Andrea Jiang and her husband, Keith Dong, looking forward to building on their first-year success at Asian Buffet in Gering
JEFF FIELDER Editor
GERING – Andrea Jiang and Keith Dong, of Gering, are the owners of Asian Buffet in Gering. In July, they’re celebrating being open for business for one year. They have two children – Hannah, 2, and Jasper, 1. Before opening Asian Buffet, Andrea and Keith owned and operated another asian restaurant in Ogallala called Royal Buffet and Grill. Asian Buffet, which has 12 full-time employees, is located at 3845 10th St. and is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Nspire Today! Editor Jeff Fielder recently interviewed Jiang, who answered a number of questions, including ones about their successful business, their family, and living in the Scottsbluff/Gering area.
Q: How excited are you about how things have been going in your first year of owning and operating Asian Buffet?
JIANG: “It’s been going really well. Since we’ve opened, we’ve gotten really good feedback from our customers. We thank them for supporting us.”
Q: Have things gone even better at Asian Buffet than you thought they would when you first opened the business?
JIANG: “Yes. When the business first opened, I don’t know that we expected things to go as well as they did because there are several chinese restaurants in this area, and we were new. We were a little nervous.”
Q: Did you receive a lot of positive feedback right after you opened?
JIANG: “Yes, we did, and that was very encouraging. People were impressed with the food, the service, the design, and how clean everything is here. People noticed that we had done a lot of remodeling, so they were telling us, ‘Good job.’”
Q: How much work went into getting the restaurant ready to open?
JIANG: “We started doing remodeling in April [2018], so it took about three to four months. It was quite a challenge, but it was exciting.”
Q: What have you and your husband learned about the business in the first year?
JIANG: “We have a punch card that we thought we would try, and we found that people really like it. It’s really popular, so we want to keep that going.” Editor’s note: The punch card allows customers to get a free buffet after 10 paid buffets.
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