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July 22, 2024
CHIPPEWA FALLS – Even though House of Eggrolls – located at 504 N. Bridge St. – is not quite two months old, it is already winning the hearts and tempting the palettes of Chippewa Falls residents.
Owners Kevin (41) and MaiNhia (36) Vue said they had talked for many years about starting a business they could work in together, but they didn’t necessarily have their sights set on a restaurant or food service business.
However, after working in the corporate world for many years – MaiNhia in warehouse assembly and Kevin with the Walmart Distribution Center, most recently as a quality assurance manager – the couple said they started thinking about how their business knowledge and MaiNhia’s love of and talent for cooking could be put to good use.
The only thing that came to mind, Kevin said, was a restaurant.
“MaiNhia is a good cook, and with my customer service skills, I felt this would be a good area where I could help her – she could cook, and I could run the customer service portion,” he said. “I also learned a lot from my quality background and thought (I could easily apply it here). That’s why we got into the food business. There wasn’t anything else she and I wanted to do together as husband and wife.”
The search for property
About two years ago, the Vues said they decided it was time to pull the trigger and get serious about making their dream a reality.
The couple said while they began searching for property, they also started talking to banks about a commercial loan.
Despite having a lot of transferable experience, Kevin said because they didn’t have any income-producing experience as restaurant owners, they got turned down.
That was why, he said, they started to focus on available places with a kitchen, complete with appliances and/or equipment – which would then require less money they had to borrow.
But they couldn’t find any.
“We sat out for a couple of years waiting to see if any businesses with a kitchen would come along for sale,” Kevin said, adding that waiting also gave them time to save additional money. “Then, luckily around December of last year, this building was for sale. We came to look and jumped at it. We decided to take a risk, quit our jobs and started doing this business full-time.”
Kevin said the location – which was left vacant by the previous owner, who moved his TemptAsians business to Eau Claire – was perfect, though it needed some major work before they could open for business.
The Vues said they took out, cleaned and replaced side wall panels, replaced the rotted-out roof, updated and brought the building’s electrical up to code and installed air-conditioning.
“The building is all metal, so it’s hot inside,” he said. “Even with the A/C (on), it’s still hot in there. But it is cooler than it would be otherwise.”
The Vues said they also gave the place a fresh coat of paint and had their new signage installed.
Meanwhile, Kevin said they were also developing a menu.
Soft opening brought out people in droves
The Vues opened for business June 3, deciding it would be a soft opening featuring only eggrolls.
Early that morning, Kevin said they rolled out 1,000 eggrolls, and just before that day’s closing, they had sold every single one of them.
“We were surprised but so grateful,” he said.
Three days later (June 6), Kevin said they did a second soft opening at which they offered eggrolls and angel wings – which are stuffed chicken wings – and boba drinks.
Again, he said, the response was overwhelming.
Since then, Kevin said they’ve rolled out the rest of their menu – which is purposefully simple.
House of Eggrolls, in partnership with the Chippewa Falls Chamber of Commerce, held an official ribbon-cutting July 8 – which Kevin said included their three children, as well as their large extended family.
He said their two older children – a 14-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son – help their folks out in the restaurant during the summer months.
Once they go back to school in the fall, Kevin said they may have to entertain the idea of a part-time person to help out, but they’ll see what happens at that time.
The Vues said they aren’t yet sure if they’ll do a formal, larger-scale grand opening and, if so, when that might be.
“We’ve done the two soft openings, but we want to research a grand opening and discuss it with each other,” Kevin said. “We also want to talk it over with our business neighbors to see how they did their grand openings and get their feedback on what we could do.”
Simple offerings
The food offered at House of Eggrolls, Kevin said, is both Thai and Hmong.
The menu, he said, has been developed by them, taste-tested by family members and is simple so people can easily figure out what they want to order.
“Beef Pho – a soup dish served with rice and noodles – and fried rice and basil (options) are the main dishes,” he said. “Our side dishes are eggrolls and angel wings. Our combo meal features fried rice with one eggroll and a choice of soda or boba. There are only four or five items people get to choose from, and customers like the simplicity of the menu. Plus, the simplicity of our menu is what helps it all sell well.”
