China Wok Buffet open in former Lieu’s Peking location

Published 3:15 pm Monday, January 16, 2023

Hailing from a family of immigrants that came to the United States when he was a little boy, Xiaoyu “Kevin” Shi got his start in the restaurant business working for his father, who owned a Chinese restaurant. He worked there from 2005 to 2008, and after learning how to cook, Shi began traveling to learn more. In the last three years, he worked as a sushi chef to better his sushi skills. 

His 10 to 15 years working in the restaurant industry gathering various skills should certainly help him as Shi opens the doors of his own Asian restaurant. China Wok Buffet replaces Lieu’s Peking Restaurant in Milledgeville and serves several different food options. The carryout menu is very much a traditional American Chinese cuisine and a full buffet, which has a few items including sushi, steamed mussels and fried chicken wings. Shi is working on expanding the menu, which will have more sushi, Japanese and Thai food.

According to Shi, the decision to open China Wok in Milledgeville was not his idea. His uncle owns a restaurant in Eastman, and when he visited Milledgeville, Shi explained that his uncle saw an opportunity. The closure of a local Chinese buffet left a hole in the area that has gone unfilled. Shi’s uncle also happened to be aware that Lieu’s Peking Restaurant was for sale and after checking the business out, he made a call to his nephew. Shi was living in New York at the time when he got the call inquiring if he would be interested in starting a family business. After traveling to Milledgeville and taking a look, Shi said he though the city was beautiful and that it seemed to be a wonderful place to live. That visit made him want to give Milledgeville a chance. 

The process of building China Wok was not an easy one, however. Renovations to expand the dining area and doing an overhaul of the kitchen took some time. Shi said that they brought a lot of equipment from New York to give the kitchen an upgrade. Then there was the menu: China Wok’s carry-out menu recipes came from Shi’s father and his restaurant. The buffet menu’s recipes were lifted from Shi’s uncle’s restaurant. 

China Wok Buffet has been open at 2485 N. Columbia St. STE 101 in Milledgeville since Dec. 8. Shi noted that the response from the community has been good despite the business not doing much advertising. He added that people seem to really like his uncle’s buffet food so far. 

Since he has been cooking and working as a chef since after high school, it should be no surprise that the cooking aspect is Shi’s favorite thing about running China Wok Buffet. He gets joy from the fusion aspect (using diverse types of foods, cultures, and skills while cooking food) and discovering what combinations are good together. 

China Wok offers a 15% discount for veterans and first responders. 

Shi said he feels like he is bringing that Chinese culture to the people in the community and that feels special

“Every time a customer enjoys the food, you kind of have a little bit of happiness in your heart.”