Man Responsible for Bringing Mongolian Barbecue to America Has Died | Eater LA

"I learned that John C. Lee is widely credited with introducing Mongolian barbecue to Los Angeles and the U.S. in the late 1960s by opening Colonel Lee’s Mongolian BBQ; he popularized a format where diners choose ingredients from an all-you-can-eat buffet line and hand them to the cooks for a customized Mongolian barbecue experience, and the franchise expanded throughout Los Angeles and California before all Colonel franchise locations ultimately closed. Lee also launched related businesses—designing and manufacturing Mongolian barbecue grills—and founded Colonel Lee’s Enterprises (later T&T Foods), sold the enterprise and retired the brand in 1989. He died at 95 of natural causes in Encino on January 2 and is remembered for successfully franchising and mass-marketing Mongolian barbecue in the U.S." - Mona Holmes