pursuing a dream.....

[Bijans]

3 years ago this time I was debating whether I should quit my engineering job and do something on my own or continue to be a glorified labor and be subject to layoffs and constant pressure of losing my job.

I will be honest I decided to quit my job and that was the hardest thing I did and I wasn't sure if that was the best decision at that point. I worked hard and studied hard to become an engineer and I always loved my job. So leaving it wasn't easy. I decided to pursue a dream of being independent of monthly paycheck in an economy that was already in deep recession. Perhaps not the smartest thing to do on the paper but it turned out to be great. By offering top of the line products and all natural/Organic/antibiotic free products I am slowly building capturing the mind and hearts of my customers.

Since February 2010 I have opened 4 restaurants and the 5th one is opening end of next week. The 6th location is on its way and will be open late November.

I am proud to say that next year will be crucial year for me. I have 8 restaurants in pipeline, 4 of which in Irvine and Orange county and the rest in San Diego. 2013 will be the year I will move to LA and hopefully build a foundation for a national chain.

I currently have multi- million dollar offer to sell the concept to a huge company that has taken many restaurants from a concept to national level but I decided to stay away from it until I have 25 functioning units.

At the end I wanted to share with you all to show that if there is a will there is away. Always pursue your dreams with understanding that if you do your best you will always succeed.


B

 

[ferdosi]

Bijan jan damet garm. Very proud of you. Your story and success makes me happy. Good luck to you. Do you still play your gittar and listen to Dariush as in old times?

 

[YePaDoPa]

Great to hear all is working out well Bajan Jaan. I'm really happy to hear that. your story is very inspirational and truly living the American dream. I'm sure you've planed and worked really hard to become successful. Without plans and proper foundation there is actually more chance to fail then succeed in businesses!
What would be the single advice you can offer to those who want to start their own business?
Best and keep up the good work

 

[Zed e' Engelab]

Bijan jan, where are your restaurants in Irvine ??? Would love to go ! Wishing you all the best !

 

[Niloufar]

Indeed what an inspirational and great story to hear from you Bijan jan! I still remember ur post on ISP about starting a new challenge in ur life/career. So glad and proud of you for succeeding in such an accelerating way!

I had the pleasure of meeting you and ur lovely wife, at one of ur cute resturaunts! I still say to my friends too, that the most delicious and home-made tasting dishes you could have at resturaunt is "Luna Grill" in San Diego!

And it only takes an insider tour of kitchen by Bijan(a VIP experience! ) to realize ur staffs' cleanness and mandate for a top quality /organic food in ur menu. and at a very affordable price too! no wonder ur resturaunt is packed already in such tough economic conditions. Customer love ur products and services!

Really cant be more proud of your visionary management Bijan jan. Wish you all the best expanding ur business. And hopefully u give Canada an honor to open a chain here too!

 

[Mehran(ISP)]

I'm very happy for you Bijan jan. You're a great example of taking a calculated risk to make your dreams come true and my inspiration. Keep us updated.

 

[Fatso]

Great to hear Bijan jan.
I'm always happy to hear about fellow Iranian's success.
I hope you continue on this path and we soon see your restaurants here in Canada and the rest of the world.

 

[Khorus]

Bijan jaan damet garm! It is geat to hear success stories among hamvatans. I hope that your success will continue and you achieve all that you want. Being the fatherly type that I am, I just offer a word of caution that in the process of achieving your goals, please don't lose sight of the really important things like your health, family, and love. Take care of yourself and best wishes.

 

[Mr Thick]

Happy to hear everything is progressing well, good luck bijan jan.

 

[Bache Tehroon]

What a story yours turned out to be Bijane aziz. A book should be written on it. Hey, I might write it for you Young people like me could learn a lot.

 

[Bijans]

Thank you everybody for your kind words. The journey has been up and down but it was well worth it.

Ferdosi joon, I still do play the guitar and as a matter of fact just two weeks ago I went to Dariush Concert in LA

Yepadopa jaan: The only advice I can give is to believe in what you are doing. Work hard and never ever give up on what you believe is right.

Zede- enghelab jaan, I am opening restaurants in Irvine spectrum right next to Edwards movie theater, I am also opening in EL-Toro (a center that is being built),Culver, UCI and New Port beach.

Nilou jaan the pleasure was all mine. You should come and visit us again, This time I will have give a complete VIP tour of the line and how food is being prepared

Khrous jaan, thank you for your advice, I completely agree that health and personal life is different than business. I do my best to keep them separated. I currently have 130 employees and two regional managers and every restaurant has a general manager and multiple assistant manages. This way I can keep my time concentrating on what is important and not baby sit every store.

BT joon, This story is nothing to write about aziz.. but thanks for offering it. Chakeram!!

Again thank you everybody for your kind messages. BTW, kitchen tour is part of our policy anybody who dines at any of our restaurants are welcome to get a kitchen tour. We are so confident that the kitchen is in perfect condition that we offer that to our customers!!

