Restaurant · Guide Updated September 2026

How Justin and Dom Launched a Successful Restaurant During the Pandemic

Opening a restaurant is hard. Opening one mid-pandemic, in a space you took possession of in February 2020 and were still finishing when lockdowns hit in March, sounds like a disaster. Justin and Dominic did exactly that with Potluck Hawker Eatery on Cambie Street in Vancouver, and they opened to lines out the door.

Here is how they made it work, and what you can take directly into your own operation.

What Is Potluck Hawker Eatery and Why Does the Concept Matter?

Hawker markets are among the most visited food destinations in Southeast Asia. Dozens of stalls, all the regional flavors you love, under one roof. Justin and Dom’s insight was simple: bring all of that under one roof in Vancouver, but do it with a small, curated menu instead of trying to replicate the scale of an actual hawker market.

The concept is built around Malaysian, Thai, and Filipino flavors, with cooks from Burma, Vietnam, and other parts of Southeast Asia contributing to the menu. The name “Potluck” reflects that directly. It is a coming together of different Southeast Asian cuisines, not a single-country restaurant.

The food stays casual and affordable. The average ticket runs $15. That price point is not an accident. It reflects the hawker spirit, food that is meant for a quick lunch, a takeout order, or a shared meal with family. Potluck is open Wednesday through Sunday, lunch from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM and dinner from 5 PM to 8:30 PM.

How Did They End Up Opening in the Middle of a Pandemic?

They took possession of the space in February 2020. By mid-March, when COVID broke out in Vancouver, they were roughly 65% complete with renovations. There was no turning back.

The previous operator had left the space in rough shape. Justin described walking in for the first time and nearly crying, not from excitement but from shock. There was trash everywhere, giant stockpots of moldy stock still sitting on the burners, food rotting in the fridge. It looked like the previous owner had walked out mid-service and never came back.

That cleanup and renovation process was already expensive and emotionally draining before COVID hit. When it did, they had to rethink everything about how they were going to open and operate. But they were past the point of pulling back on finishes or cutting the build short. They pushed through, completed the build, and opened in April 2020.

What Made the Timing Work in Their Favor?

This is the part most people miss when they hear this story.

Justin is direct about it: the timing that looked terrible actually worked for them. By the time they were ready to open, people were hungry for something fresh and new. Neighbors had been watching the space take shape for weeks. People were already stopping by before the doors opened to say how excited they were.

The neighborhood on Cambie Street, known for smaller boutique shops and restaurants, was ready for them. The community showed up.

Justin also credits the accessible concept. Casual, affordable, and built around fresh daily prep. That combination travels well in uncertain times. People were not looking for a reservation-only tasting menu. They wanted something vibrant, comforting, and worth the trip.

Why a Small, Rotating Menu Is a Strategic Advantage

Potluck runs separate lunch and dinner menus and rotates items regularly. They are not afraid to pull a popular dish to make room for something new. For operators used to building a static menu and defending it, this sounds uncomfortable. Justin treats it as a feature, not a risk.

Part of it is physical constraint. Small kitchen, limited fridge space, limited freezer space. Because the kitchen is tight, they have to prep day by day and sell what they make. That forces freshness and reduces waste. The limitation became a discipline.

The bigger reason is creative. Justin wants the menu to keep moving because that is how the team grows. He brings cooks into the creative process. Their input shapes what goes on the menu. A cook from the Philippines or Vietnam has something to contribute that Justin alone cannot offer. That collaboration is intentional.

He has a clear view on chefs who hoard their recipes and protect their signature dishes like trade secrets. His take is blunt: that is how you stop growing. The moment you decide one dish is what made you successful, you have stopped pushing yourself. For Justin, the goal is never to coast on a single item. It is to keep building.

How Their Branding and Aesthetics Reinforce the Food

The interior of Potluck is not what most people expect from a Southeast Asian restaurant in North America. No grungy aesthetic, no dim lighting designed to signal “authenticity” in the tired way. The space is colorful, fresh, and deliberately fun.

The ingredient bottles and sauces that line the walls are not decoration. They are what the kitchen uses every single day. The display is both practical and meaningful. For a lot of their customers, especially those from Southeast Asian backgrounds, seeing those bottles triggers a real memory. That is what they used at home. That moment of recognition builds connection faster than any sign or description can.

Dom, who handles more of the business side, has always loved cooking. He met Justin while working in his kitchen, stayed for over a year, then went back to his home country to run his own restaurants before returning to Vancouver. When he came back, the two decided to build something together. That combination of a career chef and someone with both cooking knowledge and business orientation shows in how Potluck operates.

What Their $15 Ticket Teaches You About Positioning

At $15 average ticket, Potluck is not competing with fine dining or even mid-range sit-down restaurants. It is positioned directly against fast casual, but with the quality and creativity of a serious kitchen. That gap is the whole play.

They are not trying to be Banana Leaf or any other Malaysian restaurant with an extensive multi-page menu. They are something narrower and more focused. That focus lets them execute at a high level on everything they serve, change the menu with confidence, and keep food costs in check through tight daily prep.

For anyone thinking about opening a concept right now, that positioning logic is worth sitting with. Casual, affordable, and genuinely fresh is a combination that is hard to beat in any economic climate.

How Community Connection Drove Their Launch

Before Potluck opened, people in the neighborhood were already engaged. They came by during construction, asked questions, said they were excited. Justin and Dom leaned into that. They were themselves. They did not try to be something they were not or position the restaurant through marketing language. They just communicated what they were making and who they were.

The result was a launch with lines out the door and a social media presence that, as of early 2021, had made Potluck genuinely Instagram-famous in Vancouver. That happened without a launch campaign or a PR firm. It happened because the concept was specific, the food was real, and the people behind it were genuinely excited to give something back to the community they were cooking in.

Justin is clear that opening a restaurant was never a childhood dream for him. He burned out on bistros and Italian food after years of training and just kept learning. At some point, he realized he only wanted to go deeper into the food from his roots. Malaysia, Singapore, the flavors he grew up with. That shift from “cooking as a career” to “cooking as something I actually want to explore” is what made Potluck possible.

The Bottom Line

Potluck Hawker Eatery proves that concept clarity, honest positioning, and a tight operation can overcome almost any external circumstance, including a global pandemic. A $15 average ticket, a rotating small menu, a collaborative kitchen, and a genuine connection to the neighborhood were enough to build lines out the door on opening day. Justin’s operating principle is worth writing on your wall: the moment you decide one dish is what made you successful, you have stopped growing. Keep the menu moving, bring your team into the creative process, and let the food speak for itself.

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