Eating Well in Southern Maryland
Restaurant is Dream Come True for Owner

“God gave me this business,” said Yvonne Lee, owner of China Harbor on Solomons Island, but it sounds like she’s been making the most of the opportunities that have been presented to her.
Ms. Lee said that she has always had two dreams the first was to own her own restaurant, and the second was to design a restaurant. Fortunately for the Taiwan Taipei native who arrived in the USA 12 years ago, one of those dreams has already come true in her gaining ownership of the restaurant next to the Tiki Bar. Furthermore, dramatic changes in the appearance of the restaurant over the past six months indicate that Ms. Lee is making the second dream come true.
She says she has “no idea” how she ended up in Southern Maryland. She had traveled all over the world, and she said she knew she liked the restaurant business. She had been involved in restaurant sin Hong Kong, Tokyo and Paris; her experiences there, the said, made her feel she had worked ling and hard enough to open her own business.
She first came in the United States t visit her sister who lives in Annapolis. She said she found that she liked this country and decided to stay. One of the things she liked about the United States was the opportunity it afforded her and the “open mindedness of the people,” she said. She believes that “America is the most open minded to outsiders, they let you have a chance to do everything”
Her sister, she said, wanted her to go to school study language and learn English as a second language. She said that she lasted three months at school before deciding that she had learned enough to get by and that she wanted to go to work.
After a number of years working in various U.S. restaurants, Ms Lee felt that she wasn’t getting anywhere and could advance faster in her home country; she decided to return there. On her way out of the States, she stopped in New Jersey to visit a friend and happened to be introduced to the former owner of China Harbor. After talking with him, she was offered the job as manager of the restaurant. She came down to visit and fell in love with Solomons Island.
But after she made the decision to come to Southern Maryland, the former owners of China Harbor changed their minds about her and wanted t sell her the restaurant instead of having her manage it. Ms. Lee called her family and asked for their help in making a decision about the restaurant. Her family supported her in every way, Ms. Lee said. In Ms. Lee’s own words “She owns and her family owns” China Harbor.
After purchasing the restaurant, she knew that major changes were needed in order to get a successful business going. She is remodeling, slowly, and any extra money that she receive4s from the business or her family goes back into the business.
Outside appearances are important, but for Ms. Lee it is the “uniqueness“ of her food that matters most. She goes to Washington twice a week to do her own shopping, and searching for the right types of food and nothing is “just delivered to the restaurant.” She said she strives to serve only “fresh, spicy seafood that is unique to this Chinese restaurant.” She believes that her “customers should enjoy the money they spend and be very comfortable and relaxed.”
Now that she has “put her heart into this restaurant,” Ms. Lee said she is looking forward to the future expansion of her business; she may consider opening other restaurants in the years ahead. Her immediate plans include opening a carry-out located in the Patuxent Plaza, also in Solomons, and possibly, if she dose well at both the Calvert County locations, opening China Harbor in St. Mary’s County in a few years.