By Stephanie Harter & Joyce Li
Restaurant Background
Imperial Chinese Garden is a long-standing Chinese restaurant in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Originally established in 1979, the restaurant is known for blending authentic Szechuan and Mandarin-style cuisine with flavors that appeal to Western tastes.
This restaurant offers a wide range of amenities, including delivery, takeout, reservations, vegetarian options, and even catering services. The dining experience is complemented by a serene atmosphere, featuring elegant Asian décor and a central wishing fountain, making it suitable for both family gatherings and casual meals.
The menu at Imperial Chinese Garden is extensive, featuring an array of appetizers, soups, pork, chicken, beef, seafood, house specials, vegetables, Thai dishes, fried rice, lo mein noodles, egg foo young, chop suey, and imperial dinners. Signature fusion dishes like the twice-cooked pork, triple delight, and bok choy are well-known for their traditional flavors while catering to Western palates.
Observations
When we arrived to Imperial Chinese Garden, we parked in a spacious parking lot outside the front of the restaurant. We walked in and the sitting area was nicely decorated with various potted plants, ornate seating, and Chinese decorations. After walking further into the restaurant, there was a front desk with a cash register and a full wall mirror behind the desk. This area was decorated similarly to the rest of the restaurant, with nice Chinese decorations and a few small plants. Once inside the dining area, we saw a nice fountain in the middle of the room that had decorative ducks around it. In this area, as well as the waiting area, there were small tables set up that held to-go boxes, napkins, condiments, and utensils. The background music was mostly peaceful instrumental music. There was a good variety including some Chinese songs, some more classical-sounding songs, some jazzy songs, and a little Latin music. When put together, the music and decorations created a relaxed, banquet atmosphere.
As for the menu, we noticed that the menu was fully in English and had mainly American Chinese food items. It also had some Thai food selections and a few more “authentic” Chinese dishes like Mapo tofu. We also found it interesting that this Chinese restaurant had chicken wings on the menu. We ordered a variety of dishes (shown in the picture above), and the food was brought out on a food trolley rather than a server bringing the dishes out on a big serving tray. Additionally, we noticed that many of the plates/dishes were decorated to mimic Chinese blue glaze porcelain. Most of the dishes were ceramic, but there were a few that were plastic.
See the video at the end of the post for a visual walkthrough of the restaurant.
Wei Huang
Wei Huang, the current owner of Imperial Chinese Garden, moved to America alone at 19 in 2002, following friends and relatives who had already immigrated. Initially settling in New York with relatives, she faced the challenge of adapting to a new country without speaking English.
She had difficulty finding work due to the language barrier, so she started slowly learning English and secured her first job in a restaurant. She found that she missed her parents and found it difficult to adjust to living in a new country. “很想爸爸妈妈。很幸苦。” She didn’t have many expectations of American before arriving, other than knowing it wouldn’t be easy. “刚开始比较辛苦但是在这了如果努力工作就会有收获。” Because she believed that working hard would bring success, she continued to push through any challenges she faced as she became accustomed to life in America.
Within the year, she moved from New York to Georgia and remained in the food service industry. Eventually in 2009, she purchased an Americanized-Chinese restaurant in Columbus, Georgia. She ran this restaurant with her family for about 10 years as a way to provide a stable life for her children. However, she found that Columbus was not a convenient place to buy Chinese ingredients. Additionally, there was hardly any Chinese population there, so she decided to sell it. In 2019, she purchased Imperial Chinese Garden after discovering the restaurant during a food purchase. At the time, the restaurant’s long-standing reputation and loyal customer base made it a promising opportunity.
Running a restaurant has not been without challenges. In Columbus, because the Chinese population was so small, she had some challenges with choosing dishes that appealed to Western tastes and preferences. More recently with her second restaurant, COVID-19 happened right after she bought the restaurant, making business struggle. She says she’s continued to struggle with prices and wages being high and being unable to make the prices of the dishes too high. There is a balance that she has to consider when making any changes. Especially since Chinese food is generally cheaper, despite having good quality ingredients, if dishes are sold for too high of a price, they would lose customers. “虽然我们用的材料都是好的，因为中餐普遍价格比较低，如果我们卖太高，客人不会理解。”
When she bought Imperial Chinese Garden, she chose to keep many things the same, recognizing the importance of preserving the dishes and flavors familiar to longtime customers. When asked about maintaining authenticity, Wei Huang explained that Americanized Chinese food has generally been the formula for a successful “Chinese” restaurant in America, so she never really considered including authentic Chinese dishes without it being some sort of fusion dish. She said when opening a restaurant, she needs to consider the demographics of the area. If there are many Han Chinese in the area, then she could have and might have opened an authentic Chinese food restaurant, however, because she’s lived in places in Georgia with a minimal number of Han Chinese people, she always run Americanized-Chinese food restaurants. “开餐厅是需要看区域，如果这个地方有跟多汉人，然我就开地道中餐，如果没有那么多中国人，我就开美式中餐。”
In terms of Wei Huang’s experience of assimilating into America and running a restaurant, she’s faced many hardships and struggles. At the beginning it was extremely difficult for her. “刚开始的时候非常难因为什么都不许西。新的人，新的国家，新的语言。” There were times when she faced small amounts of discrimination or racism. Despite these challenges, Wei Huang has found a far greater majority that enjoy her restaurant as well as a small community within Georgia. To get her through tough times, she has kept the mindset of working hard to provide a good and better life for her children. “家庭，就是为了家庭，一切困难都不是困难。为了小孩明天更好”
As a last piece of advice to someone just starting out as an immigrant or small business owner, Wei Huang says to learn to endure hardships. “学会要吃苦，赶来的时候什么都会难。”
Interview conducted by Joyce Li, analysis done by Stephanie Harter