Home
Entrar
Registrar
Inside The Busiest Kitchen On Uber Eats That Makes Indian And Pakistani Food - Video học tiếng Anh
Praticar Escuta
Praticar Escuta
/
Video
/
Business Insider
/
Inside The Busiest Kitchen On Uber Eats That Makes Indian And Pakistani Food
Inside The Busiest Kitchen On Uber Eats That Makes Indian And Pakistani Food
Selecionar modo de aprendizagem:
Ver legendas
Escolher palavra
Reescrever palavra
Highlight:
3000 Oxford Words
4000 IELTS Words
5000 Oxford Words
3000 Common Words
1000 TOEIC Words
5000 TOEFL Words
Legendas (490)
0:00
[music]
0:02
This is the busiest South Asian
0:04
restaurant in America.
0:06
>> This is like the biggest spot I've ever
0:08
seen in my life.
0:09
>> Serving more than 4,000 people every
0:12
day.
0:21
prep,
0:23
cook, and dish out the massive Pakistani
0:26
and Indian menu here at AAS in Houston.
0:30
>> It's [music] not a restaurant, it's a
0:31
food factory.
0:34
The amount of food we put out [music]
0:36
every day,
0:38
it's absolutely mindboggling
0:41
for [music]
0:42
>> it. Also has the most Uber Eats delivery
0:45
orders for a single location restaurant
0:47
in the entire world. more than thousand
0:51
orders of lollipop, single lollipop. We
0:53
needed more.
0:54
>> But when Shakut Maridia's family bought
0:56
a in 2010, the restaurant was struggling
1:00
and they had no idea how to turn it
1:02
around. I told my brother one time that,
1:06
hey, we need to get rid of this
1:08
restaurant.
1:09
It's not our cup of tea.
1:13
>> But now they have long lines
1:16
and food bloggers are all over this
1:18
place. [music] Agas is a gas.
1:21
>> Look at the 9.4.
1:24
>> One of the things that stand out for me
1:25
[music] is the consistency here. I feel
1:28
like it's my first and hundth time at
1:30
the same time.
1:32
>> As a Pakistani, I was curious about how
1:35
America's [music]
1:36
busiest diy or South Asian restaurant
1:39
ended up in a suburb in Texas [music]
1:43
and how this one family turned a
1:45
struggling spot [music] into a national
1:47
destination.
1:56
The smell of spices hits you as soon as
1:58
you walk into the kitchen at a
2:02
cooks are hard at work starting at 7 in
2:04
the morning.
2:07
>> We have four chefs from Pakistan, three
2:10
from [music] India, one from Bangladesh.
2:12
Combined experience probably over 200
2:14
[music] years.
2:17
First, the sauce for popular dishes like
2:19
paneer hundi, karahi chicken and chicken
2:22
tikka masala are cooked in big batches.
2:26
[music]
2:27
This is a grinder. We grind the gravy to
2:30
a fine paste.
2:33
>> No matter what's cooking, each pot
2:36
starts with the same two essentials
2:38
found in nearly all South Asian cooking.
2:41
[music]
2:41
>> Onions and tomatoes. Most of the gravies
2:44
are based of onions and tomatoes.
2:48
>> Purchasing alone is a massive challenge
2:50
in a restaurant this big.
2:53
>> We do 5,000 lb of jalapenos per day,
2:57
7,000 gallon milk per month, 30,000 lb
3:02
of butter a month, 10,000 gallon of oil
3:06
per [music] month.
3:09
Every few minutes, chefs stir and check
3:11
the sauces.
3:13
Like for this goat shinari karah
3:27
depends on how we are busy. [music]
3:29
That's who's from Gujarat in India.
3:34
He started as a line cook at a before
3:36
working his way up to kitchen manager.
3:40
[music]
3:41
>> Aas is my first job. When I came here in
3:44
2019, from the very second day I got an
3:47
opportunity to join a
3:50
grab that opportunity. [music]
3:52
>> Once the curries reach the right
3:54
consistency, they're left to cool down.
