Grand China Restaurant Serves What the People Want

Grand China Restaurant Serves What the People Want

Interviewed by Cuiyin Zhang    Written by Chris Holt

Grand China Restaurant is a dine-in, upscale restaurant located in Riverbank, California. Don Gao and his family own and run this exciting eatery that has built a strong reputation in the local community for its dedication to freshness, authenticity, and ability to serve what his customers want. From the beautiful décor to the well-trained chefs, Grand China is sure to please you and your family.

Modern and Classic Décor

Grand China Restaurant is located in a prime section of the O'Brien's Market Shopping Center in Riverbank, California. In addition to being located in a business area, there are plenty of residential neighborhoods in the area that provide a steady stream of customers to the establishment.  

Don Gao, the owner of Grand China Restaurant, chose this location personally for a number of reasons. He prefers to open his restaurants in small towns that are open to Chinese food and have some upscale areas. For these reasons, the Riverbank location of the restaurant is ideal.

When customers enter the restaurant, they’ll be treated to a sampling of traditional Chinese culture. Having previously worked in an upscale Korean restaurant, Mr. Gao incorporated many ideas from his previous experiences into the decoration scheme for Grand China Restaurant.  

The restaurant is decorated in both western and traditional Chinese styles. As a Chinese restaurant, Grand China Restaurant displays a wealth of artifacts to satisfy customers’ curiosity about Chinese culture. Every little adornment of the restaurant is handpicked. The interior comes together beautifully with a rich deep blue carpet, pristine tablecloths, orderly settings, immaculate ornaments and modern color and lighting designs. Several red lanterns are hung on the ceiling. Additionally, classical screens, wooden carved paintings and traditional Chinese paper fans decorate the wall. Together, these decorations create a rewarding and relaxing ambiance.

Traditional Elements in New Settings

The restaurant works to cater to the local populations’ culinary preferences, and thus serves a healthy mix of Americanized Cantonese and Mandarin cuisine. A diverse spectrum of dishes is available on the menu, providing a plethora of choices for customers to enjoy.

Gao emphasizes adhering to the basic principles of Chinese culinary methods at his restaurant. He believes that aside from including popular Americanized Chinese menu items, the restaurant should offer authentic Chinese dishes to the clients. Gao likes to personally sample the dishes and always insists on offering patrons exquisitely prepared food with colorful texture, aromatic flavor, and (of course) a delicious taste. These are also not surprisingly the three key factors that also represent the tenets of Chinese food. Personally, he prefers to make lightly flavor foods; however, he and his three chefs are willing to make dishes for any customer’s special requirement.

In order to ensure quality at his restaurant, Gao uses 100% premier chicken breast and beef. The dishes include no lard, less oil, and less salt. All sauces are home made.

Popular dishes include Chicken w. Broccoli and Honey Walnut Prawn, Dry Fried Garlic Chicken, Steamed Spare Ribs w. Pumpkin, Pan-fried Noodle Hong Kong Style as well as Mango Fried Rice. Additionally, new dishes are launched periodically to entice customers to return to the restaurant or tempt new customers to try a meal at Grand China Restaurant.

The Dry Fried Garlic Chicken is a particular house favorite, made with crispy chicken breast served with garlic sauce. Gao improves the traditional garlic sauce by giving the dish a trinity of tastes: sweet, sour and spicy. The chef skillfully fries every piece of chicken, making sure the meat is cooked evenly and the spices are properly absorbed.

The Fish Fillets w. Mixed Vegetables is also a particularly popular item on the menu. This aromatic fish dish is both fresh tasting and healthy. The chefs marinate the boneless fish fillets with egg white and corn flour. This step makes the fish pleasant to the palate. Next, the chefs put mixed vegetables and simple seasonings in the dish to create a dish that is very popular with health-minded diners.

Finally, unlike many other competing Chinese restaurants, Grand China’s fried rice always looks better because Gao doesn’t put soy sauce in the fried rice base. This also makes the dish much healthier.  

A Family Management Style

Gao trained all the wait staff to be prompt in responding to the customers' needs. This goes beyond simply responding to the customers’ requests on the menu, but instead extends to smiling, greeting the customers warmly, and sharing in the group’s responsibilities to the customer. Each of the staff members knows clearly his or her duty.

While Gao employs experienced chefs, he does not necessarily only hire experienced chefs. He wants to be able to teach his chefs his way of cooking, so sometimes he will hire a new chef to teach him Gao’s special way of cooking.

The restaurant is a family business for Gao and his family. Gao is in charge of the kitchen, and his wife takes care of the front. Between the two of them, they ensure quality is maintained throughout the restaurant. He insists that the chefs use fresh ingredients to not only please individual customers and maintain the quality of dishes, but to ensure the restaurant keeps its reputation. “If you do something wrong, you are spoiling your own image and the customers will never return again,” explains Gao.  

There’s a saying that ‘Every profession produces its own leading authority.’ No matter what you are doing, to plunge into your career with vitality and enthusiasm is the only way to understand your career. For fifteen years, Mr. Gao worked in a restaurant to better understand his business. He gained cooking skills and managerial experience that is priceless. But he has found that only through confidence in oneself can one truly succeed.

Experience Leads to Expertise

In 1990, Gao immigrated to the United States. He worked for many restaurants for over fifteen years. Due to his technical knowledge and confidence, Gao was capable to improve several poorly operated restaurants. Grand China is the second restaurant that Gao owned in America (the other one was opened in 2002).

Gao believes that apart from “unalterable” Americanized Chinese food, authentic oriental delicacies can surely appeal to everyone as well. He encourages customers to try his traditional items as well as his new creations.

Message from the Owner

Gao believes that success can be copied, so, “keep learning from other successful restaurants.” “Being diligent and having a good attitude towards life adds a lot in your career. Never cheat.”

Grand China Restaurant

• Location: 6333 Oakdale Rd. Ste., H Riverbank, CA 95367


• Cuisine: Americanized and Traditional Chinese Food.


• Signature Dish: Dry Fried Garlic Chicken, Steamed Spare Ribs w. Pumpkin, Hong Kong Style Pan-fried Noodle, Fried Rice, West Lake Beef Soup, Spicy Seafood Noodle with Beef/Chicken…


• Phone: (209)863-1328


• Owner: Don Gao