All throughout May, WTOP is celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with stories about the people and places shaping the D.C. region.
When he opened Peking Gourmet Inn in a small Falls Church, Virginia, strip mall nearly five decades ago, Eddy Tsui had a simple vision.
The key to any successful restaurant, he believed, is food and service.
The food has to be consistent, rather than leaving returning customers wondering why their meal tastes different than it did during a previous visit. The service has to be stellar, with an emphasis on relationship-building rather than putting a plate down on a table and walking away.
While D.C. works to revitalize Chinatown and preserve its history, Tsui’s restaurant, which his son George Tsui now owns, has been drawing guests from around the region, and the globe, for almost 49 years.
They’ve never spent money on advertising, relying more so on word-of-mouth and appearances from a series of high-profile guests. On the restaurant’s walls, there are photos of former President George W. Bush, Lara Trump, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, countless generals and lawmakers and Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin.
A large round table sitting behind a bulletproof window is reserved for VIPs, but George’s vision is to make everyone feel like one.
“Customers return, and I get to know their name and get to know each other, just like a good friend,” George said. “That is my best part of my business.”
He said the restaurant strives for consistency, which he often stresses over. He organizes weekly meetings with kitchen staff and servers to review customer feedback and address any lingering concerns.
The restaurant has had the same chef for 38 years, George said. His father decided that because they had the land, they should use it to grow key ingredients that create distinct flavors.
On a farm in Purcellville, they grow Chinese jumbo spring onions that are used in the restaurant’s signature dish, Peking duck. They also grow garlic sprouts, which are often stir fried with pork, chicken or shrimp.
“Maintaining the quality of the food is one of the most difficult things,” George said. “You come in, all the dishes, you like it. If the next time you come in, and order the same thing again, if it’s different you will feel, ‘Huh, it’s changed.” That thing is the most difficult part, to maintain the qualities.”
But Mei Wang, who started as a server and is now a manager, said the emphasis on service helps them uphold their reputation too.
In many restaurants, Wang said, servers put a plate on the table and leave. At Peking Gourmet Inn, servers wrap the duck and strategically determine when to set food down.
Their focus, she said, regardless of whether it’s a return customer or well-known guest, is making sure “if you come into our restaurant, we want you to enjoy the food, enjoy the service.”
Even during the pandemic, when restaurants in Virginia weren’t allowed to serve seated guests, George said there was a line wrapped around the corner for takeout.
They often get reservation requests well in advance, sometimes from callers as far away as Korea. Over the summer, as they talk to guests, wait staff learn many are visiting from out of town. But there are many regulars, too.
As diners in the D.C. region face an increasing number of choices, George said their fundamentals set them apart. They’ve never considered opening a second location, and continue to execute his father’s vision.
“My father had a principle — concentrate on one (restaurant) at one point,” George said. “When you put your service and food and everything in one focus at one point in one restaurant, your result will be better. That’s actually true.”
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