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Eater
25 minutes ago
- Eater
An Iconic San Diego Chinese Restaurant Returns After a Devastating Fire
As dusk settles on a Thursday evening in the Convoy District, a line flows out of the door at China Max Dumpling House, snaking around the complex as customers wait to grab a table at the iconic Chinese restaurant, some waiting as long as four hours. This is China Max 2.0 with new owners and a new menu. Opened on March 1 and renamed China Max Dumpling House, the restaurant incorporates a more dumpling-centric model after the owners found success with their restaurant Dumpling Bar in Encinitas, which they opened in October 2024. China Max Dumpling House is one of the many San Diego Asian restaurants striving to compete in the dumpling space. Inspired by the astronomical success of Din Tai Fung, the privately held Taiwanese soup dumpling chain with 17 U.S. locations, Asian entrepreneurs are modeling their restaurant ventures after the casual dining concept that generates more revenue than any other American dining chain, including Mastro's Restaurants, Cheesecake Factory, and Nobu Restaurants, according to Restaurant Business Magazine. Din Tai Fung also keeps innovating by adjusting to American palates, such as adding chicken dumplings and mango shaved snow desserts to their menu. Matthew Kang Matthew Kang On weekdays, China Max Dumpling House hosts a promotional all-you-can-eat dumpling, soda, ice cream, and New York-style cheesecake deal for lunch and dinner. There's a 90-minute limit at the tables for the AYCE experience, and customers are getting their money's worth. The kitchen team folds wontons and soup dumplings at a rapid pace. The chefs continue to adjust the recipes to customers' tastes, like making the soup dumplings juicier and plumper, as well as adding crab xiao long bao, and a hand-rolled noodle dish with spicy peppercorn sauce. After five years of closure, one of the most beloved Chinese restaurants in San Diego reopened its doors after an accidental fire destroyed the iconic landmark during the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020. The incident destroyed the restaurant and any hope that it could participate in the steady takeout business that helped restaurants and livelihoods during the lockdowns. When the original owners, Cindy Woo and her husband, opened China Max in 1983, it became a pioneering institution: one of the first Chinese restaurants to establish itself in San Diego's Convoy District, now well-known for its dim sum and Cantonese restaurants. Always bustling, the restaurant was a gathering spot for families and friends, often boasting lines out the door. After the fire, the Woos intended to rebuild and reopen the restaurant, but ultimately decided to sell the business and retire. They sold it to a team of owners who have Chinese restaurants in the Convoy District, Encinitas, and several major cities in China. With extensive restaurant experience behind them, the team includes Shuai Liu and Yingkang Lu, a University of California San Diego grad whose family runs several large catering halls in Wuhan. A third partner, Yukun Sun, owns several restaurants and karaoke bars in Kunming, China, including an elegant, high-end Chinese restaurant recognized in the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide, the Chinese equivalent of the Michelin Guide. In San Diego, the team owns the nearby Cantonese restaurant Taste of Hong Kong, which specializes in roasted meat dishes and other Chinese dishes. (Many of the chefs and servers from China Max went to work at Taste of Hong Kong as the restaurant was rebuilding.) In September 2024, the owners opened Dumpling Bar in Encinitas, which has gained popularity in the beach town. Liu says the success of Dumpling Bar influenced them to change China Max's menu to more of a dumpling focus. Another of their restaurants, Kanpai BBQ and Shabu, opened in August 2023, offering all-you-can-eat barbecue and shabu shabu. And finally, they opened a second Dumpling Bar in San Marino, California on May 1. China Max's journey to reopening did not unfold without challenges. The fire caused $4.5 million in damages. The team faced several roadblocks in the five-year process to rebuild. It had to navigate the city's permitting process, negotiate with insurance companies, and oversee major reconstruction, including the installation of a new foundation. 'Once the contractors did any part of the work, they needed to ask for reimbursement from the insurance company. [That process] took a long time for evaluations and negotiations,' says Liu. When the restaurant opened, China Max 2.0 debuted with a more modern interior with tall windows, cushioned high-back chairs, and pink carpet, plus an expanded menu. The former enclosed patio space has been redesigned to be part of the interior footprint. Dumplings are constantly being made by hand in a viewing space just like at Din Tai Fung. Dumpling preparation. Matthew Kang The restaurant relaunched with an evolving menu that is still being expanded and tweaked. Staple dishes include pork xiao long bao, or soup dumplings, along with a pan-fried version of xiao long bao. Other popular favorites include chile wontons, sweet and sour ribs, green beans, sticky rice, hand-rolled noodle dishes, and Beijing duck tacos that come prepared in a steamer basket. Soon to be unveiled on the restaurant's second floor is a buffet featuring Northern Chinese dishes, such as tomato and egg dishes, eggplant with potatoes and green peppers, stir-fried pickled cabbage, shredded potato stir-fry, and sauteed green beans. The dishes are already available for takeout, but Liu, who hails from Shenyang in China's northeast region, hasn't set an opening date for the upstairs buffet. 