After seeing the need for a new, fresh and fast take on Asian food in town, one business owner took the matter into her own hands and opened Joshelle’s Teriyaki House.
Loida Nacpil, longtime owner of Furniture Warehouse, visited a teriyaki place in Las Vegas with her son, whom the business is named after and was inspired to bring a similar business to town.
She was impressed with the quality, price and how quickly they were able to get their food to enjoy it.
“I wanted to open a new door to a new restaurant that this town doesn’t have,” Nacpil said. “I wanted to offer fresh food that is easy and affordable.”
Nacpil explained that she enjoys the type of food Joshelle’s serves so it made it an easy decision to create the new business venture.
“I am Asian and I love teriyaki food,” she said.
Joshelle’s Teriyaki House, located at 1330 S. Highway 160, Suite A, joined the Pahrump Chamber of Commerce and marked the occasion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nov. 11.
Having the business added to the chamber was important to Nacpil, as she thinks networking is key to a business’ success in town.
“Anytime you open a business you need all these people to support you and that is what the chamber of commerce did with me,” she said. “I think it’s a very good thing to be part of owning a small business in town. It means everybody is uniting when it comes to opening a new business.”
Three specific areas came across Nacpil’s mind when considering the new business venture.
“First off, the abundance of food, it’s enough to fill up those who come to eat here,” she said. “The consistency of the food and then the good price of the food.”
Adding to the restaurant repertoire of the town was a key factor for Nacpil as well as she explained there aren’t very many places in Pahrump similar to Joshelle’s.
“There are a lot of Mexican places in town and one Chinese place and that’s basically it,” Nacpil said.
The restaurant business is nothing new to Nacpil as she grew up with their family owning a restaurant and her father being a chef.
“We grew up with a good taste in our mouth, so we knew what good food was supposed to taste like,” she said. “So we knew what we were looking for growing up in the business.”
During its initial weeks of operation, Nacpil said that the response has been mainly positive.
“So far we have had a very warming crowd,” she said. “They came out and supported us on our first day. The customer base is growing on a daily basis and people are wanting to come in here now more and we have repeat customers.
“It’s been a good, overwhelming response and that’s very good.”
Although it’s only been open for a short time, Nacpil said that future plans are in their early stages already, but she wants to wait to jump at those opportunities once the business stabilizes.
“We hope for this to become a chain,” she said. “Somebody already offered us to go into Beatty. So hopefully in the future it becomes a chain.”
For more information on Joshelle’s Teriyaki House give them a call at 775-513-3358. It is located in the space formerly occupied by GEMS Cafe.
Contact reporter Mick Akers at makers@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @mickakers