'Heartwarming and bittersweet': End of era as Lakeville Chinese restaurant closes for good

LAKEVILLE — It’s a bittersweet feeling that Rebecca Lau has over the closing of Orchid of Hawaii Chinese restaurant, on Bedford Street in Lakeville.

Since its opening 37 years ago by her parents it’s been a family-owned business and regional staple.

The announcement of its closure has brought an outpouring of love from the community.

“I did not expect this level of community response. It only confirms the respect I have for my parents. It’s a shame they aren’t around now to see this reaction,” said Lau, who officially took over Orchid of Hawaii in 2017 after the death of her mother.

Wednesday, Jan. 31 was the restaurant’s last official day of business. 

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Family and business go hand-in-hand

Rebecca said that her parents — her mother, Susan Ying Lau, and father, Wai Keung Lau, but who was known as Eddie — immigrated to the United States from China and Hong Kong in their youths separately. They met while working together at a restaurant on Cape Cod, which was owned by Wai’s family.

Wai and Susan married and settled on the Cape for a while, before deciding to “go off on their own,” said Rebecca.

The first restaurant they owned was the now former Hong Kong Island in Wareham, which opened in the 70s. This would eventually be followed by the opening of Orchid of Hawaii in 1987. At one point, the family operated five restaurants across the Commonwealth.

Rebecca recalls herself and her four siblings growing up and working in the family restaurants. She has fond memories of working in her parents’ restaurants in her youth, specifically spending time with her grandfather, who was the executive chef at Hong Kong Island, and who lived on the second floor.

“We spent much time around there, especially around the holidays,” she said, elaborating they did whatever was necessary, like manning the cash register, packing up take-out orders and bussing tables. She also said school vacations were often spent at the restaurants.

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Hard decisions to make

Rebecca said she had been living in New York City for 18 years and working in the jewelry and fashion design industries when her mother got sick. She moved back to Massachusetts to care for her and help out with the businesses.

“I’ve done a lot to put my life and my career on the side over the last seven years," Rebecca said.

With both parents passed away, she and her siblings were left to decide on the futures of all the family’s properties, which included personal property in Newton and commercial properties in Chinatown in Boston.

Originally, with most of the properties, “The goal wasn’t to sell them. It was to honor what my parents established,” Rebecca said.

Hong Kong Island in Wareham closes in 2017

Hong Kong Island in Wareham was closed in 2017 and the property was sold off.  With other properties, “we really tried to make the best out of them,” as the original goal was to hold onto them until closer to retirement age.

But ultimately, the decision to sell was based greatly on financial and business reasons, mostly based around the economic downturn associated with the pandemic.

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Even harder decision saying goodbye to Orchid

Lau said, with Orchid of Hawaii, the plan was to find suitable management to take over for her, but that was never found.

“It’s not new news that it’s been hard to find the right people,” Rebecca said.

Pre-pandemic, the restaurant was profitable, she said. But the last few years were tough on the business, with everything related to costs, such as wages, insurance and inventory, steadily rising, and revenues not meeting that increase.

Rebecca said a For Sale sign has been on the restaurant property since last year, and that is still the case. “Everyone has known,” she said about staff.

She adds that though running the restaurant was neither her nor her siblings’ dream, this is a tough decision, sentimentally, for her to say goodbye to Orchid, a place she’s known all her life.

Great farewell with outpouring on social media

Rebecca said she does want to return to her prior design career, but she hasn’t had a lot of time to decide on plans. The response on social media to Orchid of Hawaii's closing announcement has been universal expressions of support and sadness, with hundreds of comments and shares.

Posts on the restaurant’s Facebook page have ranged from people proclaiming their fandom of their cuisine for decades, to posting of personal milestones in their lives connected to the restaurant, such as birthdays, first dates, and meeting their future bride or groom, to fond memories based around karaoke, friendly staff, and downing one of their giant scorpion bowls.

“It’s been both heartwarming and bittersweet,” Rebecca said.

She adds that since the official announcement on social media on Jan. 21 the restaurant has been flooded with customers wishing to say their final goodbyes, whether through sit-in dining or take-out.

“We were so packed here this weekend,” she said, adding it felt like a great farewell.

Former staff have even reached out or visited Orchid to express their loving sentiments to the restaurant and family’s legacy.

“I will definitely remember faces, and staff. Some of them, they’ve seen me since I was a child,” Rebecca said.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: End of an era as Lakeville Chinese restaurant closes after 37 years