The Yues make Pacific Rim a home for all
RICH TROUT/NEWS-SUN
Ohana is Hawaiian for family.
In retrospect, 43 years is a long time for a family to form.
But it did.
The family has grown to cover most states, seven continents and perhaps the heavens.
In 1981, Joe and Sarah Yue got married despite being from different countries — Joe from Taiwan and Sarah from the Philippines.
A restaurant laborer in Taiwan and later restaurateur, Joe knows restaurants like no one else.
Now, his son, Thai Yue, is carrying on the exquisite food tradition after having his earliest memories in a restaurant. That restaurant, Pacific Rim on Joe Harvey Boulevard in Hobbs, is celebrating its 20th Anniversary.
“We didn’t want to be labeled as Chinese food,” Joe said last week.
The day before their anniversary celebration Oct. 26, Joe, Sarah and son, Thai, gathered in a tight-knit bond on a cool evening.
“We never forgot where we came from and where we are,” Joe said.
The couple’s son, Thai, has a technology background. Technology is Joe and Sarah’s only weak spot.
“I was very lucky my son came back from Sweden,” Joe said, chuckling about Thai’s overseas life.
Although Joe and Sarah have entered what can be described as semi-retirement, Joe said he plans to visit the restaurant fairly often.
“There are a lot of good people in Hobbs who want to see it grow; so, in return they supported us. They wanted to see Hobbs prosper,” Joe said.
Peking Restaurant is born
The Yues didn’t start with Pacific Rim. They started 23 years before their second restaurant, in a place called Peking Restaurant in Hobbs Plaza.
With that first risk, Joe and Sarah emboldened themselves to a risk-taking pattern that may pay off until the next century.
While Sarah attended nursing school at New Mexico Junior College during the day, and worked at night, the couple opened Peking Restaurant near Albertson’s.
As Joe and Sarah continued operating Peking Restaurant, they had to pay rent, which was starting to weigh heavy on their dreams.
“The rent kept going up and up,” Sarah said.
Serving traditional Chinese food, Peking Restaurant operated in an era when Sarah and Joe conducted all their business by hand using pen, pencil and paper.
When the Yues arrived in Hobbs, Sarah had an 18-month contract to work as a nurse at the former Lea Regional Medical Center on Lovington Highway.
The couple had their first house on Silver Street, allowing Sarah to walk to work through a back alley and run to Peking.
“I worked nights,” she said. “I studied and got nurse practitioner license in 1998. We had Peking, and we were all working, going to school, helping the restaurant. We all learned how to grow, that’s for sure.”
The fusion accelerates
Nearly 23 years after Peking Restaurant, the Yues’ ideas started to percolate big time.
“We had this idea to create the fusion style, and we looked for inspiration,” Joe said. “We brought ideas in.”
At Peking Restaurant, the couple had served mostly original Taiwanese street food. However, after Joe finished culinary school at Odessa College, he received a Culinary Arts & Food Service Management degree.
The restaurateur continued refining his art by completing dozens of classes through the International Culinary Institute.
What’s more, the Yues’ travels — always broadening — made a cosmic difference.
“We went to different cities and checked out Roy’s in each city,” Sarah said. “That’s how we came up with the name Pacific Rim. At the time there were not that many restaurants in Hobbs, but we thought people could go as far as California for the Pacific Rim and Asian cuisine with a European flair.”
“We had wine coming from Australia,” Sarah said proudly. “We wanted to encompass the Pacific Rim idea; we wanted to bring an experience to Hobbs that we usually don’t have in Hobbs.”
Singapore, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland, and Mexico are some of the countries the Yues have visited.
Pacific Rim is born
Joe and Sarah Yue decided to build a restaurant in the growing section of North Hobbs, during a time when only a few other businesses — Chili’s Grill & Bar and the Walmart Supercenter — were open nearby.
The Yues presented their concept to Sam Spencer, president of Lea County State Bank, who offered a business loan.
“We bought land on the north side because we thought the future was in this area,” Joe said.
Pacific Rim came to be in 2004.
“We tried to give people a little bit of diversity,” Sarah said. “We still kept the traditional dishes but added a fusion style.”
After opening for a day, the restaurant closed temporarily due to cascading operational crises.
Two weeks later, Pacific Rim re-opened, this time running tightly as a ship — pardon the water metaphor.
“We appreciate all the support over the years,” Joe said. “During COVID, we tried to help everyone through that, and local residents continued supporting us, and we recovered very fast.”
In addition, Joe had become an expert at making sauces.
“We wanted to serve wine,” Joe said, “so we went to wine and wine pairings, we took classes, and we hired a man from a Sushi school in California. We got the food Sushi-certified.”
“It was really a fun journey to come to where we are now,” Sarah said.
As the education continued with more conventions, seminars and classes, Joe and Sarah starting eating at different places around the country — then around the globe.
The fine art of success
Over 43 years, the Yues have been able to overcome every challenge they faced.
The only way they succeeded, Joe and Sarah agreed, is family — as in their Lea County family.
“We call Hobbs home because they support me and my family,” Joe said. “We made lots and lots of friends. Without those friends, we could never be here today.”
Decades of growth have made Sarah feel enriched beyond measure. She recalled having to learn about beer, wine and liquor when Pacific Rim opened.
“I truly enjoyed the process,” she said, “how to look at the wine, the clarity, learning all the things related to food and beverages. We’re blessed being here in Hobbs. In this food industry, we made so many good friends.”
And, of course, they always bring back ideas from overseas.
“Before COVID, we visited Scandinavian countries,” Sarah said. “We always pick something up, and we have a lot of friends here locally who are happy to bring their ideas.”
Karen Salb, former owner of Meciolak School of Dance, worked at Pacific Rim for 10 years, including as part-time manager.
After supporting the Yues for many years, Salb still sees them often.
“She truly loves art and she loves Hobbs,” Sarah said. “She wants to enrich the lives of the people in Hobbs. She loves to put together parties and events with live bands.”
‘Always tied up’
“I will always be tied up with this restaurant,” Joe said, noting Sarah has already disengaged herself.
“I tried to step down,” Joe admitted, “so it’s easier for me to transition to retirement. Thai took over the bookkeeping and computer work.”
“Their leadership is still very important to the restaurant and the company,” Thai interjected.
As the night wore on, Joe and Sarah emphasized they’ve had a really great staff for a number of years, including some who have helped 35 years.
“We have a lot of people who have gone through the restaurant as employees and are now friends,” Joe said. “The family is extensive; we’ve been extremely proud of everyone who came through. It’s always nice to reminisce with the former employees.”
One young man who worked as a dishwasher is now a boss, they said.
“We have nurses, teachers, doctors, lawyers, scientists who once worked here,” Joe said.
“We built it from the ground up,” Joe continued, “and we developed it through all different ideas, by brainstorming what it could be, and we traveled to a lot of cities.”
As the night waned, Joe and Sarah acted as if they didn’t want the interview to end.
“So many old friends come and go,” Joe said. “The second and third generations of Hobbs families have met me. It’s a small town, it’s a comfort; you’re in a comfortable environment.”
Ohana is Hawaiian for family.
