His name's at steak in beefy Facebook wager

JOLIET -- Vince Viriyakul thinks he has found a creative way to beef up sales at his West Side restaurant.

The 27-year-old Plainfield man said he will legally change his name to a meatier moniker -- 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; attended locals fests and fairs; and launched 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 business degree from Northwestern College, said the restaurant wasn't doing well when he took over. But now things are picking up a little.

"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."

Viriyakul said when he travels to other states, he misses the type of food he's used to eating back home.

"Every time I would leave here, I started Jonesing for some greasy food," he said.

That's what Mr. Beef is all about, he added, though there are now veggie sandwiches and meatless gyros for noncarnivorous customers, too. The restaurant's most popular items are gyros and hotdogs. But the menu also includes pork chop sandwiches, Italian sausage, Polish sausage, BLT, poorboys, hamburgers, fish and salads.

Viriyakul said Mr. Beef has about 80 Facebook friends so far. (To find the page, go to www.facebook.com and search Mr. Beef.) He's convinced he can hit the 2,000 mark eventually.

"It will be fun getting people to talk about my restaurant," he said. "If I have to change my name to do it, I will do it."

Whether or not the promotion boosts sales, one thing is certain -- Beef is easier to pronounce than Viriyakul.