IN KING WOK: ENJOY BEING SERVED LIKE A KING

Centered on the banks of the St. Johns River, Jacksonville has been the largest city in land area in the contiguous United States and is the third most populous city on the East Coast, after New York City and Philadelphia. Downtown Jacksonville is the urban center of Northeast Florida, and is situated about 25 miles south of the Georgia border and less than 150 miles north of Orlando. Downtown Jacksonville is central to many attractions, from the beaches and golf courses to state parks and off shore islands, all within an hour drive.

Heading west along the 10^th Expressway, and take exit 351 for Chaffee Road, then you will see King Wok Chinese Takeout Restaurant is next to Winn-Dixie supermarket. Surrounded by numerous famous Western and Chinese restaurants, bars, cafes, hotels, clubs, including Starbucks, Panther Creek Golf Club, Petard’s Pizza, Mc Donald’s, and with a large stream of local residents and tourists gathering every day, King Wok’s location is just perfect for running a takeout restaurant. With its elegant and exquisite decor, King Wok provides the most comfortable and satisfied service for the guests and attracts them to come over from all over the USA.

A Nice and Cozy Dining Environment

With the crystal clear blue skies and snowy white clouds as the background, and numerous buildings accompanied, King Wok’s exterior décor is really inviting and eye catching with a golden “King Wok” sign. In the front, there is a spacious parking lot that is well maintained and organized, so it is very convenient for the customers. Also, the sidewalk is neat and well designed. The interior of the restaurant is appealing and relaxing with a homely-styled decoration. There are some classic Chinese paintings tastefully posted on the walls. Even the restroom was well cared for and contained all needed supplies. All the guests are really relaxed dining in such a desirable environment.

Enjoy an Excellent Service

All staff members deliver good customer service and they are efficient, courteous and friendly when taking orders and delivering food items. Also, with an affable smile, they are always pleasant and make appropriate eye contact with the guests. All food items are hot and appetizing in appearance. The portions are adequate, and all the food tastes delicious. The dishes are presented attractively, and the meat and vegetables are all fresh and of good quality. During the food delivery, all food items are packaged neatly and securely, the utensils, chopsticks, napkins and several types of sauces are placed on the cash counter for customers’ choice. What is more, customers can see the nicely presented food through the transparent plastic box. Besides, the orders are quickly prepared from the time they are ordered to the time being picked up. Usually, it only takes about ten minutes, so the food is always hot and fresh after being picked up, which is highly praised by the guests.

The Tasty and Healthful Food Is Key

Though being a take-away restaurant, King Wok serves exquisite dishes. Its best-selling dish is Boiled Assorted Vegetables, with different specially-made sauces for the guests to choose. The owner boasts they never use MSG, and only use vegetable oil in cooking.

“Healthy dining is what the customers crave for. People now are more conscious of their health than ever. They are wary of various methods to keep fit and watch their calorie counts and fat intakes. This really places high demands on us. Anyway, we will try our best to satisfy them. ” said Liu.

Among a host of tasty dishes, Black Pepper Chicken is a crowd pleaser by its special seasoning and unique cooking methods. The chicken is fried until golden brown, and then cooked with diamond-shaped green pepper and onion in seafood paste, later topped with black pepper and lastly with a touch of sesame oil. This dish tastes spicy and tasty, which received rave accolades among the customers.

The illustrated menu is well designed with more than 100 dishes served including American-style Chinese food, Hunan and Sichuan-style food, healthy food, etc. Moreover, every a few months, there will be a new dish added to the menu.

The Owner’s Management Secrets

Since its opening, King Wok has been serving the community for around four years with its large selection of appetizing dishes and its hospitable and efficient service. Thanks to the owner Huifang Liu couple’s constant efforts, the restaurant has gone through hardship and finally went on a right channel. The strict control on food is key.

“Although being a take-away eatery, we place heavy emphasis on food quality. We only choose the freshest ingredients available to guarantee that the customers have a healthy dining experience.” Said Liu.

In addition, only the adept chef could turn an ordinary dish into an extraordinary creation. Liu’s husband is one of them. With more than a decade of experience, Liu's husband has created some special dishes: Beef with broccoli, Chicken with broccoli, Sichuan Beef, House Special Chow Mein, ect. The healthful dishes include Boiled Chicken with Assorted Vegetables, Boiled Assorted Vegetables, etc. Therefore, the guests here are very satisfied to enjoy a variety of choices and take care of their health as well.

Liu and her husband came to the USA in 2001. Before opening it, Liu had conducted a survey on the local population and the potential market. She believes that open competition is good for improving the food quality, service as well as dining environment. It is quite common that people prefer their local tastes and flavors, and it takes time to adapt it and meet their needs, so the business was quite slow at the beginning. In addition, take-away business is simple and easy to learn, therefore a lot of people started doing it in the neighborhood which made the competition stronger. However, it was good communication with the guests, strict food quality control as well as attentive service that helped the business slowly getting better.

Recently King Wok has been awarded the “Top 100 Takeout” by Chinese Restaurant News (CRN), which is an internationally published magazine. Now this is their second time to participate this competition with the hope of being known and recognized by more and more people. Liu also said that she is a faithful reader of Chinese Restaurant News and has learned a lot from it, which has really helped the development and improvement of her restaurant. Looking into the future, she is looking forward to providing more attractive service to the guests, creating new dishes for their dining pleasure, and redecorating the restaurant in order to offer a more pleasant dining atmosphere. So for the future, the owner, Huifang Liu, is full of confidence.