Restaurateur has no beef about name change

By Cindy Wojdyla Cain Sun-Times News Group Vince Viriyakul thinks he has found a creative way to beef up sales at his restaurant on Joliet's West Side. The 27-year-old Plainfield man said he will legally change his name to Vince Beef, or Mr. Beef to you, if he gets 2,000 fans on his restaurant's Facebook page. "We're doing everything we can to spread the word," said Viriyakul, who owns Mr. Beef and Gyros at 2302 Essington Road. "You've go to do something crazy every once in a while." Since he took over the restaurant in February, Viriyakul said friends and associates started calling him "Mr. Beef." So he figured he might as well make it official. Mr. Beef's Facebook fans will get coupons and special offerings for "friending" the business. The Facebook challenge is just one ingredient in Viriyakul's promotional menu. He also has created a Web site - www.mrbeefgyros.com - printed up Mr. Beef T-shirts, created daily sandwich specials and attended local fests and fairs. He also has a dine-in promotion - buy five sandwiches, get the sixth free. "I've been looking for different ways of networking, and the Internet is the main source for that nowadays," he said. "And with Facebook, everybody is on there." Viriyakul, a 2000 Bolingbrook High School graduate who has a degree from Northwestern Business College, said the restaurant wasn't doing well when he took over. But now things are picking up. "It's like we're basically starting from scratch," he said. "We're seeing progress. Everyone who comes in here tells us the food is better." Whether or not the promotion boosts sales, one thing is certain - beef is easier to pronounce than Viriyakul.