Photograph by George Sakkestad
Hector Chen displays a plate of pot stickers at his restaurant.
By LESTER CHANG
When you walk into the Pot Sticker King, you might as well be walking into McDonald's.
Restaurant owner Hector Chen worked as a manager at a McDonald's restaurant in San Jose for six months and came to embrace some of the chain's most salable attributes--serve quality food quickly, and serve it with a genuine smile.
Chen brought these same qualities to his restaurant, which he opened with Vincent Wei, at Cupertino's Marketplace Shopping Center in October 1993.
"When I ran a [fine-dining] Chinese restaurant in Pennsylvania, my restaurant philosophy was those things as well. But working at McDonald's only reaffirmed my philosophy on how to run a restaurant," Chen said. "I believe you should treat [customers] the way you want to be treated. In my restaurant, they are treated the best, I believe."
Restaurant work wasn't his first calling. A native of Taiwan, Chen received a law degree in his home country and had plans to become a lawyer.
In 1981, he came to the United States and attended the University of Pennsylvania for a master's degree in law. But he didn't pursue a career in law because it didn't appeal to him.
The world of restaurants did.
Before Wei and Chen opened their restaurant in Cupertino, Chen owned a fine-dining Chinese restaurant in Willow Grove, Penn., for 11 years.
But working 90 hours a week and supervising a staff of 15, which included Wei, took its toll on Chen.
Looking for a change, Chen sold his share of the restaurant and moved to San Jose, which he found new and exciting. The fact that his wife, Sandy, graduated with a master's degree in economics from San Jose State University also convinced him that the South Bay could be his new home.
He looked for work outside the restaurant business but didn't find anything he liked. That was when the golden arches of McDonald's beckoned.
During his six months as a manager with McDonald's, he learned that the needs of the customers always come first, he said.
Some of the most popular dishes are pot stickers, pan-fried daikon rice cakes, sticky rice cakes and minced pork, oyster pancakes, pork rolled in fish paste, and black mushroom soup and noodle or rice noodle soup, Taiwanese style.
"Our name is a misnomer because we sell a lot more than pot stickers," Chen said.
Dishes range from $1.75 to $9.95. A daily lunch special runs $4.95.
"People are very money-conscious," Chen said. "During the lunch hour, people are in an out in 20 minutes. People around here seemed to always be in a rush. But we always treat them well. We smile and give fast, quality service."
Pot Sticker King, 19740 Stevens Creek Blvd. Open Sunday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. For dinner reservations, call 255-3717 or 255-1600.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, November 6, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.