3:58
When an order [music] comes in, cooks
4:00
scoop the sauce into these pans, add the
4:03
meat and prepare the rest of the dish.
4:08
We used to cook it properly and then
4:09
after
4:12
every dish is customized after even
4:16
ready to serve.
4:21
>> The [music] menu reflects a shared South
4:22
Asian heritage,
4:25
but some dishes lean more Indian. This
4:27
is our palak pane.
4:30
>> While [music] others are more popular in
4:32
Pakistan. Chicken bhi, malai bi, malai
4:36
kebab. Pakistan for breakfast got to
4:39
have a meat. Lunch you got to have a
4:41
meat. Dinner you got to have a meat. And
4:43
when you wake up middle of the night you
4:45
got to have meat.
4:47
So at a meat is a serious business.
4:52
Hottest and busiest station here in a
4:56
station like you can say world famous.
5:02
[music]
5:04
They're like full of spices tender. Just
5:08
you'll feel like heaven. [music]
5:11
Aas also goes through 30,000 lbs of
5:14
chicken a month.
5:24
>> [music]
5:26
>> Most of the spices come straight from
5:28
the motherlands, India and Pakistan.
5:31
And the chefs are pretty secretive about
5:33
the different blends because it's what
5:35
makes their recipes special. [music]
5:44
Wow, that's a lot of chili spice. That's
5:47
amazing. Their most used spices is chili
5:50
powders.
5:50
>> Comes from India.
5:52
>> From India. It comes from India.
5:53
>> They go through more than4 a day.
5:56
>> And one of their most expensive ones is
5:59
saffron. Also from India.
6:01
>> Probably 5 oz will cost you over $60,
6:04
$70.
6:06
Buy the best ingredients available in
6:10
the market. Don't worry [music] about
6:12
what the cost is. It's important to our
6:14
customers, important to my chefs.
6:20
Back in the kitchen, the team is gearing
6:22
up [music] for the Friday lunch rush.
6:25
They're about to turn out nearly 100
6:27
South Asian dishes.
6:29
But there's a twist. [music] Like with
6:32
so many restaurant kitchens in America,
6:35
a lot of the people cooking the food are
6:37
Latino.
6:39
>> Gracias. Gracias.
6:42
>> I kind of love that this moment just
6:44
happened. Um basically he just said
6:47
thank you brother in two different
6:48
languages in Spanish gracias bhai in udu
6:52
and it kind of like captures the
6:54
teamwork between the two cultures here
6:56
the Latino workers and the south Asian
6:59
uh front of house as well
7:03
>> for shat owning a restaurant has come
7:06
with a big learning curve that continues
7:08
until today
7:10
>> at the time when we bought this
7:11
restaurant only thing I knew how to make
7:13
is maybe cup of tea Nobody knows
7:15
anything in my family how to cook.
7:18
[music]
7:18
>> Shakut's family is from India and
7:20
Pakistan. He moved to the US when he was
7:23
20 years old and picked up work wherever
7:26
he could. [music]
7:27
>> I had three or four jobs going from dry
7:30
cleaners and working for auto
7:32
dealership.
7:34
[music]
7:35
>> Then in 2010, his family approached him
7:37
with an idea to buy a struggling
7:39
restaurant. [music] One of my brothers,
7:42
Karim, and one of my cousins came to me
7:45
said, "Hey, this restaurant
7:47
uh is for [music] sale. Let's buy it."
7:50
Uh, very funny that week before this
7:53
conversation, I had a [music] really bad
7:55
experience here. I laughed at him. I
7:57
said, "Are you guys crazy?" [music]
7:59
>> They paid less for the whole restaurant
8:02
than what it now makes in a single
8:04
weekend.
8:05
>> When we originally acquired, this was
8:07
the space. This one all the way to back
8:09
was 6,000 square foot roughly. Um, and
8:13
then as we got busier, we needed more
8:17
space.
8:19
>> The first couple of years were not
8:20
exactly a success.
