By Tiffany Montgomery
The owner of Ling & Louie’s Asian Bar and Grill at Irvine Spectrum Center has tapped the man behind Newport Beach’s China Palace to try and revive the struggling restaurant.
China Palace owner Jack Mau now has profit and loss responsibility for the 8,200-square foot Ling & Louie’s, formerly called Thaifoon.
Mau has been given a “souped up management contract,” for the restaurant, said owner Randy Schoch, chief executive of Desert Island Restaurants LLC in Scottsdale.
Ling & Louie’s hasn’t done well since opening as Thaifoon in 2002, Schoch said.
The Irvine site is too big and doesn’t draw enough diners for its size, according to Schoch.
He said he expected $6 million in yearly sales but peaked at about $3.5 million.
In 2005, Schoch changed the name from Thaifoon to Ling & Louie’s in a bid to broaden its appeal. That didn’t work either, he said.
“It’s been a disappointment since it opened,” Schoch said. “I’ve not been able to find the silver bullet to fix it.”
Having a local operator could help, he said.
With the move, Desert Island Restaurants will no longer run any restaurants in Orange County.
Schoch shut down Thaifoon at Fashion Island in Newport Beach last year after damage from water leaks.
Mau “can live, breathe and sleep the restaurant,” Schoch said. “We will focus our growth in other areas.”
Schoch’s company runs Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Macaroni Grill franchises in Hawaii and Thaifoon restaurants in Scottsdale and Salt Lake City.
He hopes to sell Ling & Louie’s franchises based on a smaller restaurant size.
Ling & Louie’s investors talked to Mau for a year before he agreed to step in.
Mau said he wishes he had made up his mind sooner since sales continued to slip during that time.
The size and layout of the restaurant concern him, Mau said.
The kitchen is far from large portions of the restaurant. Servers carrying food from the kitchen to the patio have to walk “half a block,” he said. That can impact food quality and labor costs as more servers are needed, he said.
Mau said he sees potential in the food. He said he knows how to cook a “fair, tasty, everyday meal.”
A new menu is set to debut soon.
He also knows how to run a restaurant. China Palace, a favorite of OC politicians, has been open for 26 years.
Developers ap-proached Mau many times to open more restaurants, he said. He decided to try and turn around Ling & Louie’s since it’s close to his Newport Beach home.
It also has a prime spot in the Irvine Spectrum center.
“If you can’t make it (at the Spectrum), you can’t make it anywhere,” he said. “I just hope it’s not too late.”
Mau said he’ll split his time between China Palace and Ling & Louie’s. He named longtime China Palace manager Cindy Chien as Ling & Louie’s general manager.
Restaurant consultant Randy Hiatt, president of Fessel International Inc. in Costa Mesa, said Mau faces an uphill battle.
“Trying to make another go of it under the Ling & Louie’s name seems like an undue burden,” Hiatt said. “He might be better off trying to open a new Chinese restaurant there.”
