NEW YORK -- With its shallow cardboard bowls of food, modern-looking white-tiled walls and smooth wooden tables Junzi Kitchen could easily pass for a branch of Chipotle, a chain of Mexican restaurants that has popularized the fast-casual business model across the U.S.
Like Chipotle, Junzi Kitchen combines the no-frills efficiency of a fast-food franchise and the quality promise of a sit-down restaurant. But instead of burritos, customers at this restaurant near New York's Columbia University line up for northern Chinese wraps called chun bing and knife-cut noodles flavored with bean sprouts and chili oil.
