Name of Business: Porterhouse Bistro

Name of Entrepreneur: Alvin Cheng / Bobby Burton

Location: Beverly Hills, CA

Type of Business: Restaurant

What does your business do? We are an affordable steak house with a prix fixe menu You can get a meal, an appetizer, 2 cocktails and dessert for less than $40.00.

When and why did you start the biz? Porterhouse Bistro was opened in August 2001. I moved from Taiwan to California in my attempt to target America in the steakhouse industry.

How Many People are in your Company? 30

What's the toughest part of running your biz? The most difficult part is maintaining a profit. A month after we opened, the restaurant went through the fall of the economy due to 9/11. Also, when we started, we went past our budget due to a lot of “hidden variable costs”, such as linens, labor, breakage, etc.

What's the most fun part? I enjoy challenging myself daily.

What's next on the horizon for your biz? I plan on just keeping my customers happy and making my staff feel appreciated.

What advice do you have for others? To be successful you have to put all of your time in it—live it, drink it. It has to be done. You can’t just depend on luck. Also, give what you take.

Prior jobs or business or education? Before immigrating to America from Taiwan, Alvin owned Wang Steakhouses in Taiwan. The market there was saturated, however, so he decided to target America.

Is there any one person or event in your life that led you to go into business for yourself? I wanted to mimic the Wang Steakhouse in America because the steakhouse market was saturated in Taiwan.

Contact Info: 8635 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA 91311 / 310-659-1099
Website URL: http://www.porterhousebistro.com/