Can a neighborhood favorite survive with a chain next door?
By CRYSTAL PETROCELLI
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Of all the strip malls in all the towns in all the East Valley, Pei Wei walks into mine.

That thought must have crossed manager Young Truong’s mind when he heard his 18-month-old, fast-friendly Asian restaurant, Talk of the Town, would have a too-close-for-comfort competitor moving in Monday.

“It was a rumor last year, but I didn’t believe it,” Young says of the first time he heard Pei Wei — a cheap, quick cousin of P.F. Chang’s China Bistro — was opening roughly 100 yards away on the same southeast corner of Guadalupe Road and McClintock Drive in Tempe.

“I talked to (TOTT’s) owner, I said, ‘Give me six months,’ because they kind of panicked when Pei Wei moved in,” Young says of the Valley-based chain,which boasts 63 stores in 11 states.

“I said, ‘I love this place, I love my customers and I don’t want you to give up so easily.’ They said, ‘OK, I trust you’ and ‘Do your job.’”

“There’s a lot of pressure on me, but I feel very confident,” Young says. “I’m not concerned about Pei Wei next door. I’m not, you know? I mean we have customers joke, they say, ‘Young, tell them bring it on!’”

Jason Arlt, a P.F. Chang’s employee, may be one such customer.

The Tempe resident eats at TOTT’s three times a week and says he thinks Pei Wei's decision to open so close was unfair.

“I’m a little angry about them moving in next door,” says Arlt, who says he's been to Pei Wei once and thinks TOTT’s has better food and bigger portions.

Andy Cicchillo of Tempe also has dined at both of the quick-casual Chinese concepts.

“(TOTT’s) is friendlier, a little more casual — you know, laid back. Not as hectic (as Pei Wei),” Cicchillo says as he waits for an order of orange-peel chicken.

Young says TOTT’s averages 150 to 200 customers a day and he doesn’t think that will change.

“I said to my customers, ‘We do the best we can.’ If customers love my food, they’ll be back. I’m not looking upon it in a negative way, I’m going to look at it in a positive way. It may be better for us, you never know,” Young says.

Calls to Russell Owens, president of Pei Wei, were not returned.

Talk of the Town Asian Diner
Where: 1817 E. Guadalupe Road, Tempe
Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Entrees: $5.25 to $8.25
Information:

Pei Wei Asian Diner
Where: 1825 E. Guadalupe Road, Tempe
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday
Entrees: $6.25 to $9
Information: