The success of Hong Kong Garden can be attributed to two key ingredients: consistency and family. The restaurant, which celebrated its 46th anniversary in April and is a perennial winner in the magazine’s Best of Lancaster Readers’ Survey, has established a solid reputation for mixing great food and service with a welcoming family atmosphere.

After 35 years of owning Hong Kong Garden, Steve and Susan Quan have come to view their customers as extended family members. “We’re a family restaurant, and we’re lucky to have both loyal regular customers and generational customers. We’ve seen several generations of families, including one or two five-generation families, and that’s really great,” says Steve. “Some customers may have moved away, but they’ll visit us when they come back in the area for a visit or if they move back,” Susan adds.

Susan’s parents, Wing Kai and Ping Wan “Jennie” Mak, started the business in 1980. The Quans assumed ownership in 1991. Like her parents, Susan and Steve are hands-on owners – you’ll always find one of them at the restaurant. Although their two children had worked at the restaurant during school and college breaks, both are currently pursuing different career paths. However, both Susan and Steve say they’re welcome to return to the family business if they so desire. “It’s what we did. We both have degrees and were working outside of the restaurant when we married in 1990,” Susan explains. “A year later my dad became ill, and we were asked if we wanted to run the restaurant.”

At the time, Steve was employed full time as a chemical engineer. After some consideration, the couple agreed to take over the family business. Ownership entailed defining their roles – Susan at the “front” of the house, with Steve focusing on the “back of the house” or kitchen. “As a chemical engineer, he was used to following formulas; here he was using food ingredients instead of chemicals,” Susan says with a smile.

Looking back, Steve recalls that time period as being a hectic one. He not only continued to commute to his full-time job, but he also was learning the workings of the restaurant from his father-in-law. 

The secret to Hong Kong Garden’s longevity is rather simple: providing generous portions of great-tasting food at reasonable prices. The menu is extensive and features what both Steve and Susan call “the basics” of Chinese food, including fried rice and chow mein. Top sellers include hot and sour soup, General Tso’s chicken and egg rolls, the filling for which is made from scratch. “For egg rolls, we slice and chop vegetables onsite,” Steve says. Fresh, high-quality ingredients are also an important part of the equation. Ingredients are increasingly being sourced locally, including in-season vegetables such as asparagus.

Every meal is prepared fresh to order, which also allows for custom requests to meet special dietary needs or to tweak the spiciness of a dish. For example, steamed entrées may be ordered without sauce. “We’ve been getting a lot more requests for vegan and gluten-free dishes. About 80% of our menu items can be made gluten-free,” Susan explains. “The important thing is to let us know.” 

Over the years, Susan also has seen a shift in dine-in versus take-out preferences. “We’ve always offered take-out, but in the past several years, there’s been a shift and we’ve been getting a lot more of take-out requests. I think people now think of take-out as a fun way to share a meal with the family at home,” she says.

For customers who wish to dine-in, Susan says reservations are always a good idea, especially for a large party. “We can have a table ready for them and make them feel welcome. It’s also helpful for our staff; we want to provide excellent service to all our customers,” she says. Speaking of staff, consistency applies here as well. “We have a number of long-time staff members,” Steve notes.  

Hong Kong Garden is located at 1807 Columbia Avenue (Wheatland Shopping Center), Lancaster. Both lunch and dinner are served. Hours are Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday, 11:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m., Friday, 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Saturday, noon-9:30 p.m. Reservations are suggested. Take-out available. Phone 717-394-4336 or visit hongkonggardenpa.com.