B

 

[Niloufar]

Aw thank you Bijan jan! that'd be great! looking forward to 30 you two!

btw I was checking ur website http://lunagrill.com and dude had no idea u added Online order too! fantastic online marketing idea!great new site design too. big thumbs up!

 

[arash_kaman]

khob dadash. avalin ke movafagh bashi, dovomin ke hala pooldar shodi 5,6ta maghaze zadi daste ma ro ham begir. kharje daneshgah ina hast midoni hhhhhhhhhh

 

[deerouz]

Bijan jan I remember it as if it was just yesterday when you posted on ISP about the dilemma of continuing your Engineering job or going into Restaurant business. What a success story! Good luck forever.

 

[Kian Pars]

WOW, what a mouth watering Menu!! I hope you keep up the good work and succeed in this business. Don't you want to open a branch in San Jose?

 

[meyti]

Thank you Bijan jaan for sharing...(I Hate your guts) loll just kidding man, I hope you double everything this time next year.
It takes guts to do what you did really. good for you!
Beside the financial gains, what you are doing is also good for the people so it has a moral reward as well and it is a great deed and was a great idea.
best of luck!

(PS I am still hating you cuz i am burning with jealousy ) LOLL
just kidding dude. u know, I hate jealous ppl...

 

[Irani]

Bijan jaan;

I also remember your e-mail from three years ago and thanks for sharing your experience. I am happy to read that you are successful. I used to teach a course in small business where students for their projects helped small businesses. I helped more than 400 small businesses in LA County.

I left the USA in 2006, but visit it once or twice a year. When your El Toro location is functional I will visit it because it will be close to my resident in the USA. When this location is operational please let me know.

I grow up to eat at home and I also cook and enjoy buying good ingredients. It is fun for me now that I have more time. I would like to make a few suggestions:

Looking at your website, I like the pictures on the wall(s). You may want to add pictures of spices and preferably display some of the ingredients such as fresh food or spices. You may want to add tea (hot) with or without saffron to your drinks. Other drinks should be green tea (hot and cold), ginger tea or other types which are easy to make. I make a variety of tea at home. I will post a recipe in case you may wish to try it.

Near East and Mediterranean to me are not correct words for our region (for example, Iran and Afghanistan). You might consider gift cards and different languages for the menu (for example, Spanish, Persian, Arabic, and English, especially online should be easy to do). After I retired, I spend my time and whatever I make in Iran or Iran related heritage.

Best wishes. Here is my family’s recipe for spice tea:

Spice Tea (Chai adveye) The majority of Iranians prefer black tea with sugar cubes or sugar, especially with their breakfast. However, young Iranians are trying to use more healthy ingredients when making tea.
Any of the following ingredients add flavor to tea: ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground cardamom, ground ginger, ground rose petals, ground coriander seeds, and ground nutmeg. My family and I have found that all of these ingredients improve the flavor of tea.

In Iran all of these spices are available at reasonable prices. If the ground spices are not available, you can use small pieces of the whole spice. My family members grind these spices and mix them giving more weight to rose petals, in summer and spring, but more weight to cinnamon, cloves, and ginger in winter. Once determined what combination of spices is most pleasing to you, decide how many cups you will be making. For one person, steep one tea spoon of the mixture in a cup or glass of boiling water and let it simmer for ten minutes. At home use a tea pot to simmer the tea. Some of my family members prefer sugar added to tea while others add honey. Spice tea is relaxing and energizing. Give it a try!

 

[IranZamin]

ay cheghad kossher minevise een yaroo!

 

[ChaharMahal]

bijan this might be second or third update you have given us.

I believe every one of them has been telling of the positive result you have seen from your hard work.

by the way do you still play guitar? I remember back about 10 years ago you used to play some over yahoo messenger.

 

[Bijans]

ay cheghad kossher minevise een yaroo![/QUOTE

Thank you for your comment. I would appreciate if you behave and act civilized. You don't have to like OR believe in anything but you don't have to respond either. This is a community forum with women and children being active members. Thank you!

Esamani jaan,

I still do play the guitar, from time to time I play in front of people and in a band but not as often as I used to. I love music and for me that's the only way to relax.

Irani jaan,

Thank you so much for your advice. My website is changing very soon, it will be much more professional than what it currently is. I am having a professional photographer taking a lot of amazing pictures, Everything has happened to fast and I am slowly but surely moving toward fixing all the issues. This is what I call growing pains
I don't want to be a full " Persian" restaurant and I don't like to add traditional Persian tea because of liability issues. We are a Fresh casual concept and having self served hot items will potentially cause issues. However we do offer Fresh brewed black and Green Tea as part of our beverage collection. In order to be able to find a large investor who is willing to take the concept nationally, you have to have streamline your products with a simple operation.

I believe "Near East" is actually the true term for our type of food. Ottoman Empire was originally the only part of Near East but the modern Near East includes Iran which is what our food stands for. Traditional design will work for a single restaurant but a modern design will always stay fresh even a decade from now. I am adding more spices to our high definition photos, however all the ingredients on the wall are part of what we use to create our food.

I definitely look forward to open more locations in Irvine and I will let you know. Again Thank you for your advice.

BR,

B