Any visitor to Carlinville’s square is sure to have seen the boldly painted yellow and green bricks of Panda, the locally famous Chinese buffet and restaurant. Since opening its doors in January 2010, Panda has firmly established itself as a fixture in the community, quickly becoming a favorite dining destination for Blackburn students. “When someone says, ‘You wanna go eat at Panda?’ I’m down,” said senior music major Patterson Friese.
The Chen children
The food speaks for itself, but as any regular customer can tell you, the heart and soul of Panda are its owners, Ivy Chen and her husband Jack. “They call him Jack and his last name’s Chen, so a lot of people say it’s Jackie Chan’s restaurant,” Ivy said with a laugh.
But what brought a couple from small-town China to the U.S. – and Carlinville, Illinois, of all places? The answer was simple: job opportunities.
The Chens moved to the U.S. in 2001 to work at a restaurant in Chicago. “When you first come here there’s the English problem,” Ivy said of her early days at the restaurant. “We hung in the kitchen with the cook. That way it was easier to speak to people.” Over time she and her husband were able to pick up bits of the language, eventually obtaining a CD to help speed along the process. “[It took] lots of repetition!”
Eventually the Chens saved up enough to purchase their own restaurant in Chicago, before selling it to move to Carlinville, but why here of all places? “We’re from a small town in China and we wanted to find another small town,” Ivy said. Jack began searching the internet until finally stumbling across Carlinville. “We saw this town didn’t have a Chinese restaurant, and that’s why we’re here.”
The Chens’ have four children: daughters April (nine), Ashley (seven), Elane (four) and son Hanson (nine months), all living with their parents above the restaurant. Without a doubt, Panda is a family affair; aside from the immediate Chen family, several members of the staff are also relatives; “Mostly brothers and cousins,” Ivy clarified.
Jack’s role at Panda is usually behind the scenes but Ivy can frequently be found greeting her customers with a smile from behind the checkout counter of the restaurant. For her, the best part of the job is the satisfaction of the customer. “I like to take care of people,” she said, “and I like cooking; I cook for the restaurant too.”
The one drawback to running Panda is the long hours. “We try to close every Saturday to spend time with family,” she said, and that’s all they have time for. “Home, work, kids. That’s it.”
On the occasion that she does find some free time, Ivy said she likes to read a book and listen to music. Her favorites are ‘90s boy bands “98 Degrees” and “Backstreet Boys.” “We are old,” Jack said in reference to her music preference. “My daughter likes Taylor Swift. ‘Shake it off! Shake it off!’”