"We believe we're offering an $18 meal for $xx," says Arnie Shostak, president and founder of the Asian-themed noodle chain. "We give our customers the opportunity to experience the quality and service of white table cloth dining at a fraction of the cost."

Zyng's middle-of-the-road positioning among Asian chains has attracted notice. Early last summer, HMSHost Corporation approached the five-year-old chain about developing a Zyng concessions prototype to be used in airports and other transportation centers. The deal, which was finalized in October of 2002, gave HMSHost Zyng development rights in Atlanta, northern Virginia, and Albuquerque and put Zyng in the same company as Starbucks, Wolfgang Puck Express, and a host of other top fast-casuals under the HMSHost concessions umbrella.

The first HMSHost-owned Zyng is scheduled to open in 2003 at the Lester B. Pearson Airport in Toronto.

"We are most excited with the relationship established with HMSHost," says Shostak. "They saw one of our restaurants in Toronto, saw that it was cool, hip, and trendy, and knew we were on to something."

Including the units scheduled to open under the HMSHost deal, Shostak says he expects to see at least 200 new Zyng units go up in the United States by 2006. Five are already scheduled for 2003.

Average start-up costs for one 100 seat unit are estimated at $xxxxxx, but says Shostak, that number could potentially be lower if a franchisee chose one of the three smaller prototypes-common seating foodcourt, market setup, or kiosk-being developed.