Willow Glen, California Since 1992
Cafe Willow Glen
No Walls: Sister-and-brother team Anita Ku and Ben Lung opened the Great Wall Restaurant 12 years ago in the Willow Glen Shopping Center on Bird Avenue. Shown here are two of their specialties—shredded chicken salad and deep-fried hot and spicy prawns. Great Wall is slow-cooking its way to customers' palate By Staci L. Jameson With several Chinese food restaurants in the Willow Glen area, Anita Ku and her brother, Ben Lung, knew they had to do something different to make their food stand out. So what is being done to make the food special at the Great Wall Restaurant? "We don't fast cook our food in oil," says Ku. "We boil our meat to make it tender and then slow cook it in the sauce. You may have to wait a little longer, but the food is better, and better for you. You have to think healthy these days." Coming from Hong Kong in 1986, Ku joined her brother at his first restaurant, Ming's, in Fremont. "We bought the Great Wall in 1990. It started out slow, but we're very busy now. We have customers that don't mind waiting 30 minutes at times for a table," Ku says. With only two cooks, the food is always the same quality. "We had a friend come in and help cook one time when Ben had to go back to China. But the customers could tell the difference. They didn't complain, but they could tell," Ku says. "Now if our cooks can't come in, we don't open. Our customers like the way the food is prepared and we don't want to let them down," Ku adds. Being family-oriented means that holidays are family time. The restaurant is closed for major holidays, including four days at Christmas time. "We spend the holidays together and don't work. It's family time," Ku says. Ku and Lung are as loyal to their customers as their customers are to them. In a world where the motto "The customer is always right" seems to have been forgotten, The Great Wall bases their entire business on that belief. "We have many senior citizens who come here a lot. They know that we will take care of them and make sure they are happy. They like the extra touch of us trying to learn their names and greeting them when they come in," Ku says. The Great Wall has many other regular customers as well. It is a favorite lunchtime spot for some of the postal workers in the area, as well as some of the other local business owners. Every restaurant has its "house specialty," and Ku says that the Great Wall has two. "Our Chinese chicken salad and our war won ton soup are the best. Everyone who tries them likes them. Many people order that. It's healthy food," Ku says. "We don't use any of those big kitchen machines. We cut and slice all of our own meats and vegetables by hand. It looks nicer than if a machine does it," says Ku. Ku adds, "One thing that people really like is Ben's hot chili sauce. He makes it all from scratch. It takes a long time to make, but it adds fire to the dish. We don't put it on anything. We let the customers do it themselves since it's so hot." Ku says that many large groups visit the restaurant. Any party of more than eight should call for reservations to be sure that the big table is available. The Great Wall's menu is also available for take-out. The Great Wall Restaurant, 1409 Bird Ave., Suite 7. Open Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m.,4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Open Saturday, noon to 9 p.m. Closed Sunday. The restaurant will be closed the week of July 14-20. For more information, call 408-287.1688. |
Feedback, or story ideas for the Willow Glen Resident?
(Close this Window to go back to our home page.)
Copyright © SVCN, LLC. Maintained by GoGuys, Inc.