UCLA alum, students open Chinese restaurant Top Leaf in Westwood

Chun Lin Tang decided to open a Chinese restaurant in Westwood Village after three years at UCLA with unfulfilled cravings for authentic Chinese food.

The new restaurant, Top Leaf, opened Monday at 952 Gayley Ave., a few doors down from In-N-Out Burger. Tang, a UCLA alumnus, is one of the restaurant’s four owners, two of whom are fourth-year students at UCLA. The four owners all grew up in China.

Tang said the owners named the restaurant Top Leaf because the menu starts with a list of authentic Chinese teas that are freshly brewed, without powders or bags.

“Everything is handmade fresh at Top Leaf,” Tang said.

The restaurant serves traditional Chinese items, including noodle bowls, fried rice and steamed buns.

Agnes Yicong Liu, a fourth-year economics student and an investing partner for Top Leaf, said the most intimidating part of opening the store was hiring chefs who are older and more experienced in the restaurant business.

“We interviewed 10 chefs, some of whom had run their own restaurants before,” Liu said. “Each person had their own ideas, and we chose the two that had the closest vision to ours. I’ve been very happy working with them.”

Some students shared the owners’ enthusiasm for access to authentic Chinese food close to UCLA.

“As a Chinese American at UCLA, I think Westwood lacks genuine Chinese cuisine,” said Eunice Song, a first-year fine arts student. “I can’t wait to try it.”

There is only one other Chinese restaurant in Westwood Village, First Szechuan Wok. First Szechuan Wok’s owner could not be reached for a comment after six phone calls over the weekend.

Other students said they would have preferred a different kind of restaurant to come to Westwood Village. First-year economics student Kate Jarvis said she thinks more vegetarian restaurants like Veggie Grill would better cater to students.

Tang said the easiest part of setting up the new restaurant was finding the storefront. He added that the previous business in the space was not doing well financially, so he asked the owner to transfer the lease to him.

After securing the site, he spent 15 months attending meetings and discussing with officials before opening the restaurant. Top Leaf’s plan first had to be approved by city officials, and then Tang had to obtain the necessary permits to convert the location from a retail store to a restaurant.

He said one challenge for the owners was figuring out how to arrange parking for the restaurant. In a series of meetings over five months, the owners and the Westwood Neighborhood Council discussed different options for the store to secure the mandated three parking spaces. He and the council compromised on a monthly package of validations for customers, he added.

The four owners invested about $180,000 in the restaurant, more than half of which came from Tang.

Liu said she believes Top Leaf will succeed because she has faith in Tang’s business decisions.

“I have very strong confidence in his idea because it’s a niche market,” Liu said. “It’s good timing and a great opportunity because we don’t have many competitors.”

Ziyi Lian, a fourth-year mathematics and civil engineering student and a partner in the restaurant, said he believes Top Leaf will be financially profitable because he thinks the food will appeal to students.

The owners originally intended to target the Asian community at UCLA, but after two test runs last week for friends, they said they were surprised that people of various ethnicities said they liked the food.

Liu will take over management of the restaurant when Tang returns to China next year.