Newspaper Page Text
The Champion, Thursday, Feb. 19 - 25, 2015
BUSINESS
Page 17A
Restaurant brings
a bit of China to
Chamblee
by Kathy Mitchell
On a Saturday morning well
before traditional lunchtime,
Oriental Pearl Seafood Restau
rant in Chamblee is filled almost
to capacity. Staff members move
through the 350-seat restaurant
pushing carts of dumplings, ap
petizers, soups, vegetables and
other Chinese specialties as
owner Fanny Lee greets custom
ers, many of whom she knows by
name.
“This is more than a place to
eat,” explained Doris Chia, Lee’s
daughter, who works part time at
the restaurant. “It’s almost like a
club. There are people who come
in every week, even every day
or every other day. People walk
around to speak to others they
see here regularly.”
Chia said her mother has
worked hard to create the friend
ly atmosphere at Oriental Pearl
Seafood Restaurant. “That’s the
way she wants it. She wants ev
eryone here to feel comfortable
and welcome,” she said.
The family moved from
Hong Kong more than 40 years
ago when a family friend whom
Chia describes as “like a brother
to my father” asked them to
come and help at his restaurant.
“My dad (who died two years
ago) was a cook and my mom
was a waitress at first. They
learned the business from the
ground up before they opened
their own restaurant,” Chia said.
During the 10 years Oriental
Pearl Seafood Restaurant has
been on New Peachtree Road, it
has done well, according to Chia.
“Like everyone else, we saw a
decline in business when the na
tional economy was in a slump,”
she said, “but many big restau
rants closed during that time.
We had many loyal customers
and were able to keep going.”
The restaurant is popular
with people, of Chinese an
cestry but also attracts other
nationalities, Chia said. “There
is an Indian business organiza
tion that meets here regularly,”
she noted, adding that many
American families that have
adopted Chinese children bring
them to Oriental Pearl Seafood
Restaurant to provide them a
link to their ethnic heritage and
Chinese students at Emory and
other area colleges bring class
mates to introduce them to their
native foods.
The manifestation of Chi
nese culture goes beyond the
food. Many customers spend
hours sipping tea and reading
the several Chinese language
newspapers that the restaurant
makes available, Chia said. Dur
ing Chinese New Year—which is
Feb. 19 this year and is typically
celebrated for a period of ap
proximately 10 day—the restau
rant features traditional holiday
entertainment such as lion danc
ers who are scheduled to appear
on Feb. 21.
Despite the name, the menu
includes much more than sea
food. The Peking duck, for ex
ample, is one of the restaurant’s
most popular offerings. “But sea
food is our specialty,” Chia ex
plained. “We have a wide variety
of seafood—crab, shrimp, scal
lops, fish, all kinds. Many people
come here just for the lobster.
We are famous for our lobster,
which is prepared more than 10
different ways.”
Charlene Fang, a member
of the Chamblee Chamber of
Commerce, said she hopes the
area surrounding Oriental Pearl
Seafood Restaurant can become
the Atlanta area’s Chinatown.
“Atlanta needs a real Chinatown
like the ones in San Francisco
and New York. It should be here
in Chamblee, where we already
have a number of Chinese busi
nesses. People come here from
Alabama and Tennessee because
this area is the only place in this
part of the country where you
can get authentic Chinese food.”
Fang explained that Oriental
Pearl Seafood Restaurant fea
tures Cantonese cuisine, “but
there are other restaurants
around here that have Mandarin
food, which is very different.”
She said support for a Chi
natown already exists in the
business community and in or
ganizations such as the DeKalb
Convention and Visitors Bureau,
with which Fang also is associ
ated. “We just need government
at the local and state level to
get behind it. It could be a great
thing for Georgia.”
Oriental Pearl Seafood continued to thrive even when the economy was in a slump.
Owner Fanny Lee is flanked by granddaughter Erica Chia, left, and daughter Doris Chia, right, both
of whom help at the restaurant.
Chinese specialties are carted through the restaurant throughout the day. Newspapers in Chinese
are available to patrons.
DEKALB CHAMBER
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The Voice of Business in DeKalb County
DeKalb Chamber of Commerce
Two Decatur Town Center, 125 Clairemont Ave., Suite 235, Decatur, CA 30030
404.378.8000 www.DeKalbChamber.org