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At this emerging full-service casual chain, guests select their own ingredients and interact with cooks who masterfully man a large Mongolian grill, the highlight of a small yet sufficient equipment package.
"It was the Mongols' quest to unify the world. Understandably, they were an army on the go, in need of a speedy bountiful meal.
Lacking the traditional cutlery, they used their swords to slice thin strips of meat and vegetables, then seared the mixture on their shields over an open fire. This ancient tradition is reborn in our dining adventure."
- Introduction to HuHot on the company's web site and marketing materials
Centuries after the Mongols' treks and thousands of miles from these ancients' dining origins, Andy Vap and his parents Dan and Linda opened the first HuHot Mongolian Grill in Missoula, Mont. Since the first customers entered the restaurant - named after Hohhot (meaning "a city in green"), the capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region - in June 1999, seven more units have been built. Like the original, two others are company-owned, one in Billings and the other in Spokane, Wash. The remaining five, located in Omaha, Neb., Ft. Collins, Colo., Sioux City and West Des Moines, Iowa, and Sioux Falls, S.D., are franchised. Two other franchise locations are scheduled to open this spring, one in Fargo, N.D., and the other in Lincoln, Neb.
Dan and Linda Vap made their entry into chain restaurants years ago when they became the Montana franchisee for Godfather's Pizza. As they and Andy decided to expand their horizons, they chose to stay away from pizza and Italian concepts. "That market is well-saturated," explained Andy Vap, who was trained as a certified public accountant and who now serves as CEO, president, sales manager, foodservice consultant and "great outsourcer" for the chain. "We were attracted to an Americanized Asian concept and, particularly, this type of Asian concept, because of its simplicity and interactive customer appeal."
Designed as a full-service casual restaurant chain open for lunch and dinner, HuHot Mongolian Grill customers are greeted at a unit's entrance by a host or hostess who leads...