The UC San Diego campus has seen an influx of alumni enter partnerships to open restaurants within the past year. From last summer’s opening of Blue Bowl to this summer’s expected opening of Tahini, the newly constructed Sixth College is expanding its restaurant offerings to students.
One restaurant that has opened with much fanfare is Fan Fan.
Fan Fan, which opened on April 6, is centered around a fusion concept bringing together American and Chinese customers. The restaurant offers sesame and kung pao chicken, egg rolls, broccoli beef, and orange shrimp to appease their more reluctant customers while also offering more traditional Asian cuisine like their sweet and sour ribs, the Hunan country-style stir-fried pork, black pepper chicken, sautéed beef with cumin-chili sauce, Cantonese-style steamed chicken, seasonal vegetables, and xiao long bao (soup dumplings).
Fan Fan’s co-owners Tony Wu and Lijun Liu also own Taste of Hunan in Mira Mesa and opened Crazy Duck in Poway on May 11. Wu’s thirty years in the restaurant industry and Liu’s MBA in business have helped the duo propel their businesses to new heights.
Like many restaurant owners, Wu and Liu were hit hard by the strict restrictions that came with the COVID-19 pandemic, so they postponed Fan Fan and Crazy Duck’s expected opening dates from 2020 to 2022.
“It was challenging to manage one restaurant, let alone open two new restaurants,” stated Wu. “ We found our time and resources stretched thin.”
The co-owners have also had problems with meeting certain guidelines in their general contract with the university and concerning the global supply chain.
For Liu, the restaurant opening serves as an unofficial homecoming. A UCSD Rady School of Management alumnus, Liu met his wife at the university, and he intends to bring that sense of “home” to campus.
“We are looking to bring that home experience to campus where students can eat, watch the game, or simply catch up,” Liu stated. “We want to be active in the community, sponsoring UCSD events and doing what we can to serve students and faculty.”
Some of their initiatives thus far include flexible work hours for their more than 40 student workers and a ten percent discount for faculty. They are looking for ways to improve their service, menu, and dining experience and have placed a sticky note board in the restaurant to give customers an opportunity to provide the restaurant’s management with feedback and suggestions. They also have an active social media presence on Instagram, TikTok, and WeChat, offering various outlets for customers to reach out to them.
“I really like how the restaurant offers a bit of everything and so I can eat there a few times a week, which I have,” said Peter Wang, a third year at Warren College.
At Tahini, co-owners Osama Shabaik, a Harvard Law graduate, and Mahmoud “Moody” Barkawi are hard at work preparing for a tentative late July opening. They have stated that they are set to be open for the Fall 2022 quarter.
The two both hail New York City, where they first fell in love with the numerous food options the city offers. Shabaik and Barkawi transitioned out of the corporate lifestyle and into the restaurant industry by selling falafel at local farmer’s markets. In 2017, they were able to transition to a brick and mortar establishment with the opening of their Clairemont Mesa location and have since opened a bigger space.
Shabaik and Barkawi describe their business model as a fast, casual, Middle Eastern concept with menu items like chicken shawarma, in-house prepared falafel, and six different sauce combinations.
Their Egyptian and Syrian heritage also plays a vital role in how they run their business. They have committed to doing their part in helping members of the Middle East refugee community find jobs. They offer above minimum wage jobs to people who are fluent in Arabic but not yet fluent in English. Their chicken and beef are slaughtered to meet halal guidelines, and they aim to be an asset to Arabic organizations on campus.
The Muslim Student Association (MSA) at UCSD is excited for the Tahini’s opening and encourages UCSD to provide more halal food options for students.
“Tahini joins Canyon Vista, Dirty Birds, Seed and Sprout, and Curry Up Now as food options that provide either a full Halal or partial Halal menu on UCSD campus,” MSA at UCSD said in a statement to The Triton. “We encourage the university to continue opening Halal dining options around campus to make food even more accessible to the large Muslim population here at UCSD.”
“We are excited to be a part of UCSD, being a part of campus, and are looking forward to meeting students, faculty, and staff,” Shabaik said.
UCSD has long sought a dessert restaurant and opened one in the middle of last year.
UCSD alumni Craig Edelman and Teague Savitch have gone from high school water polo rivals to business partners. The pair has swiftly become successful restaurateurs, and UCSD’s Blue Bowl is their seventh location in Southern California.
Savitch, a military veteran, and Edelman, an environmental systems and economics major in college, have focused on running a fast and efficient operation that speaks to their customers.
“We are a superfood cafe that is more than an acai bowl,” Edelman stated. “We are known for our customizable options and build a bowl however you want it.”
Fourth year Jamie Takeuchi, who is a Computer Science major at Eleanor Roosevelt College, shared with The Triton that he “really like[s] the blue coconut as my base and the cashew butter is really good.”
The UCSD Blue Bowl location is Edelman and Savitch’s first location outside Orange County and their first on a college campus. They are looking into opening additional locations on other college campuses and within San Diego.
The UCSD alumni have faced a learning curve while integrating to life on a college campus, stemming from inquiries about student groups, fundraising, and catering. They are impressed by the team and students at this location. Their fixed price model is core to their business model, ensuring that their customers get the bang for their buck.
Edelman’s environmental background serves as a launching point for a push for more locally sourced ingredients and a shift to compostable cups and spoons. Though some of their ingredients have to be exported from outside the country, Edelman and Savitch have committed to sourcing from vendors located only as far as Bakersfield.
“Being one of the core tenants of the new Sixth College, we hope to serve the community for years to come,” Edelman stated.
Hendrik Musolf is a Staff Writer for The Triton.