Avoca Mexican Grill owner Gary Dong grew up in the restaurant business.

“My dad owned a restaurant for almost 18–20 years,” Dong said. “In high school, I would go to the restaurant right after school and learned from my father how to cook.”

Dong, 35, is the owner of two local restaurants — Asahi Sushi, located on Westcott Street, and the recently opened Avoca Mexican Grill that sits between Manny’s and Yogurtland on Marshall Street. The restaurant opened Aug. 30, the day before fall semester began. Avoca serves both Mexican and Asian dishes.

The inside décor is clean and well-lit. The front of the restaurant features a small eating area with tables and chairs. Patrons walk straight ahead to the counter, where a large bar of prepared Asian cuisine greets customers with smells of sesame and oil.
“Asian I think is popular because everyone eats sesame chicken and General Tso’s chicken when they grow up,” Dong said. “And Mexican is something I like, and I think a lot of people like too.”

He hopes to capitalize on the busy street’s lunch crowd by offering quick and fresh meals. This differs from other restaurants he has worked at, which were sit-down joints.

Dong admitted that business has just been “OK” so far, but said that the dual-cuisine food spot has not run any advertisements yet. He said he is happy with the walk-in traffic during the lunch hours.

Marshall Street is filled with both Asian and Mexican restaurants, including appeThaizing, Chipotle, Sweet Basil Thai House and Panda West.

“I am not trying to beat them or anything. Business is business, I am not trying to open a restaurant to put anybody out of business,” said Dong about the competitive street. “I am trying to do my best in my cooking to give customers a lot of options.”

He said that he believes the fast-food style and good food will make his newest project a success.

“The thing with me is that if I won’t eat it myself, I won’t sell it to anybody,” he said. “Some people that work in restaurants for a long time, they don’t eat what they cook.”

Published on September 14, 2015 at 9:15 pm

Contact Jacob: jagedets@syr.edu