After nearly 27 years of ownership, Marcia and Guolin Chen, and their son Kyle, closed down Chen’s Chinese and Thai Restaurant in Whitehall Saturday, selling off most of what remained of their inventory.
Wanting to keep the restaurant’s end quiet so they were able to serve those who did come in, the Chens did not publicize it, and it was only when a Facebook post popped up on local pages in tribute to the restaurant Saturday morning that many in the area became aware it was happening.
“No one really heard about it until that morning,” Marcia said. “The regular customers, I told them as they came in, but I didn’t tell everybody, that way we could have not too busy a closing. It was plenty busy (Saturday). We never ate lunch or anything that day.”
On the last day of business, as has been the case for several years, only three people - the Chen family - worked the restaurant. Running the entire business themselves has been a demanding gig for the family; Chen’s was open five days a week from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. However, it never “felt like a hassle” to come to work, Marcia said.
“It’s been an enjoyable time,” Marcia said. “We’ve enjoyed our work here. We loved what we were doing.”
Chen’s once had a buffet and indoor dining option, but after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, that shut down and never returned, with the restaurant moving to a strictly take-out model with just the three Chens working the restaurant. Marcia said a lack of available workers was the chief reason for that change.
Chen’s came to be after Marcia and Guolin (Marcia said many in the area know him as Andy) met and got together while he was a cook and she a server at the former Dah Hu restaurant in North Muskegon. The two went around the Midwest working at different restaurants - Guolin picked up Thai cooking to go with his native Chinese food while they were in Springfield, Illinois - before settling back in Whitehall and opening up their own place.
“It was too hard working for somebody else,” Marcia said. “We decided to do it. We opened the small one at the strip mall by the old Plumb’s for two years, and then George Dean sold the building we’ve got now and we bought that.”
The decision to retire was a pretty simple one, Marcia said - she and her husband have both surpassed retirement age and are interested in pursuing new things. Guolin’s cooking for so many years has taken a toll on his shoulders, and the time has come for a break.
The Chens first hoped to pass the business along to members of the extended family, but none were interested. Marcia said Guolin plans to travel to New York in the coming months - he has family near Chinatown there, including two grown sons and grandchildren - and spread the word about the business to see if anyone of Chinese descent is interested in taking it over. If there is no interest, the Chens will simply sell the property.
It’s important to the family that if the business continues, that it continues to be run by a native Chinese person.
“We’d like to see (a Chinese restaurant) in this area,” Marcia said. “People tell us (without us) they have to go to Ludington or Muskegon, and that’s too far.”
Marcia said she’s grateful for the customer support over the years, noting that the Chens had regular customers from not just the White Lake area, but also Shelby, Hart, Pentwater and even Grand Haven, especially when the buffet was part of the restaurant.
“We’ve been blessed by all the people from the White Lake community,” Marcia said. “I’ve always said, you don’t have a business if you don’t have customers. This area has been super for that.”
Kyle, who is 25, will take some time, Marcia said, to determine his next move; she said their son, who assisted Guolin with the cooking, has earned a brief respite after all his hard work keeping the restaurant going, which he fully jumped into right out of high school.
The Chens will likely travel more, especially to visit Guolin’s family in New York, now that they have the time. Guolin also has a pair of “bucket list” destinations - Hawaii and Japan - that are likely in the couple’s future.
“He was really devoted to his restaurant,” Marcia said of Guolin. “(Now) it’ll just be a nice, relaxing life. I’m already 70 years old, and you don’t know how much longer you have...We’re really happy for this adventure we had here.”
