Story posted Thursday, February 4, 2010
Asian Bistro Settles In To New Rolling Meadows Space
A new family-owned Asian restaurant is now open in Rolling Meadows.
The Red Lantern Asian Bistro opened last month at 1655 Algonquin Rd., next to Wal Mart.
"We're a melting pot of all kinds of Asian foods," explained Allen Lau. Lau helps run the restaurant with his father Jimmy Su and his mother Tammy Lau. Su is one of four specialty chefs working in the kitchen.
The restaurant features Chinese, Japanese, and Thai foods but also serves some dishes from Korea, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
He explained the restaurant has an "urban chic feel" to it and that his family wanted to focus on both the food and the presentation of the space. "It's the whole package but in the suburbs," he said.
"Rolling Meadows is a great area, it has a lot of Asian restaurants," Lau said. He believes Red Lantern and other "ma and pa" restaurants must do something different to compete with the national chains. The restaurant features daily lunch specials as well as appetizer and drink specials in the evenings. There is a wine tasting event in the works.
"We're trying a lot of different things out," he said.
The creation of the restaurant was also a family event, he explained. "The decorations we put together ourselves," Lau said. He added that all three family members have been in the restaurant industry for a long time. His mother waited tables for 20 years before the family opened their first venture.
"We are very family oriented people," Lau said. "We wanted to just open up a nice restaurant."
Speak Out!
Comments are edited first by Journal staff before running in print and appearing online.