Wok-Inn out of business

The Lee family, from left, Lai Ching, Shu Kee and daughter
Yee Lin, take a moment between customers before closing
their popular Route 1 restaurant, the Wok-Inn, after 23
years in South Portland.

SOUTH PORTLAND — On Friday evening, Lai Ching Lee flipped through the pages of a scrapbook set up in the front entrance of the Wok-Inn restaurant on Route 1 in South Portland.

“We just put this out yesterday,” she said, observing the names and well-wishes already filling its pages with notes of praise for both the food and service at the local institution, known for its fast-food style Chinese food.

A day later, on Saturday, the Lee family closed the Wok-Inn after 23 years, quietly and without fanfare, but for the retirement book, which Lee says she’ll treasure.

Yee Lin Lee, who has done just about every job possible at the Wok-Inn since starting work at 14, admitted her parents sort of sprung the news of the closure on their customers.

“We didn’t want all the crying and stuff,” she said. “We didn’t let everyone know earlier because we were so scared we’d cry every day.”

The last day, Dec. 8, was picked because the Chinese words for "eight" and "fortune” are homonyms, making it a lucky number.

“We hope that it has good meaning for the future,” said Lai Ching Lee, struggling to hold back a sob, taking a moment to regain her composure before continuing.

“I’m happy, but I’m sad,” she said. “I’ll miss the customers. They were all so nice. We treated them like family and friends.”

“We appreciate everyone so much for supporting our family,” she said, after another moment. “If it wasn’t for our customers we would not have the opportunities we have had, with both of my children finished college. But my husband is so tired. It’s so hard to retire, but it’s time to go.”

Shu Kee Lee, 62, is more sanguine about closing his restaurant, saying simply, “It feels good.”

Lee says he was looking for freedom in 1973 when he left Hong Kong to live with his brother in the United States. Speaking with his daughter acting as interpreter, Lee said that with only a middle-school education, and English skills even more limited then than now, restaurant work seemed the only option. Eventually, Lee returned to his native land to marry his childhood sweetheart, Lai Ching, bringing her to the states at age 19.

But his new bride lasted just a month in Boston before demanding something that moved at a slower pace and seemed less dangerous. The couple picked Maine on the recommendation of a friend and Lee found work at the Hu Ke Lau, a Chinese-Polynesian restaurant located near the Maine Mall.

“I am thankful we came here,” said Lai Ching Lee. ”The people are so polite and friendly and everyone helped me always. My English is not that good but they are very patient.”

It was at the Hu Ke Lau that Lee met Wai Kuen "Ricky" Yue. Together the pair opened the first Wok-Inn on outer Forest Avenue in Portland in 1981. The blend of Chinese-American cuisine with fast-food service was based on concepts Lee had seen in Massachusetts before bringing his wife to America, but it was a first for Maine at the time.

Lee and Yue opened the South Portland location in 1989, before splitting their partnership two years later. Lee and his family, who lived in Scarborough, took over the South Portland location, while Yue, who died nearly a decade ago, kept the original store.

One reason to close rather than sell, said Yee Lin Lee, is that, per her father’s separation agreement with Yue, only he can use the Wok-Inn name.

Lee says he had meant to retire several years ago, once Yee Lin and his son, Sai Lee, were out of college. However, having worked so hard for so long – hand-wrapping egg rolls and starting other prep work early in the morning, manning the line through both the lunch and dinner rushes, with only a short break in between, and then wrapping up paperwork past midnight – he simply got used to the grind.

"I worked hard for many years," he said. "It’s the only way to do it."

Now, he says, it’s time. The Lees plan a trip to Hong Kong, followed by some leisurely doting on their two grandchildren in Massachusetts, where Sai Lee put his master’s degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute to use as an electrical engineer.

Lee Lin Lee, who earned a degree in business administration and hospitality from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, once saw herself carrying on in the family trade, maybe opening her own fusion restaurant.

“But, after these last few years, with all the long hours and what-not, that’s changed,” she said. “I thought about staying here, just because I’ll miss the customers so much. But for me to take it over by myself, it would be so stressful. It’s always been the entire family working here together, everybody doing everything. To do it by myself, it would be too hard. My father worked so hard, I wouldn’t want to ruin his baby.”

So, Yee Lin Lee will take a little time off, then work on updating her resume, with hopes of finding work in Maine, at least.

Her father, she said, is mulling whether to rent his property or sell. Already, she said, “a couple of people” have expressed interest in buying and opening a new restaurant, with at least one of the proposals with an Asian flair.

“It’s a bittersweet moment, filled with mixed emotions,” said Yee Lin Lee. “We just really appreciate how loyal people have been over the years.”

“There have been so many great memories, I could write a book,” she said, suddenly bursting into laughter at a vision of her post-Wok-Inn life.

“Hey, maybe that’s what I could do,” she said.