That’s why we wake up every day focusing on the same thing, and we ask ourselves: How do we improve our service? It’s our continued drive. It’s important for us to know that we’re not just selling food—we’re feeding humanity.
These lessons come from an episode ofBehind the Review, Yelp & Entrepreneur Media’s weekly podcast. Listen below to hear from Viet, orvisit the episode pageto read more, subscribe to the show, and explore other episodes.
Photos from Kei Concepts on Yelp
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