We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kalvin Myint a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kalvin, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

Industry norm – You need significant capital to start a business, especially a restaurant business.

Our story – We started a restaurant with only $700 for pots and pans and an iPad. Instead of jumping straight into brick and mortar restaurant, we opted for a virtual restaurant selling food online via dozens of delivery apps. This allows us to test our menu and by the time we were ready for an actual restaurant we have amass sizable customers base. Capital we need, indeed. The capital of passion, creativity and the drive to never give up, but not much of hard cash capital as most think.

Kalvin, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Both I and mywife, Poe Myint are immigrants from Burma (now Myanmar). We had such a fond memory of our childhood growing up there and food was a big part of it. That being said, ever since we landed in America, opening a Burmese restaurant and sharing that culinary experience here in America became our dream. We almost felt it was our duty to do it, or else we will be selfish.

That dream became a reality in 2003, when we opened a made-shift food cart in downtown Portland. That dream was short lived however. Food carts weren’t a trend back in those days and Portlanders weren’t ready for our exotic cuisine. Mostly it was our shortcomings where we needed more skills to learn how to cook and how to run a business. Down and out with the food cart, Poe and I entered the corporate world to make a living.

Years passed. However, we felt incomplete. There was that stigma of our Burmese restaurant dream unfulfilled. Unfinished. Our duty. So in 2018, I read an article about these food delivery apps and it got my attention. I asked Poe, what if, like those stores on eBay and Amazon with no physical presence, we could open an online restaurant just by using these delivery apps. She was intrigued and finally agreed on rekindling the fire, our dream of opening a Burmese restaurant and sharing our childhood favorite dishes. This time via what was called “Virtual/Ghost restaurant”, a term we learned later after we started our online restaurant.

So after 15 years of our food cart venture, we were restaurateur once again. We listed our little ghost restaurant and named it “Top Burmese” on any delivery apps we could find. Uber, Grubhub, Cavier, Postmates, and even Amazon Restaurants. To our surprise there were lines out the door, around the corner, when our customers loved our food, placed order online (It was an uncommon thing before the pandemic), and willing to wait in line to pick up. Some customers were so hungry and they couldn’t wait til they get home. They asked if they could eat right by our kitchen. We said sure, why not. Wonderful hosts we are, we arranged a small stainless steel table and a few wooden stools. Soon after, that little stainless steel table became the most coveted table among our customers. Some willing to wait for hours to eat at the corner by our kitchen. We were amazed. Tears in our eyes. Mixed of feelings rush through us in those days, grateful, excited, nervous to keep up. Lastly, we felt the reward of never ever to give up on our dreams. With a little money we made, we were able to finally able to secure the lease and started an actual sit-down restaurant. Today, Top Burmese has grown into 6 restaurants, bars and a teahouse.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

A year after Top Burmese opens, Covid19 pandemic hits. Many restaurants laid off their entire staff and shutdown thinking the pandemic would be over in 8 weeks. For us we know that if we shutdown, it will take tremendous amount of effort to reopen. Last time we shutdown our restaurant (remember that little food cart?) , it took us 15 years to gain traction again. So we knew in our hearts, whatever happens, we should never shutdown completely. Instead, we should follow the safety protocols such as wearing masks, sanitize, wash hands often etc.. and keep it open with deliveries and phone orders. That turned out to be the right decision when pandemic took 2 years to recover instead of 8 weeks as most thought. We had minimal layoff. And because we didn’t layoff most of our staff, we didn’t have any labor shortage issues most faced when everything reopens.

And during the pandemic, we got creative by using robots for additional safety measures and to keep fun, hopeful spirits up. Robots were helpful in getting our customers attention too as they were novelty.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

During the pandemic, we started using robots at our restaurants to provide additional safety with social distancing. This was during the time when no vaccine were available. I learned about these robots and ordered the first robot from overseas. Thought it was too good to be true. A gimmick. Never the less, I gambled and ordered one to try.

To our surprise, they were so much fun and useful during the pandemic. The robots help carry food from kitchen to the customer waiting at the door without face to face interaction, thus safer. We love these robots and configured them so much in a way that we eventually became distributor for these robots and became another business venture.

Who knew…, a crisis forced us to look for a creative solution and that turned into another successful business.

Contact Info:

• Website: topburmese.com
• Instagram: @topburmese @bistro.royale.topburmese @burma.joy.topburmese @ambassador.topburmese @oldasiateahouse @mbar.wine.bar
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kalvinmyint/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/top-burmese-bistro-royale-beaverton

Image Credits
Top Burmese Restaurants.