8:22
>> It was tough. It was stressful. Every
8:25
month we were losing money for a good 2
8:29
years. Everything was wrong. There was
8:31
no system in place. There was no
8:32
accountability.
8:35
>> Somebody's saying hi to us to these
8:37
people. We'll go talk to them
8:38
>> now. So many daisies come here. I
8:41
actually ran into people I knew back in
8:43
Pakistan.
8:44
>> Which one?
8:45
>> Oh, hi.
8:47
>> Hi.
8:47
>> Hi.
8:50
>> Malisa coach. I actually know them.
8:53
>> Hi. Good.
8:55
>> I wondered when I would run into par.
8:57
>> How are you doing?
8:58
>> When we were kids.
8:59
>> I know. You go to school.
9:01
>> School in the same like van and all of
9:03
that stuff. So that's really funny. So
9:06
good to see you too. Y
9:08
>> the dining room.
9:09
>> So what led to AA's rise?
9:12
>> When we [music] bought it, you used to
9:14
be AA's Pakistani restaurant. We changed
9:16
that to Indopac restaurant. That was a
9:19
big [music] deal because now people
9:21
recognize, okay, this is Indian and
9:23
Pakistani restaurant. So we start
9:25
getting [music] a lot more customers.
9:28
>> The owners focused on expanding the menu
9:31
and improving the quality of the food.
9:33
If [music] one dish is off 5%, get rid
9:37
of it. Make a new batch.
9:39
>> Shut also went all in on the tech to
9:42
provide customers with a smoother
9:44
experience.
9:45
>> I always compare a to [music] Apple,
9:48
Microsoft, Google. What do they do that
9:52
makes them successful is product,
9:55
service, and process.
9:58
Everyone here wears a headset to allow
10:00
communication between the servers,
10:01
[music]
10:03
kitchen staff
10:05
and cleaning team.
10:07
[music]
10:08
Many of them come to a with no
10:10
experience at all like Javeed who
10:13
studied aviation in his hometown of
10:15
Karachi, Pakistan.
10:17
>> I used to work in airlines before during
10:19
the covid I lost my job. I was sitting
10:21
at home for 2 years doing nothing. So I
10:24
decided to change my career and [music]
10:25
here I am.
10:27
One of the biggest expenses at AGAS is
10:30
how we [music] develop our staff. They
10:32
go through thorough training to
10:35
understand our culture, understand
10:37
[music] the process, understand the
10:39
cuisine.
10:43
>> Now Javeed is a floor manager. [music]
10:46
He's popular with customers and his name
10:48
is all over reviews. I never feel tired
10:52
because keep on engage with the
10:54
customers, my team members, my staff, my
10:56
owner, my managers. It's like a family.
11:01
>> But [music] payroll is their biggest
11:02
overhead cost. With so much competition
11:05
out there, the restaurant has to offer
11:07
its workers more than just a salary.
11:10
[music]
11:11
>> We have performance bonus for for our
11:13
staff.
11:15
Our staff is topnotch. So they easily
11:18
achieve that bonus. [music]
11:21
Despite all the upgrades and
11:23
investments, not everything has changed.
11:26
>> I'm a guilty part of not spending any
11:29
money on decoration. We definitely
11:31
needed to to improve and thanks for
11:34
reminding me. [music]
11:37
>> With lunch service in full swing, it was
11:40
my turn to try the food. [music]
11:42
I sat down with Ibrahim Halawa,
11:46
>> a local food blogger, to hear about how
11:49
Agas fits into the Houston dining scene.
11:52
>> So, Ibraim, how many times have you been
11:54
here?
11:55
>> Well, in the last year, probably [music]
11:57
20 plus times at least.
11:59
>> Why is that? Tell me.
12:00
>> So,
12:01
>> hi. Thank you so much.
12:04
like [music] this this consistency the
12:06
service that we see these are a very
12:08
high standard to maintain especially at
12:11
such a large scale.
12:12
>> Yeah. I am going to click on this menu
12:15
and see what I want. But what what are
12:18
your favorites? You said you have some
12:20
favorites here, [music] right?
