Buddha Bowls + Rolls is a new fast-casual restaurant in Sacramento, Calif., spearheaded by members of the Buckhorn BBQ + Grill, a fast casual serving California barbecue. Launched in March 2024, Buddha Bowls is one to watch. It crystalizes the opportunity for restaurant brands to dig into the modern movement called third-culture cooking, which explores the food of people raised outside their parents’ cultures. Buddha Bowls draws on its culinary team’s heritage, celebrating foods and flavors representative of the Asian-American experience.

“There is a niche of first-, second- and third-generation immigrants who have been in the United States long enough to have a holistic American experience, but with huge influences from the food traditions of their parents and grandparents,” says Justin Fong, food and beverage director of both Buckhorn and Buddha Bowls. “Between myself and my partners who also have Asian backgrounds, we thought launching this concept made sense. People want this.”

Buddha Bowls + Rolls translates third-culture cooking through a flavor-forward, creative menu of build-your-own spring rolls, noodle bowls, rice bowls and sandwiches, as well as fresh-squeezed sugarcane drinks, creative Vietnamese coffees and colorful teas. We sat down with Fong to talk about his thoroughly modern approach to flavor innovation.

Justin Fong

Katie Ayoub: What’s your creative process for developing new builds?
Justin Fong: At Buckhorn, we run on a three-month LTO cycle so I’m starting right off the bat at Buddha with the same—though we can definitely be nimbler, for sure. I’m constantly looking for different trends and different flavors that I enjoy, thinking through ways to bring them into sandwiches, bowls and so on. Right now we’re working on a version of larb but in cheesesteak form, with, of course, American cheese. So many of us Asian-American kids fell in love with American cheese when we were younger, so we like to throw that in where we can. Our marketing manager, Eilleen Le, is a second-generation Vietnamese-American. She’s 30 and always throws out ideas from Instagram. She’s helped us a lot with drink development

KA: What’s your bestseller at Buddha Bowls?
JF: The Build-Your-Own Spring Roll. One of our customers called us “the Asian Chipotle,” and they’re right. We give people choices; we make the menu approachable. We tell them exactly what’s going to be in their spring roll, and if they don’t like it, they can remove it and add ingredients they want. We have guests who order the Surf and Turf, which is our Vietnamese grilled pork and our koji shrimp. I think it’s successful because many people deep down have wanted to order that from a traditional Vietnamese restaurant, but they’re unsure of what to expect. Here, they are in control and get a personalized experience.

KA: Tell me about your latest LTO, the Smoked Char Siu Brisket, which guests can get in a fried rice dish or sandwich build.
JF: I love barbecue, and California is known for tri-tip. I wanted to bring in smoked brisket, adding a char siu glaze to it. Ours is sweet and savory, ideal for either the Big Buddha Sandwich or in our Brisket Fried Rice. I think everyone loves fried rice in some shape or form—it’s this homey, kind of comforting meal. The Brisket Fried Rice launched a few weeks ago. It’s taken over 30 percent of our rice bowl orders already, so that’s really good. And for the sandwich: We pair it with a red curry aïoli that is delicious—you don’t see it much outside of soups, but we really wanted to play around with it. It works so well here.

Photo Credit: Buddha Bowls + Rolls

In a recent LTO, Buddha Bowls + Rolls introduced Smoked Char Siu Brisket, available in two formats. The sandwich (left) is served with pickled carrots and daikon, cilantro, cucumber and jalapeños, along with a red curry aïoli spread. The Brisket Fried Rice (right) stars fried white rice with shredded carrots, onions, scallions, Chinese sausage and 12-hour Smoked Char Siu Brisket.

KA: What is your biggest challenge with flavor innovation?
JF: I think offering a comfortable price point is the big one. We’re really trying to protect everyday affordability while providing innovation and menu items that are new and exciting.

KA: Which trends are providing the most inspiration today?
JF: If we’re talking about flavor profiles that we’re really trying to focus on, I think the flavor of sweet umami is where we’re sitting now. Of course, we do lace in some heat, but I think that sweet umami is the profile where a lot of our menu design is going.

KA: Where are you deriving sweet and savory from?
JF: We’re using a lot of palm sugar, which offers a unique taste profile. We’re using a lot of oyster sauce, a lot of sweet soy sauce. We’re using black mushroom sauce, fermented shrimp paste, freeze-dried lemongrass, black vinegar. We’re finding different ways to build umami and balance it with complex sweet tones. To help build depth of flavor, we also use a touch of MSG. We’re so glad to see the taboo breaking around MSG.

KA: Buddha Bowls’ protein options are next level: Taiwanese Sausage, Grilled Koji Shrimp, Lemongrass Tri-Tip. How do you find the balance between lesser-known flavor profiles and familiar ones?
JF: Personalization of experience is key here. We get Taiwanese-Americans who are so excited to see the Taiwanese sausage on the menu—they are familiar with its flavor profile. For those who don’t know it, they’re willing to try it because they’re familiar with sausage. Our koji shrimp brings a lot of flavor and might be intimidating, but at our price point, guests are willing to give it a shot. Our approach with the koji shrimp is to boost flavor and give depth without relying on the sauce. We recently added a Thai lemongrass chicken sausage as a protein option that’s available for sandwiches, rice bowls and noodle bowls.

KA: Let’s talk about your beverage program. You have an array of sugarcane drinks and highlight its made-in-house freshness using a sugarcane press. Why feature it?
JF: About 18 months ago, I saw a video on Instagram of a guy using a sugarcane press from the back of a bike and before that, I’d seen sugarcane everywhere, from the Caribbean to the Middle East and Asia. When we started conceptualizing a fast-casual restaurant themed around Asian-American food, it made sense to highlight sugarcane drinks. It would be a great differentiator for us, pressing it in-house. We source our sugarcane from Vietnam. It’s really high quality and the freshness is second to none.

Photo Credit: Buddha Bowls + Rolls

Buddha Bowls + Rolls menus trend-forward beverages, including coffee and tea specialties, such as the Hawaiian Sea Salt Cold Brew and the Ube-Bae Matcha Latte, as well as sugarcane-sweetened drinks with flavors like calamansi and red dragon fruit.

QUICKFIRE

Source of inspiration:
I’m a late-night Instagram person, scrolling to unwind, so I end up finding a lot of inspiration just through my feed. Also, whenever I travel, I make it a point to just walk around aimlessly looking for interesting flavors.

Something in your fridge that would surprise people:
Oh, I love duck eggs. We get them from a local duck farm. When I come home from work, I like stuff that’s super simple: I scramble them with a little bit of salt and eat it with lavash.

Cuisine or ingredient you’re particularly excited to explore:
I’m exploring Asian flavors right now, working on an Asian smash burger, a Thai cheese steak and a Korean cheese steak, as well as a Korean chopped cheese.

Your go-to late-night snack:
Salted fish and chicken-fried rice from a good Cantonese restaurant.

Best bite you’ve had recently:
I went to Emmer & Rye in Austin, Texas, and had the beef carpaccio with a dill ranch salad on top. It was amazing.