CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Jim Day
The Guardian
The pandemic does not appear to be interfering with the entrenched P.E.I. tradition of ordering Chinese food to help ring in the New Year.
Liz Feng of China Star in Summerside says the family-run restaurant is always hopping on Dec. 31.
“It’s our best day of the year,’’ she says, adding it should be again for 2020 – a year that has seen many businesses, including restaurants, hit extremely hard with protocols including reduced seating, shorter hours and even complete closure for a period.
Feng says take-out orders for Thursday started coming into China Star a full week ago. By Wednesday, the restaurant had stopped taking orders for take-out on New Year’s Eve but planned to call people on a waiting list if and when they found room to take additional orders.
China Garden in Charlottetown hit its quota for taking take-out orders Tuesday evening, says owner Gordie Clow.
“Depending on how fast we can get orders out, we may take a call or two,’’ says Clow, adding he feels blessed by the strong local support.
Yan Liu, owner of Silver Streams Restaurant in Charlottetown, expects a hectic New Year’s Eve.
“It will be a crazy night,’’ he says. “We do a lot of preparing.’’
Liu says the restaurant was very busy last year on Dec. 31 with orders being picked up as early as 4 p.m. and others closer to 8 p.m. with plenty in between.
Anna Zeng says business has been brisk every New Year’s Eve in the nine years she has owned King’s BBQ Chinese Food in Charlottetown. She says orders are down a bit for Thursday, but she expects business to be strong just the same.
“I still feel very grateful,’’ she says.
“The Islanders have been very supportive through the COVID.’’
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