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Yong's
Customers who were sad when Yong’s Restaurant closed the doors at its downtown location can rejoice as the much-beloved eatery has returned.
What was once a landmark on Georgetown's Main Street is now at 118 Guelph St., near the intersection with Maple Avenue.
The business reopened in its new spot on Monday (Jan. 29), about six months after leaving the downtown core. And the response has been immediately positive. Despite the business being closed on Tuesdays (the day of the interview with the owners), customers still came through to take menus home.
“Some young people (customers) told me that my father or grandfather came here for years,” said Mei Li, who co-owns the restaurant with her husband Xinying Liang.
The couple says they were left with no choice but to move the restaurant last year as the cost of doing business was rising. Rent, inflation and food prices added to the strain. On top of that, the fire and health departments asked them to make some renovations.
It was determined that moving the business was the most economical option.The owners promise they'll be serving up the same menu that captured the hearts of Georgetown when the restaurant first opened in 1973.
“The only thing that has changed is the address,” emphasized Li.
Chinese food staples like different types of chow mein, chop suey, lo mein and egg foo young are present on the extensive menu. Lunch specials for $10 and “chef’s suggestions” will help the indecisive customer narrow down their choices. The restaurant's formula for success relates back to Yong’s founding owner, To Koi “Guy” Tse. When the current owners, who are from Hamilton, took over Yong’s in 2018, he gave them one simple piece of advice.
“When they first came from Hamilton, I told them, ‘Listen, forget about customer’s tastes in Hamilton. You must try to match the taste of people from Georgetown,’” Guy Tse told HaltonHillsToday.
“Mississauga has their own taste. Hamilton is the same, Toronto is the same and Georgetown is the same. They get used to your taste, you continue with it. But if you bring Hamilton taste to Georgetown, the people will reject it,” he added.
Tse recalls opening Yong's on March 1, 1973. Back then, it was called Fong’s Restaurant and it was owned by an acquaintance of his. That owner was opening another restaurant on Mountainview Road and, according to Tse, offered the future Yong’s Restaurant to him.
Tse said yes, as long as his predecessor taught him the restaurant business. He agreed. When it came time to open, the new establishment still needed a name. Tse borrowed the surname of his then-business partner, Kai Yong.
That partner decided the restaurant business wasn’t for him and left after three months, but the name Yong’s stuck.
Tse says he never took a day off during his 31 years as owner and chef of Yong’s, except for two days: When his eldest daughter graduated from Queen’s University and when his younger daughter graduated from the University of Toronto.
“We were open 364 days a year. We only closed on Christmas Day, but I was still working because that was the only day that I could clean up all the burners,” Tse said.
He proudly says that his daughters “grew up in the restaurant.” He even had a bed in the back area for them to sleep when they were little. That bed was traded out for a table for them to do their homework when they got older.
More information, including a menu, can be found on YongsGeorgetown.com.
What was once a landmark on Georgetown's Main Street is now at 118 Guelph St., near the intersection with Maple Avenue.
The business reopened in its new spot on Monday (Jan. 29), about six months after leaving the downtown core. And the response has been immediately positive. Despite the business being closed on Tuesdays (the day of the interview with the owners), customers still came through to take menus home.
“Some young people (customers) told me that my father or grandfather came here for years,” said Mei Li, who co-owns the restaurant with her husband Xinying Liang.
The couple says they were left with no choice but to move the restaurant last year as the cost of doing business was rising. Rent, inflation and food prices added to the strain. On top of that, the fire and health departments asked them to make some renovations.
It was determined that moving the business was the most economical option.The owners promise they'll be serving up the same menu that captured the hearts of Georgetown when the restaurant first opened in 1973.
“The only thing that has changed is the address,” emphasized Li.
Chinese food staples like different types of chow mein, chop suey, lo mein and egg foo young are present on the extensive menu. Lunch specials for $10 and “chef’s suggestions” will help the indecisive customer narrow down their choices. The restaurant's formula for success relates back to Yong’s founding owner, To Koi “Guy” Tse. When the current owners, who are from Hamilton, took over Yong’s in 2018, he gave them one simple piece of advice.
“When they first came from Hamilton, I told them, ‘Listen, forget about customer’s tastes in Hamilton. You must try to match the taste of people from Georgetown,’” Guy Tse told HaltonHillsToday.
“Mississauga has their own taste. Hamilton is the same, Toronto is the same and Georgetown is the same. They get used to your taste, you continue with it. But if you bring Hamilton taste to Georgetown, the people will reject it,” he added.
Tse recalls opening Yong's on March 1, 1973. Back then, it was called Fong’s Restaurant and it was owned by an acquaintance of his. That owner was opening another restaurant on Mountainview Road and, according to Tse, offered the future Yong’s Restaurant to him.
Tse said yes, as long as his predecessor taught him the restaurant business. He agreed. When it came time to open, the new establishment still needed a name. Tse borrowed the surname of his then-business partner, Kai Yong.
That partner decided the restaurant business wasn’t for him and left after three months, but the name Yong’s stuck.
Tse says he never took a day off during his 31 years as owner and chef of Yong’s, except for two days: When his eldest daughter graduated from Queen’s University and when his younger daughter graduated from the University of Toronto.
“We were open 364 days a year. We only closed on Christmas Day, but I was still working because that was the only day that I could clean up all the burners,” Tse said.
He proudly says that his daughters “grew up in the restaurant.” He even had a bed in the back area for them to sleep when they were little. That bed was traded out for a table for them to do their homework when they got older.
More information, including a menu, can be found on YongsGeorgetown.com.
