Meet Andy Lu | UH Alumnus & Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andy Lu and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Andy, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I wanted to make a business that can sustain my family. My parents are both restaurant workers that had their first business destroyed by Hurricane Harvey. I saw a opportunity to start a restaurant on the Campus of University of Houston and I immediately proposed it to my parents and they agreed to help me start a new small restaurant there. I graduated from University of Houston with a degree in business and I knew the ins and outs on campus so I thought it would give me an competitive advantage. I created the business model and plan to attract students and staff alike with an affordable and sizable food portions so everyone can have a hot meal without spending much. Good food is always hard to get on campus without paying more than what you want to spend as a student and I really wanted to change that for them. Even the prices for fast food chains on campus are marked up.

What should our readers know about your business?
We are restaurant on University of Houston’s main campus and we are owned by an UH alumnus! Our menu was designed with university staff and students in mind with fast casual service and call in ordering so everyone can be in and out as soon as possible. We opened right before the pandemic and had to shut down for 5 months right as we were picking up in popularity. The pandemic hit hard but our owner did not lose hope. He hopes that when the students are back we can continue to provide good and affordable food for everyone.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take them to my restaurant for lunch and take a walk around the beautiful university campus. The take a walk around the Houston zoo area. There are many parks and snack shops to explore in that area. For dinner I would take them to midtown Houston to check out the bars and restaurant and maybe get some good old Texas style BBQ.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to give a shoutout to the following. My parents helping me start and run the business, my brother in law to help me run the business, and most importantly, my wife for helping me through the tougher times of the business specially during the first 6 months of COVID.

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