12:21
>> Yeah. So,
12:22
>> the restaurant says most dishes are
12:24
served within 15 minutes.
12:26
>> Okay.
12:26
>> So, we put that to the test with a large
12:28
order. [music]
12:29
>> As an appetizer, I would go for the
12:31
chicken lollipops.
12:32
>> Okay. I'm also seeing that they have one
12:35
of my favorite uh breakfast items from
12:38
Pakistan which is halvapuri which is
12:40
only served on weekends back in the
12:42
homeland. [music]
12:43
So let's do this. Let's order. What is
12:46
your family's background?
12:47
>> So my background is uh I am a
12:49
Palestinian American. I was born and
12:51
raised here.
12:53
>> True to their word, the food came fast.
12:56
Our chicken lollipops were on the table
12:58
in under 5 minutes. [music]
13:00
>> These are phenomenal. Can't wait.
13:04
>> Tell me about your food blog.
13:05
>> Yeah, Haladal Houston. So, there's a
13:07
huge halal scene here and they're always
13:09
opening up new places.
13:11
>> Today, we are at one of my favorite
13:12
places in Houston. So, we're always
13:14
going around checking out new places.
13:16
This is all halal. So, all the chickens
13:18
halal.
13:21
>> Houston has one of the largest Muslim
13:23
communities in the US. [music]
13:26
>> It also has a big immigrant population,
13:29
especially South Asians.
13:32
They make up one of the fastest growing
13:34
demographics across the country with a
13:36
lot of purchasing power.
13:39
Their median household income was about
13:41
$151,000
13:43
in 2023.
13:45
That's changing the DIY food scene.
13:49
Fine dining spots like Sema in New York
13:51
City are flourishing.
13:55
The restaurant is one of four Indian
13:57
spots in the US with a Michelin star.
14:02
Diners are also showing more interest in
14:04
[music] global flavors and that includes
14:07
Gen Z. But attracting that demographic
14:10
is a constant challenge for restaurants
14:12
like Agas.
14:16
>> Research shows Jenzers don't eat out as
14:18
much as previous generations.
14:20
>> Wonderful.
14:22
>> They like convenience. [music]
14:23
They like to pick up food.
14:25
>> Yeah. So they like delivery.
14:27
>> They like delivery as well. the things
14:29
that really interest them for them to
14:30
come out has to be really trendy.
14:32
>> So there's rarely any taking chances
14:34
then. Right.
14:35
>> Right. Needs to be on social media.
14:37
>> Looks like food is here.
14:39
>> Yes. This is the dish I was talking
14:41
about.
14:41
>> Great.
14:43
>> Thank you.
14:46
>> Anything else?
14:47
>> No. Thank you so much. This looks
14:48
amazing. [music]
14:49
>> Thank you.
14:50
>> This is the
14:51
>> green kar.
14:52
>> We've got like a few different kinds of
14:54
naans. [music]
14:54
We've got biryani, which is a classic
14:57
classic Pakistani Indian uh dish. Now,
15:00
not eaten every day. It's almost
15:02
reserved for special [music] occasions,
15:03
but I could eat it every day. Halvapuri,
15:06
which is uh your brunch meal.
15:08
>> These are the goat chops. Ready for the
15:10
reveal.
15:11
>> Yes, sir.
15:12
>> So, you're going to have a nice plume of
15:14
smoke come out. You can smell it. There
15:17
we go. Wow.
15:18
>> Wa.
15:19
>> You see the juices are still there.
15:20
>> Yeah. Retains the juices.
15:23
Do you have to pay a premium for a halal
15:26
meat? Like is it more expensive?
15:28
>> Uh it is a little more expensive. Yes.
15:30
Generally speaking, yes. And um but it's
15:33
[music] worth it.
15:34
>> Uh even what we've seen in Houston is a
15:36
lot of
15:38
non-Muslim, non-hal restaurants become
15:41
halal [music]
15:42
because of the demand.
15:44
>> Yeah.
15:46
>> I'm pacing myself.
