Located in the sunny Florida Keys, on the island of Key Largo, Cheng Garden has been enjoying success. The medium-size restaurant has been named Best Oriental Restaurant and Best Take out in the region. The restaurant is located on a main street by the seashore and gets much foot traffic from tourists as the island offers some of the best diving, snorkeling, and beaches in the United States. Many local residents have become regular customers as well.

As a large portion of Cheng Garden’s business comes from tourists, the owner has made it a priority to create an environment for them to come and relax in. It’s a modern, upscale dine-in restaurant, elegantly and romantically decorated with Chinese paintings, such as the traditional “Welcoming Pine Tree,” and others of the Great Wall, Peony, and a giant panda. The restaurant is very welcoming and furnished sophisticatedly with rosewood tables and chairs and is 2000 square feet and can accommodate up to 60 people. And if customers are too busy to enjoy the relaxing atmosphere of the restaurant, Cheng Garden offers take-out service as well.

Cheng Garden:

?   Location: 101443 Overseas Highway, Key Largo, FL 33037

?   Cuisine: American style Chinese cuisine

?   Capacity: 60

?   Offers: dine-in, take-out

?   Signature dish: Peking Duck, Mongolian Chicken, Mongolian Shrimp

?   Year of establishment: 1993

Phone: (305) 453-0600

Owner

The owner Jing Xu came to the United States in 1996. She was first an employee at Cheng Garden until he took it over a few years later. Xu believes that it is not too difficult for Chinese people to run restaurants because they are taught at a very young age that Chinese cuisine is a part of Chinese tradition—creating harmony in families—that should always be passed down. She believes that culinary art is somehow of natural skill for the Chinese.

Owner, Jing Xu, while a little bit shy, has charmed customers with her sweet smile and personality. She has been getting along with guests very well and helps people to feel at home while spending time at Cheng Garden making the local residents regular guests.

In Focus

Cheng Garden happily boasts about serving more authentic Chinese cuisine than Chinese fast food restaurants or informal Chinese restaurants. Cheng believes that there are endless possibilities when cooking with the different ingredients, flavors, and spiciness of authentic Chinese dishes and that just about everyone’s palate can be satisfied. Most of the dishes have been inspired by Hunan, Szechuan, and Cantonese influences. The most popular orders are for the Peking Duck, Mango Prawns, Mango Chicken, Mongolian Chicken, Mongolian Shrimp, and Pineapple Rice. Local residents and visiting tourists alike especially love the Mango Prawns for their exclusive sweet and sour taste. Guests can also choose between the following dipping sauces to accommodate any dish: brown sauce, garlic sauce, white sauce, Hunan sauce, and Szechuan sauce.

The kitchen at Cheng Garden has noticed that smaller items on Chinese menus, such as egg rolls and fried rice, often get overlooked. This is definitely not the case at Cheng Garden. Here, the kitchen makes sure that each of these orders is packaged nicely, served hot and in generous portions. The egg rolls are never greasy and are always fresh and the fried rice is always prepared properly. 

After an increase in requests for healthier dishes, the kitchen at Cheng Garden decided to add a slew of new healthy dishes to their daily menu. All of their dishes are often rich in vegetables but there are now a lot of strict vegetarian dishes offered as well, such as Broccoli with Garlic Sauce, Moo Shu Vegetable with Tofu, Sesame Broccoli with Tofu, and Hunan Vegetables, to name a few. The fat used in preparing and cooking all of their food comes mostly from heart-safe, trans-fat-free vegetable oils. Salt and salty ingredients are used very limitedly. All of Cheng Garden’s dishes that are served with steamed rice are also guaranteed to be low in fat, sodium, and sugar. In addition to the new healthy menu items, the kitchen is also happy to follow special dietary instructions upon the customer’s request.

At Cheng Garden, the restaurant’s sanitation has always been of very high importance. The staff members are required to wash their hands repeatedly during each shift, especially when handling food or touching surfaces that may be unsanitary. In addition to hot water and soap, bleach and commercial kitchen cleaning agents are also used in order to kill all possible strains of bacteria and germs. The staff also keeps the dining room clean and organized at all times.  They also check the bathrooms frequently to ensure that they are always in the proper condition. The bathrooms are always clean and fully stocked.

Feature

The following is a note a regular customer wrote after a recent trip to Cheng Garden. “Try the wonderful Mango Chicken! It is probably one of my most favorite dishes. They use all white meat and then fry it in a wonderfully sweet and sour sauce. The wait staff is very good. They always keep guests’ drinks full and the food always comes out hot and fresh. If you are looking for good Chinese food that is also affordable, you won’t be disappointed at Cheng Garden.”

Message from the Owner:

Despite facing the serious economic downturn, we still stick to our principles: constantly providing the fresh and high quality food, sincere service and affordable prices. I also believe with the full support of our loyal customers and our team, we can get through the hard times and embrace a brighter future. We will offer 10% discount for any payment above 25.