06/02/2021
Dear friends and community members,
On behalf of the Li and Liang family, I would like to take a brief moment to share out some exciting news about Lotus Garden. As many of you know, our family has been open for business for over three decades, since 1987. On the surface it may look like just another Chinese restaurant opening up shop on the quaint street along the canal, but for our family it was much more. For our family it was the start of us settling in Canada, and when I say family, I mean multi-families that now spans multiple generations. From humble beginnings, our grandparents who started from a small rural community in Guangzhou China, later found themselves opening a small Chinese restaurant in the lovely city of Port Colborne. For us, Lotus Garden was where we can earn a living, but also it was a home. Many of those reading have quite literally watched our family grow up throughout the years while dining at our restaurant. It was not uncommon to see me at a young age bussing tables and filling up water, or my younger sister settling up your bill. If you catch us at our busiest times of the year, you will see the full force of our family operating at 110%, from my many cousins, aunts and uncles who come back to help during these special occasions.
We got to spend 34 amazing years being a part of a wonderful community while building our life here. 34 years of lasting memories and friendships, 34 years of Canal days and most importantly 34 years of providing numerous meals for special occasions such as birthdays, graduations, holiday dinners to even smaller events like first dates or family night outs. That’s a whole lot of chicken fried rice and chicken balls.
Despite being an immigrant family who started their new lives in a foreign country, with unfamiliar customers, with very little money and to be frank, limited English speaking skills, we have always been embraced by this community with open arms. A community that has over time now feels like an extension of our family. We are truly thankful for all the years of kindness, friendship and support that everyone has shown us. So here is a very big and genuine thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being a huge part of our journey.
Now comes the bittersweet news. As of June 28th, we have sold and will be shutting down Lotus Garden. The reason is simply that we are getting older; as our family is reaching retirement age, we wanted to make room for future businesses to flourish in Port Colborne. This is not because we could not sustain the business during the pandemic. It has been a true pleasure serving everyone whether you are from Port Colborne or a neighbouring community. We hope that during our time we have created memorable experiences for you and have taught you a little bit about our culture and traditions. We look forward to the last month and providing everyone with some amazing food!
From the bottom of our hearts a big thank you and bittersweet farewell,
Jacky Li on behalf of the Li and Liang family
