Longtime favorite, award-winning Modesto Chinese restaurant closing after 28 years
For the past 28 years, Maria Wong has gotten up and put on her tuxedo shirt, matching red bow tie and cummerbund to serve Modesto.
Wong and her husband Benny are the couple behind Beijing Restaurant, one of the city’s long-running Chinese restaurants which has been a favorite for generations of Central Valley diners. Open since 1994, the north Modesto eatery has weathered the Great Recession and COVID-19 pandemic. But now, Maria and Benny are ready to retire and close their beloved business.
“The restaurant business isn’t easy. But we’ve enjoyed it because we have a lot of good customers who are like friends,” Maria said. “So we wanted to let people know beforehand that (we’re closing) so they can come and say goodbye and we can thank them for supporting our business all these years.”
The couple’s last day at their North McHenry Avenue restaurant restaurant will be Christmas Eve, Dec. 24. Then they plan to take a little time off — their first vacation together since starting in Modesto restaurants more than 30 years ago — and hopefully spend more time with their adult daughter in Southern California.
Maria said the decision to close came after successfully emerging from the pandemic, which has been a struggle for so many mom-and-pop restaurants like theirs in the region, and some health concerns for 70-year-old Benny, who everyone calls Chef Benny. Their lease also was expiring, and they didn’t want to sign another long-term contract when they were both retirement age.
“We’re going to retire and take care of our health, but we’re going to stay in Modesto because we have a lot of memories here,” Maria said.
Couple started in Modesto with another Chinese spot
That includes memories of their first restaurant together, the former Peking Restaurant at the corner of McHenry and Roseburg avenues. They started there in 1991, when they moved to Modesto from the Bay Area, but then a few years later Walgreens took over the space and built the current pharmacy. So the Wongs moved their business north on McHenry, and opened Beijing next to what was then Food4Less, which is now a Walmart Supercenter.
The switch from Peking to Beijing came with a menu and cuisine shift. Maria said previously they had served a more Cantonese style of food, but with the move and renaming they started serving a more Mandarin style menu.
It’s those signature dishes that have had regulars like former Modesto Mayor Garrad Marsh coming back for decades. The McHenry Bowl owner stopped by last Thursday to pick up a large catering order for his company holiday party.
“This is our family’s go-to place for family celebrations, birthdays, everything,” Marsh said while loading his order. “When my two daughters come to town they always want to come here. One’s coming (for the holidays) and we’ll get in another visit here before it closes.”
The restaurant’s consistency and customer service is what Jack Hairston, who came with his wife and another couple for lunch, has always valued. Wait staff wears formal waistcoats and those same red bow ties. They ladle soups and mix sauces at the table for diners. The restaurant currently has eight employees, including longtime servers 20-year veteran Scott Wong (no relation) and 10-year-veteran Jimmy Qin.
“It’s a toss-up between the people and the food here, but both are excellent,” he said. “You walk in and Scott greets you and brings out our salads and knows what we like.”
Beijing’s signature salad dressing a customer favorite
That house salad is another one of Beijing’s signatures — particularly the homemade salad dressing. Indeed, that very secret sauce has been the subject of countless customer queries over the years, all eager to know its ingredients.
But Maria has never been tempted to give away the recipe to the creamy, tangy, savory, sweet dressing for one simple reason — she doesn’t know it on purpose. Only Chef Benny knows the exact recipe, and he isn’t sharing.
Making their own sauces, stocks and even chili oil has made their food stand out. Another customer favorite over the years has been the sizzling rice soup, a labor-intensive dish where rice must be crisped just so, then be dropped into the soup tableside to achieve that satisfying sizzle.
Diners also have enjoyed the restaurant’s garlic chicken, glazed walnut prawns, Mongolian beef and much more. Chef Benny started cooking as a teenager in Hong Kong, and also cooked in Australia before coming to America. The couple has been married since 1981.
The restaurant looks much like it did when they opened almost 30 years ago, with some periodic refreshes. Inside, ceramic overhangs are made to look like bamboo roofing and traditional paintings adorn the walls. In the front lobby, the restaurant’s dozens of awards are proudly displayed as well as an old Modesto Bee clipping from shortly after they opened.
Restaurant has won several best Chinese food awards
One of their prouder accomplishments are the numerous awards they’ve taken home for best Chinese restaurant. That includes winning The Bee’s “Reader’s Choice” poll 15 times from 2001 to 2018 and 209 Magazine’s “Best of 209” honor every year since 2018, including this year.
“We try to do a good job and everything we do we put our hearts into it,” Maria said. “When we’ve told customers we’re closing, some of them have cried and we’ve cried together.”
They’ve had customers who have brought their kids, and now those kids bring their kids. Still the Wongs have decided not to sell the restaurant, instead just close its doors and turn out the lights.
Maria said they’re grateful the Modesto community has embraced their restaurant and them these past three decades. And while they’re sad to say goodbye, it’s time. But even in closing, there is one thing that wont’ change.
“A customer asked me, ‘Since you’re closing the doors, how about that salad dressing recipe?’” she said.
Sorry, Modesto, that’s going with them into retirement.