15:47
>> I can't [laughter]
15:50
cuz there's always dessert.
15:54
So, at the end of a meal, it's customary
15:56
to have something called pan. It's
15:58
almost like a palette cleanser. Um, so
16:01
they there's a store is right outside
16:03
the restaurant. So,
16:04
>> here we go. Thank you so much. I will
16:08
say pan is a super acquired taste. Um,
16:10
[music] and I have not acquired it, but
16:14
we'll try [music] it anyway.
16:17
It's a leaf. It's actually called a
16:19
beetle leaf. And it's stuffed [music]
16:20
with certain spices. Um, okay. You're
16:24
supposed to put it all in your mouth in
16:26
one [music] go. I can't do that.
16:31
Some people swallow it and other people
16:34
just spit [music] it out after getting
16:36
sort of the taste in your mouth.
16:40
>> Thank you.
16:41
>> Thank you.
16:42
>> There's one for you too, cameraman.
16:47
By the time dinner rolls around, the
16:49
takeout counter is buzzing.
16:53
>> The team is separate. It's handled
16:55
separately. It's very systematic back
16:57
there. Our team knows exactly which
17:00
order is [music] for Uber Eats, Door
17:02
Dash, our delivery orders, our customer
17:05
pickup. It's nicely organized.
17:11
>> How many to go orders do you think you
17:13
get in a day?
17:15
Okay. So budget like budget right? So
17:19
it's going to reach like around 2500.
17:23
>> So it starts with number one
17:24
>> one and it reached to 2500.
17:27
>> Oh my goodness.
17:27
>> Especially on weekends. Yes.
17:29
>> Okay.
17:32
>> They're sent off on an overhead track to
17:34
the front of the house [music] where
17:36
staff check the packages one more time
17:38
before handing them over.
17:43
Outside, [music] delivery drivers wait
17:45
around in the parking lot knowing they
17:47
will get called up for a [music]
17:50
>> Some deliver as many as 15 to 20 orders
17:53
from here every shift.
17:55
>> All my delivery come from here. All my
17:58
delivery I pick it up here, drop it. So
18:00
different places.
18:01
>> How far do some
18:03
>> I don't [music] know depends sometime,
18:05
20 mile, 25 mile.
18:08
Troa told us AAS has the highest volume
18:11
of Uber Eats orders for a single
18:13
location restaurant in the entire world.
18:18
Just a few weeks after we visited, they
18:21
even opened a new location that handles
18:23
takeout and deliveries only, and it's
18:26
already getting up to a,000 orders a
18:29
day.
18:30
Meanwhile, [music] catering events such
18:32
as weddings make up about 15% of the
18:35
business.
18:36
We don't take [music] risk with any
18:38
events. Wedding happens once a lifetime.
18:41
That's not the time you take a risk of
18:43
anything.
18:45
>> By 9:00 p.m., the time that most dis
18:47
grab dinner, all three rooms are packed.
18:50
[music]
18:51
Busiest day is Saturday. In the dinner
18:53
time, 750 people sitting at one time
18:56
[music]
18:56
and we have probably 500 600 people in
19:00
the queue to dine in.
19:04
[music]
19:05
A says about 80% of diners are returning
19:08
customers.
19:09
>> Garlic naan was [music] really good. The
19:11
mint lemonade lemonade.
19:15
>> So I came yesterday and I really loved
19:18
it. So I [music] asked all
19:19
>> So you came again today.
19:21
>> I love it.
19:22
>> Amazing.
19:24
>> Shakut has big plans for the future.
19:26
[music] Some of which are already in the
19:28
works.
19:29
>> Great work.
19:30
>> Thank you guys. Thank you. Where are you
19:31
from? India.
19:33
>> Okay. Very nice. Our goal is to have at
19:35
least five takeout [music] locations in
19:38
Houston and then we're going to
19:39
duplicate this into Dallas [music]
19:41
Market, Austin Market, Chicago, Atlanta,
19:45
and then my ultimate goal is being in
19:47
New York Ready?
