We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Steven & Michael Lo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Steven & Michael below.

Steven & Michael, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

Simply that the American dream still exists…we are living proof. Everyday you see on the news and social media that The United States of America is not the same and that our country is no longer great. We want to remind and inspire everyone that the American dream is still alive and strong.

Being second generation Americans, we have very fond memories of visiting our grandparents in Taiwan at an early age. They were such kind people, but were not fortunate enough to provide their children with all the basic necessities of life that we know today. They couldn’t give them everything in the world, but they gave them everything they had in their world.

Michael: Now that I am older I can reflect on my parents raising me with such love to give us everything, but at the cost of their time. They sacrificed their blood, sweat, and tears to give balance in our life.

Steven: My legacy is the sacrifice of my grandparents and parents to give my children what they were not able to give me. The financial stability and time to spend with my family.

Daniel: My parents were able to give me the freedom to pursue my passion in aviation and achieve my dream of becoming a pilot.

The Lo Brothers

Steven Lo & Michael Lo
Owner Operators of Yamato Japanese Restaurant

Daniel Lo
Commercial Airline Captain

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Yamato has been operating in Galveston, Texas since 1988.

Back story: http://voyagehouston.com/interview/meet-yamato-galveston/

Fast forward today… 2 out of the 3 sons are handling the daily operations which has its challenges, but we have been very fortunate that our sales have increased. Our passion for providing our guests with great service and consistent high quality food has always been out number one priority. Restaurantowner.com wrote an article that shared some restaurant statistics.

“After the first year 27% of restaurant startups failed; after three years, 50% of those restaurants were no longer in business; and after five years 60% had gone south. At the end of 10 years, 70% of the restaurants that had opened for business a decade before had failed.”
https://www.restaurantowner.com/public/Restaurant-Failure-Rates-Recounted-Where-Do-They-Get-Those-Numbers.cfm

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Michael: I think the majority of us can agree that since COVID started in 2020 most of us have had to endure major pivots in our business, career or life. But for me 2020 was a major change in my business, career and life. I’ve always been a numbers person and pictured myself working in an office my whole life after graduating college with an accounting degree. I even started my career in taxes then transitioning to audit work at PwC and then finally as a financial analyst at a private company. That’s when 2020 happened. I decided that I wanted to use my skills to run a business and get an MBA…and then it clicked. Why go to school to learn how to run a business when I can move back to Galveston to help run the family restaurant and go get the experience instead. So I packed my bags and moved to Galveston in the midst of the pandemic. Probably not the best time during a pandemic where there was labor shortage, because everyday I had to work as a host, server, line cook, sushi chef, bus boy, manager and accountant. Learning to pivot between positions to truly understand the business, while using my background at the same time to navigate the new and ever changing tax credits, government funding and county mandates on COVID restaurant guidelines. I still can’t believe I took a chance during the craziest time and somehow managed to help the family business grow despite a pandemic. This was by far the hardest and most rewarding challenge.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Steven: We believe that being genuine and showing your team that you care goes a really long way. Communicating to someone that you appreciate their hard work and commitment may seem simple, but sometimes people can feel like their efforts are unappreciated or go unrecognized.

We have a great family meal that is offered everyday. We also close for 3 days on Thanksgiving weekend to allow our staff to spend some quality time with their loved ones.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yamatotx.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yamato.tx/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YamatoTX
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/yamato-japanese-restaurant-galveston
• Other: https://houston.eater.com/maps/galveston-best-restaurants-where-to-eat https://www.galveston.com/bestofgalveston/#/gallery?group=394102 (Best Asian Restaurant & Best Sushi) http://voyagehouston.com/interview/meet-yamato-galveston/ (Voyage 2017 :D) Fun Fact Our T-shirts have the “Bait shop & Sushi Bar” sign on it.