Wonton King, beloved Calgary restaurant, is closing its doors

Many restaurants close when they can't afford to stay open, but that's not so with Wonton King. It's going out on a high note.

Angela Chuy started the Wonton King in 2000. At its peak, there were five locations but that’s been scaled back to three post-pandemic.

Now Chuy says it’s time to begin another chapter in her life.

“This Saturday (January 25th) will be our last day,” said Chuy. “We like to see it as a transition for new opportunities, it’s been a wonderful, wonderful, storied past, I don’t know if you know but we’ve wrapped over 20 million (wontons) in the last 25 years.”

Chuy says she created the business model so she could provide wholesome food-on-the-go because she realized how hectic people’s lives have become and wanted to make sure everyone had access to a well-nourished meal.

“Everything is hand-wrapped,” she said. “I could have gone to machinery but you know you can taste the quality when you when you consume it, I’ve supported only local vendors and they’re the same local vendors that we’ve been working with for decades.”

Chuy is an immigrant who has sponsored more than 50 immigrant women to work in the kitchen, hand-making her wontons.

“They’ve become Canadian residents,” she said. “And while in our industry things are very cyclical by season, they always have the same amount of hours every single week, every single month, so that they know with reasonable certainty that mortgage payments will be made.”

Staff are loyal, with time at the restaurant ranging from five to 23 years. Chuy funded various learning programs for the women so they could continue their education outside of work hours and increase their English skills and financial literacy.

While some have stayed on for years, others have moved on.

“Some of them have actually opened their own restaurants,” said Chuy. “They have started businesses, they’ve gone into something where they have command over their own hours so that they can lead a similar life where they can be a wife, be a mother, be a friend and not work 24/7.”

Chuy has created a culture with her staff of paying-it-forward. That’s warmed her heart and will continue to do so for some time.

In the last few weeks before the closing date, Chuy has seen business triple with the majority of customers coming for wontons and wishing her and the staff good luck in their next adventure.