Kevin said what makes eggrolls unique at the House of Eggrolls is how they’re made.
“We prep and roll our eggrolls fresh every morning,” he said. “They’re never frozen. What keeps our eggrolls top-notch is that we use less cabbage than most other places. We also use Vermicelli glass noodles, which are thin and give them a different texture when you bite into them.”
Kevin said they also include carrots, onions and pork in their eggrolls.
“The shell we use is crispy,” he said. “That’s the same for our angel wings, too. We debone the chicken wings, then stuff them with the eggroll stuffing. Nothing there is ever frozen either.”
Though they don’t yet, Kevin said he may consider a different kind of wrap in the future so they can accommodate customers’ gluten-free requests – but they are not willing to sacrifice quality.
“Part of what makes our eggrolls unique is because of how crispy they are,” he said. “We’ve not found a way to make them gluten-free or buy any gluten-free and still keep that crispiness to them (yet). We’ve tried different ones, and they don’t make them as crispy, so when you bite into them, there’s not that crunch.”
Today, on average, Kevin said they sell 250-340 eggrolls per day.
Besides the eggrolls and angel wings, he said the restaurant’s most popular menu item is its chicken fried rice.
He said they sell 10-20 servings per day, give or take, depending on how busy they are.
“Our chicken basil has also been popular with our customers, too, because it is a Thai dish,” he said.
Kevin said Thai dishes are popular because of their ability to cater to many dietary restrictions.
Even though Thai and Hmong dishes are traditionally on the spicy side, he said they try not to put too much spice in the dishes at House of Eggrolls.
“We know our customers tend to not like so much spice,” he said. “So, we tend to keep it more on the mild, less spicy side for them, whereas if you were to go to a Thai restaurant, it would be more of a curry-type dish.”
Kevin said Hmong dishes have adapted a lot of ingredients and recipes from Thai people.
“A lot of foods are similar, but they each have their little differences in how they taste,” he said. “We decided the menu should be based on what we thought would sell and move our business forward.”
Basil options at House of Eggrolls, Kevin said, include chicken basil, pork basil and beef basil.
“We thought if we were to use that dish – because it’s a popular dish in Thailand – it would be popular for us, too,” he said. “And it has been – a lot of people like it.”
Once they become comfortable and settled into the business, Kevin said they plan to expand the type of eggrolls they serve – mainly to a different variety of proteins in them: chicken, beef and pork.
A few new items already added
Kevin said they have already expanded their menu slightly – adding tofu basil, vegetable fried rice and tofu fried rice.
Veggie eggrolls, he said, will be added by early August.
Kevin said they’re still experimenting with the recipe, trying to get the taste right.
Other vegetarian offerings are something the Vues said they’re seriously looking at for the not-to-distant future.
“Our vegetarian friends will have those things to choose from also,” he said.
Kevin said they are going to wait – at least through their first quarter – to see what other menu changes might be needed due to customer preferences.
Strictly takeout
House of Eggrolls, Kevin said, is strictly a takeout restaurant at this time.
No expansions, he said, can be done to the building – so, if they want to grow, they would need to relocate or raze the building and build from the ground up, which they see as cost-prohibitive.
But that, like so many other things, he said, is a wait-and-see-what-the-future-brings and cross-those-bridges-when-they-come-up situation.
Meanwhile, Kevin said they are enjoying settling into the Bridge Street location and serving the Chippewa Falls community.
“We’re a small family-owned business, and we’re trying to do whatever we can to satisfy the taste buds of our customers,” he said. “We appreciate the people of Chippewa Falls for accepting us and giving our business a try. So many people have already told us how much they appreciate us being here. That means a lot to us, as does their coming in and giving us a try. We’re also appreciative of everything that’s been done for us by the City of Chippewa Falls.”
House of Eggrolls is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
For more, check out the restaurant on Facebook.
