Jay's Wok

Some Westchester residents may remember the location as the former Chinese Kitchen before being changed to Jay’s Wok.  When Dao and Kitty took over Jay’s Wok, they decided to keep the name in part because they wanted existing customers to know not much would be changing to one of their favorite restaurants other than the owners.  However, they were smart business owners and paid attention to their customer base, and over time, added and changed things and continue to do so.

Dao and Kitty came here to the U.S. from a province in southern China in 1998.  While living in Virginia and New Jersey and working in the restaurant industry, they first discovered Westchester while visiting a close friend while on vacation.  They saw that there was a business opportunity at Jay’s Wok in Westchester and decided to check it out.  The location was perfect for various reasons. It was located in a thriving shopping center with consistent traffic, in a community near good schools where they could raise their two sons, both who were around Junior High at the time, and they quickly discovered that many of the surrounding businesses were very supportive.  During the Economic Development Committee’s meeting with Dao and Kitty, they spoke about supportive local businesses by name such as H&R Block, Huntington Bank, and Jeannie’s Hair Salon.  Dao and Kitty expressed their gratitude of the owners and workers of these and other local businesses for their continued support.

 

As with many businesses, the new owners of Jay’s Wok ran into some early challenges, but nothing like what would come in early 2020.  When Covid-19 was causing businesses, employees, and customers to change their way of life, Dao and Kitty had to close for one month to regroup.  Eventually it was decided that as a family run business, they could make it work with any restrictions they had to follow.  Jay’s Wok then re-opened with the use of their lobby as a staging area, putting up a kiosk where they could complete transactions at the door and facilitate carry out orders.  Thankfully, the Hui Li’s were able to make it work.  Fairly quickly the business got healthy during a challenging time.  The Hui Li’s big advantage was that they truly are a family run business with their two sons working with mom and dad.  That is also why Jay’s Wok is closed on Sundays.  As a family business, the Hui Li’s use Sunday as their time to clean, buy restaurant supplies, and take a little time to rest and recover.  During the rest of the week, they are open long days, and make it work as a truly family run business.

Running Jay’s Wok is a very demanding task and the Hui Li’s work very hard to maintain the level of business that residents of Westchester have become accustomed to. You will often see Kitty or one of her sons at the counter.  Kitty enjoys being the cashier and meeting customers, while Dao is always cooking.  What separates Jay’s Wok from so many Chinese restaurants is that so many of their best sellers are home-made and fresh!  Whether you like egg rolls, crab rangoon, or pot stickers Jay’s Wok makes all of them fresh to order.  There are other restaurants that order these type of items from an outside vendor and are not freshly prepared.  Jay’s Wok has kept the menu fairly similar over the years and have retained many long-term customers.  Some customers visit 3 to 5 times a week!  The Hui Li’s pride themselves on the fact that freshly made orders can be ready in 5-20 minutes depending on the size and nature of the order.  EDC members can attest, the Jay’s Wok team is consistent with a quick turnaround time on all orders!

The Hui Li’s speak very highly of the local business community, and are grateful for all the orders they receive from other local businesses.  Jay’s Wok is always busy at most lunch hours and on Friday nights, and the winter tends to be the busiest season.  Even though the Hui Li’s are very busy running Jay’s Wok, they grateful for being in Westchester, and hope that people continue to try their food, discover how good it is, and get to know them.  The Economic Development Committee thanks Jay’s Wok for being a part of the Westchester community and hopes everyone starts or continues to support the business!