Randy Schoch is somewhat of an expert on chain restaurants. Over the past two decades, he’s owned five Ruth’s Chris Steak Houses, three Roy’s and a Romano’s Macaroni Grill.

So when the Valley restaurateur decided to create his own casual Asian restaurant, is it any surprise it would take pages from two of the Valley’s most successful Valley-based chains?

The result is Ling & Louie’s Asian Bar & Grill, which opened in January on Shea Boulevard east of the Loop 101.

It’s hard not to compare its Asian-inspired menu to that of Pei Wei, the fast-casual spinoff of P.F. Chang’s China Bistro. The two aren’t exactly the same, but there’s a lot of similarity in their rice, noodle and speciality dishes.

And Ling & Louie’s playful attitude — right down to the servers’ T-shirts with corny slogans like “Rice to Meet You” — will remind a lot of people of Oregano’s, if somewhat more strained in its attempted humor.

The combination apparently works, at least for the mostly neighborhood crowd that fills Ling & Louie’s during the lunch and dinner hours, enjoying sumo-sized Kirin beers ($5.25) or two-person Frozen Thai Mais ($9.99)

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