Scientists state that a person must eat a food twenty times before they can acquire a taste for it. If this is true I have acquired the most acute taste for Italian food. As an Italian I have eaten an unhealthy amount of pasta, salad and deserts. These experiences have trained my tongue in the ways of the tomatoes, the spices, the oils and the delicate pastas of almost every Italian dish. However my senses are at a loss when it is met with the other type of noodle. These confusing foreign noodles are not from my homeland in the southern Islands of Italy, but come from the Far East. These noodles that confuse my senses are from the land of China.
Here in the United States Chinese food is almost synonymous with the term takeout. As a kid I learned that when my mom came home with white folded boxes with red lettering on the side it meant that we were having Chinese food that night. However, Chinese food isn’t always best enjoyed in a box. Enter: Happy China. This small restaurant is located on the corner of Main Street and Alabama Road in Woodstock, Georgia. Why someone would name their restaurant something as common as Happy China becomes evident the second you step in the door.
From the outside it looks like your typical Chinese restaurant; tinted windows, oriental marble statues, Chinese calendar hanging on the front door, all accented by the infamous neon open sign found at just about any restaurant here in America. However, typical is the last word I would use when detailing this restaurant. The atmosphere in this restaurant is almost magical. It is a contemporary fusion of entertainment and Chinese culture. Upon entering you can see a massive waterfall that draws your eyes to a pond filled with lively koi that are as big as watermelons. The pond is just a drop in the bucket compared to the awe-inspiring glass wall that has been engraved with pictures of giant fish and elements of a Chinese folk tale. The only thing that seems out of place is the glossy pink seats that quite possibly could have been from an old dinner of late 1960’s. But I think that they fit in perfectly and help remind you that you are eating in a restaurant and not in a palace. And on top of all these interesting arrangements there hangs a large disco ball right in the middle of this masterpiece.
“Hello welcome to Happy China!” Yells a voice from across the restaurant. Soon one of the happiest people I have encountered emerges into sight. Tom, the restaurant owner, has a charm that works on the shiest of people and you can’t help but chuckle a little about his corky personality. Tom started and has operated Happy China for the last 22 years. He and his family have been the lifeblood of this unique restaurant. His daughter grabs some menus and continues to seat us. My parents who are regulars converse with Tom’s daughter and catch up on the latest news. This personalized relationship with the customer is not unique to just regulars like my parents, but is common with everyone who comes to eat at Happy China. Throughout my time at the restaurant I observed Tom talking to people in his restaurant, cracking jokes, and just getting to know his customers. This type of personalization is rare these days and is a nice touch added to an already impressive restaurant.
I must say that the welcoming ambiance helps draw you into the food. The menu at Happy China is diverse, and more comprehensive then some of the other local Chinese restaurants in the area. Most meals are from $8 to $15 depending what you order. And if you are in neighborhood midday they also have great lunch specials for around $6. For my visit my family ordered the usual; Mongolian Beef, Cashew Nut Chicken, Sweet and Sour Pork, and I ordered water to drink. Now I mention water because there is something special about this water. Since I can remember every time I step foot into a restaurant I become very thirsty. I will go through a cup of water very quickly, so usually I can gauge how good a waiter is by how often they notice my cup is empty and refill it. And let me say that our waiter was on the ball. Eventually Tom came by and said, “I hear you are drinking all of our good water. I am going to start charging you for good water or give you bad water instead!”
“Bad water?” I replied,”Where is your bad water from?”
He replied with a large smile on his face, “We get bad water from Mexico for a very good price.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. He continued to tell me that he gets his good water from a secret place and that it is quite expensive. After many jokes were exchanged our dinner arrived hot and smells of delicious sauces filled the air. The food is served family style, which means that everyone can share what they ordered with each other. Even for family style these portions were large and there was still food left over when we were done. I have eaten at Happy China many times before this and the food quality is consistently good. The meats are never overcooked and the rice is never too dry. This trip was no exception. The Cashew Nut Chicken had extremely tender chicken mixed with crunchy cashew nuts. The Mongolian Beef was just tough enough to give the dish texture, but not enough to give your jaw a workout. And the Sweet and Sour Pork had the perfect flavor to complement the peppers and vegetables that so beautifully made up the dish on the table.
After we finished eating, our waiter promptly brought us takeout boxes so we could take home the remaining small mountain of food that we were unable to finish. Soon after that she brought our check along with three fortune cookies. We read our fortunes, ate our cookies and went on our way with smiles on our faces. On the way out Tom grabbed the door for us and invited us back soon.
Happy China really stands out to me for its unique mix of familiar and foreign flavors. One of the problems I find with any ethnic restaurants is that their food is one extreme or the other. Some are geared toward native people where the dishes are very close if not exactly the same as they are cooked in wherever it is from. The other extreme is that some restaurants have assimilated to American ways and lost all distinctive tastes and flavor. Happy China demonstrates the rare middle ground where it is easy to enjoy a familiar taste with the adventure of something foreign.
Happy China is a fantastic restaurant for everyone to enjoy. It is a place where you can take your entire family and a place that the kids will surely love. The food is moderately priced so it doesn’t break the bank, and the portions are so large you will most certainly have leftover to take home. While you are there you will be happily entertained by the charismatic owner and served by some of the best waiters. Although the food is nothing extraordinary the atmosphere of this restaurant makes whatever meal you are eating pleasant. And the next time you are looking for somewhere to celebrate the Fourth of July or New Years you may want to stop by Happy China. Because on these special occasions they break out some special foods and even have disco light dancing.
Happy China I
★★★★☆
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