Business Profile: Pizza Hut/TCBY, Mohegan Lake
Yorktown residents Parul and Mahendar Patel embody the American Dream.
Their first business, which they opened 16 years ago, was a small newsstand in the Jefferson Valley Mall. Today, they own four restaurants.
The Patels have been showing their gratitude to the community by donating 20 percent of their receipts from their newest business, a 72-seat Pizza Hut on Route 6 in Mohegan Lake, two days a week to various charities since they opened four months ago.
Aside from their Mohegan Lake establishments, the Patels also own a Taco Bell in Yorktown, but moved the accompanying TCBY to Mohegan Lake. The also own another Pizza Hut in West Haverstraw.
The couple’s two sons, Rolak and Jash, help out in the restaurants. Patel said she and her husband decided to open a Pizza Hut in Mohegan Lake “because of the traffic, (and) the location, location, location.”
The Patels have been in the restaurant business for the past 13 years. “The reason we opened our first (restaurant) business was because we love Taco Bell. We used to eat Taco Bell all the time,” Parul Patel said, adding that Taco Bell and Pizza Hut are both subsidiaries of the Yum! Brands Inc.
The couple does it part for the community through regular fund raising for many causes at their Mohegan Lake Pizza Hut every Monday and Thursday. “If you have a baseball team, a softball team or you want to have a charity for cancer (research), you can make up flyers, give them out to as many people as you can in the community,” she said.
Aside from benefiting the community, the fund raising efforts also provide opportunities to introduce their Pizza Hut to those who may not have dined there in the past, Patel said.
Patel said Pizza Huts sell more than just pizza. “Our main thing is pizza, but we have a lot of different chicken wings. We have pastas. We have a salad bar,” she said. There are two non-pizza items that are requested at her Pizza Hut, Patel said. “The most popular item is chicken wings,” Patel said. “The chicken alfredo pasta – a lot of people come for that.” Those are her two favorites, she added.
When the Patels owned a TBCY in Yorktown they would provide the frozen yogurt and toppings to customers. But at their Mohegan Lake store, the low and non-fat yogurts and sorbets are self-served and patrons put on the toppings of their choice.
Owning restaurants encompasses many obligations, Patel said. “We do everything,” she said. “We work bottom to top.”
Parul Patel was born in India and she and her husband came together via an arranged marriage She came to the United States with her husband in 1989.
The Patels travel to Indian once a year. Parul Patel was scheduled to fly to India on November 11 to stay with family members for a month.
She said a secret of the success of the businesses owned by herself and her husband was their personal touches. “With us you can always get service and we always can go to each table and meet people,” she said. “If there’s something wrong, we’re able to talk to people.”
Another thing the Patels want to be known for is their community service. “I just wanted to say thank you to the community. Because of their support I’m here,” she said.
Pizza Hut and TCBY are located on Route 6 in the shopping center near CVS.
