In 1971 Charlie and Christiana Chiang began their odyssey in Chicago. As a graduate student in Organic Chemistry at the University of Illinois, Charlie was working part-time at a Chinese restaurant, while Christiana was working as a software programmer with a Bachelor’s degree in International Business from Taiwan. Opportunities brought them to the Washington area and in 1973, and just three years into the food industry, they ventured to open their first restaurant, New China, on September 1974, in Alexandria, Virginia. The first Charlie Chiang’s® Restaurant and Lounge opened in 1981 on I Street in the nation’s capital. During the course of approximately thirty years, a total of sixteen restaurants have been opened successfully throughout the Metropolitan DC area, as well as in Ocean City, Maryland, Florida, and Chicago.
In early 1988, Charlie Chiang identified the need for fast, affordable Asian cuisine in the quick-service restaurant sector. He created Charlie Chiang’s Kwai®, launching the family’s pilot store in Tyson’s Corner Center I in McLean, VA. With that noted success, Kwai® quickly expanded into Waldorf and Gaithersburg, Maryland. Airport venues were also opened in the main terminal at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, and in the Southwest terminal at Baltimore-Washington International Airport in May 2005. Next came the store opening in the new third level food court, in Tyson’s Corner Center.
The vision of the Chiang’s grew beyond the Restaurant and Lounge and Kwai®. The family started a Japanese fast food line and catering service in May 1998 at Tyson’s Corner Center I, called Sushi Corner, offering sushi and teriyaki. In September 2001, the Chiang’s further expanded their concept by turning Sushi Corner into just one aspect of the new Charlie Chiang’s® Asian Bistro. Asian Bistro offers a full line of Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Singaporean, Malaysian, and Chinese dishes, and features a large 42” circular Mongolian Grill.
The Chiang’s excellent reputation has been the catalyst for important invitations to serve at premier occasions such as President George H. Bush’s inauguration, President Clinton’s Reception at the Capitol, the annual China Trust Bank reception for visiting international bankers, and the Diversity of Food program with the Smithsonian.
Mr. and Mrs. Chiang have been fortunate with their success, and they believe it all stems from their attention to fine details in every aspect of the business from the raw ingredients that arrive on their loading docks to the grateful smile and heartfelt thanks from the employees. To maintain authenticity, the Chiang's employ only qualified master chefs from Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand. They travel regularly to those countries to find new talent and explore Asian trends.
In 2002, Charlie and Christiana’s only child, Jean, joined the family business with her husband, Rock Fu. Armed with a Masters in Accountancy from DePaul University, Jean worked for several years in the corporate world with companies such as Deloitte & Touche, First Union Securities, and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. Rock Fu majored in Materials Science Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned a Business Degree from the University of California Berkeley, Haas School of Business. Upon graduating from Business school, Rock and Jean moved to work for two years in Hong Kong. During this time, Rock decided to open his own little food shop in the bar district, Lan Gui Fang, called Three Piggyz Grill. Once Charlie and Christiana learned of their young family members’ new restaurant interest, they quickly put Christiana on the first plane bound for Hong Kong, intent on recruiting Jean and Rock to join the family business.
In the past five years since their return to Washington, Jean and Rock have worked closely with Charlie and Christiana to further expand the Charlie Chiang's empire by updating the restaurants, making them more modern and chic. The older Charlie Chiang's® Restaurant and Lounge concept is slowly being repositioned to be a buffet venue for casual dining. The family's new restaurant concept, Ping by Charlie Chiang’s®, features contemporary Asian-fusion cuisine. This new upscale eatery will launch in Shirlington, Virginia, in February 2008, revitalizing a former space.
