Photo by Jon Anderson
Dong Li owns China Bistro in Rocky Ridge Square in Vestavia HIlls, Alabama, and Wok Express in Mountain Brook, Alabama.
Dong Li is the owner of China Bistro in Rocky Ridge Square.
Q: How long have you owned this business?
A: I think four years.
Q: Have you been in the restaurant business prior to owning this one?
A: I moved here in 1996 coming into Birmingham. I started working in Hoover at Formosa.
Q: Where did you come from?
A: I came from China. I lived in New York a couple of years.
Q: What brought you to the United States?
A: Freedom — the American dream.
Q: Did you come with family?
A: My parents brought me here. They live in New York.
Q: How old were you when you came?
A: I was about 20.
Q: How old are you now?
A: 52.
Q: How did you get started in the restaurant business?
A: I started dishwashing and later cooking, and I’m still cooking. I enjoy it.
Q: What brought you to Birmingham?
A: I had friends working here, so I came here. I started working at a restaurant in Trussville in 2003 — East Buffet. My brother owned it.
Q: How long did you work there?
A: About 15 years.
Q: Was there something between that and opening this one?
A: I worked at one in Mountain Brook.
Q: When did you open that one?
A: 2010.
Q: What’s the name of that one?
A: Wok Express.
Q: Do they serve pretty much the same food?
A: Yeah, same food. Different name.
Q: What’s your most popular dish?
A: Sesame chicken and Mongolian beef and General Tso’s chicken.
Q: When you’re not eating Chinese food, where do you like to go out to eat?
A: I like steak at a steakhouse and Chick-fil-A. Sometimes I like Jim N’ Nick’s Bar-B-Que.
Q: How many dishes do you offer here?
A: About 80 different dishes.
Q: Do you do any desserts of any kind?
A: We have appetizers. Most people like steamed dumplings. And we have Crab Rangoon. It’s sweet like a dessert. And we have fried sweet doughnuts.
Q: What’s your favorite item on the menu?
A: I like General Tso’s chicken because I don’t like too much sweet. I like the Human chicken and vegetables. It’s a spicy dish.
Q: What made you decide you wanted to branch out and do restaurants on your own?
A: After working about six years, I decided I wanted to own my own business.
Q: What’s the best thing about living here in the Birmingham area?
A: Birmingham is not too big, not too small. New York is so big and faster. Here, it’s slower.
Q: Do you have any kids?
A: I have one boy and one girl. My girl is still in college at Yale University. My son is working in New York in marketing.
Q: What do you like to do in your spare time when you’re not working?
A: I like to exercise and work in the garden.
Q: What kind of exercise do you do?
A: Running.
Q: What kind of garden do you have? Vegetable or flower?
A: Vegetable.
Q: Do you use any of that in your restaurant?
A: No, just for my own use.
Q: What do you grow in your garden?
A: Tomatoes, squash and melons.
Q: Have you ever been back to China since you left?
A: Yes, I went in 2017 to the Great Wall. Last year, I went back to China, too, to see my family and to vacation. I went to the Jiuzhaigou Valley.
Q: What was the biggest adjustment for you coming from China to the United States?
A: I like the freedom. A lot of people want to come here for the American dream — to make money, I guess. Get a better life. It’s easier to find a job.
Q: Do you feel like your life is better here?
A: Much better. I love America.
