Tankursely plans new venture
"I had played around frying rice at the house and tried to develop recipes about how to cook in a wok, but a Chinese stove--36 ft. long and stainless steel--is a whole different animal. There are three big gas jets, and the flames practically engulf the wok.'By the end of 1979, the first Golden Wok was doing such a brisk takeout business that Andrews decided to open a fast-food version of the restaurant, called Quik Wok. Within three years she had opened nine Quik Woks, including a unit in Fort Lauderdale, the first outside of San Antonio.The restaurant's kitchen, smaller than that at Tupelo Honey, features two work, a fryer and a six-burner stove as well as various reach-in coolers and freezers. The initial investment, Tankursley said, was only $10,000 but will eventually reach $150,000. Weekly sales have thus far been "pretty much zip. Pretty low. It was the same at Tortilla Flats . . . the first month.' The restaurant, like its neighbor, carries no signage.Bad call by the SBA. With $3,700--including money borrowed from her brother--Andrews opened the full-service Golden Wok restaurant in Latigo Plaza here on Sept. 7, 1972. Within days Texans were coming from miles around to sample her Chinese food.Burger King, Pillsbury's largest restaurant division, will manage the chain. Quik Wok posted sales of $4 million in 1984, with 60% derived from carryout and drive-thru.The venture, slated for next March or April, would be the third within a year for the 34-year-old Dallas native. Last March he and partner Laura Klein opened Tupelo Honey, a laid-back, down-home concept at 13 Barrow St. in Greenwich Village. In August Wok and Roll opened two doors away, at 11 Barrow. The two are the only restaurants in which Tankursely takes any active role in the day-to-day management. Tankursley and Klein currently own 50% of Tupelo Honey and will take full ownership once New York State approves its liquor license Tankursely said. He is a 25% owner in Wok and Roll, along with Klein, Harris and Tim Hill, he added.Connie Andrews, founder of the Quik Wok chain, remembers the day in 1972 when the Small Business Administration turned down her loan application. Southwest Texas, the loan officer said, was no place for a Chinese restaurant.Other recent restaurant projects for Tankursely have included Tortilla Flats, opened in May 1983 (Tankursley owns 24 1/4%, he said); Gulf Coast, which opened in May 1984 (Tankursley owns 12%); and How's Bayou, which made its debut in December 1984 (Tankursley sold his 25% share after one month). In each one, Tankursley contributed to the development of the specific concept.Other key players in the segment include Nankin Express of Eden Prairie, Minn.; Eggroll Express of Tulsa, and Xian of Westmont, Ill., in which former Diversifoods president Donald N. Smith owns a 10% interest.Wok and Roll was designed, Tankursley said, as "a latenight place for a young crowd that stays out till 4 in the morning.' Open 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. during the week (5 p.m. till midnight on Sundays), the restaurant seats 48 in the main dining room and 12 in each of two Japanese-style tatami rooms in the basement. Decor combines Chinese red walls, jade green tables and neon, lacquered fans, mirrored walls, Chinese ornaments and suspended paper lanterns, accented by hi-tech lighting. A black tile bar atop a wall of orange lighted glass cubes is set several steps down from the main dining room. MTV provides rock videos, and there are tapes of rock favorites of the last three decades. "No one ever hangs out in Chinese restaurants,' Tankursley lamented. "Most are pretty bland, no business that will last.'Andrews and Quik Wok: Genesis of a fast feeder"Now I'm one of the success stories of the SBA,' said Andrews, who recently sold her $4 million Quik Wok fast-food chain--an offshoot of Golden Wok--to Pillsbury's Burger King. "They call me up and want me to speak to other women about business opportunities.'
Photo: Stan Tankursely in his newest restaurant to date, Wok and Roll, located in New York's Greenwich Village.
Author: Howard Riell
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