FORT MITCHELL, Ky. — The Oriental Wok is as popular as it can be during a pandemic.
It is also a true family business.
Sisters Susanna and Angela Wong handle day-to-day operations -- typically seven days a week -- at the Wok's two locations in Fort Mitchell and nearby Cincinnati, across the Ohio River.
Their father Mike opened the restaurant in 1977 after the family emigrated from Hong Kong. Now 80, he still patrols the tight kitchen -- both hectic and efficient during a Monday dinner rush when Spectrum News 1 visited -- as well as his sprawling dining room floor. We watched as he greeted table after table, naming nearly every person he encountered.
"This is a very good customer here!" He exclaimed as he pointed to a smiling middle-aged couple sitting in a booth.
"They support me through the years."
Mike values his regulars so much, some of the walls in his restaurant are covered with custom-made plaques that resemble the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Each one is etched with the names of families who return repeatedly to give the restaurant business.
The Oriental Wok needed that deep-rooted support over the past year, as the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily shut down dining rooms across the commonwealth.
"In March, when they closed us down, I couldn’t believe it," Angela said, shaking her head. She added that they were lucky their restaurant had an existing efficient takeout system.
But along with the pandemic, another virus reached their doors. As early as April, Angela recalled, racist phone calls began mixing in with the usual takeout orders dialed into the restaurant.
"They just wouldn’t stop," she explained. "'Go back to China; take the virus with you.' You know, 'This is your fault.”
The calls came all year. Angela said they contacted police when the most serious ones came in, like when the voice on the other end threatened sexual assault against her young female employees.
Angela’s car was egged, then Susanna’s home.
Then, shortly after the murders of 8 people, including Asian women, in Atlanta, came the final straw.
"Somebody called and said they were going to come in with a shotgun, armed, and shoot us," she said. "Kill us all; kill me; the staff; the family; everybody."
The Wongs posted to the restaurant’s Facebook page.
They were done just letting it slide. But as they rebuked the hatred, they took time to thank customers who have become friends. In response came new phone calls, in support of the family. Dozens of families even wrote them cards.
"I still feel at home here," Susanna declared. "This is my home."
"It is a light in the darkness," Angela said as her eyes watered.
In the face of unthinkable hatred, the family that makes a hall of fame for their regular customers was reminded they have an army of support.
The nonprofit Stop AAPI Hate reported 3,795 incidents of hate or discrimination made toward Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders in the US between March 19, 2020, and February 28, 2021.