'Northern Chinese cuisine has become popular in China. I want to bring dishes from the area I grew up in to San Diego, my adopted hometown,' says Liu. 'The original China Max was a pioneer in helping to establish the Convoy District as the dining destination it is today. Lots of people in the Asian community and San Diego were waiting for the reopening, and wondering if it would reopen at all. The fire was a blow to the owners and the neighborhood, says Wesley Quach, director of the Asian Business Association San Diego and Convoy District Partnership. 'The return of China Max reflects our neighborhood, and frankly, our community's resilience.' The lines for the renamed China Max Dumpling House have returned after five years, even with tighter parking after the city removed some 300 street parking spaces to make way for bike lanes. Sizzling House owner Mrs. Lin told Eater, 'If people don't want to wait in line, some might try our restaurant,' a few doors down from China Max. The Lins (who requested not to use their full names for privacy reasons) reopened in January 2025, after closing in April 2020 due to the China Max fire. The newfound energy from China Max's reopening has been good for all the businesses. Mrs. Lin says all the restaurants shared information about the bike lanes and how that would affect parking, while China Max also assisted Midnight Skewers by allowing piping to run from its first-floor kitchen to a second-floor kitchen. Kickstarted by the reopening of China Max Dumpling House, Asian businesses in this particular corner of the Convoy District are also rising from the ashes. Exterior of China Max Dumpling House. Matthew Kang Dining room. Matthew Kang Decorative steamer baskets on the wall. Matthew Kang
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Elon Musk Says $150K Investment In Tesla 'Probably' Makes You A Millionaire
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk thinks investing $150,000 in the EV giant's stock could yield high returns for the investor. Check out the latest price of Tesla stock here. Investing In Tesla Could Make You A Millionaire, Elon Musk Says On Tuesday, a user on social media platform X, Cole Grinde, shared a screenshot of Tesla stock performance since it first went public in 2010, with the caption "$150,000 invested in Tesla will most likely make you a millionaire."Trending: The same firms that backed Uber, Venmo and eBay are investing in this pre-IPO company disrupting a $1.8T market — Responding to the post, Musk agreed with the caption. "I think this is probably correct," the billionaire said on Musk Set For $29 Billion Package As Tesla Sales Decline Musk is all set to receive over 96 million Tesla shares as part of his CEO compensation award. The shares amount to over $29 billion in value. However, it's still shy of the $56 billion package originally approved by the Tesla board before being overruled by a Delaware judge in 2024. Despite this, Tesla's sales are falling in multiple markets across the world, with European sales down in double-digit percentages in countries like France and the UK, where Tesla delivered 987 units in July, marking a 60% Robotaxi Plans Face Criticism, Rival BYD Announces Luxury-Focused European Expansion Tesla's Robotaxi faced criticism from analysts like Future Fund LLC's investor Gary Black, who said that the EV giant isn't the only one that will "master unsupervised autonomy." Elsewhere, the company announced it would be expanding its ride-hailing service in the San Francisco Bay Area. However, it's worth noting that the ride-hailing service isn't a Robotaxi as there will be a safety driver present in the car at all times. Meanwhile, Tesla rival BYD Co. Ltd. (OTC:BYDDY) (OTC:BYDDF) announced it was bolstering its presence in the European market by introducing its two sub-brands, Yangwang as well as Denza, into the region next year. Tesla scores well on Momentum, Quality and Growth metrics, but offers poor Value. For more such insights, sign up for Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings today! Read Next: 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. You can invest today for just $0.30/share. If there was a new fund backed by Jeff Bezos offering a 7-9% target yield with monthly dividends would you invest in it? Photo courtesy: Mijansk786 / This article Elon Musk Says $150K Investment In Tesla 'Probably' Makes You A Millionaire originally appeared on
Bloomberg
2 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Former Tesla Executives Start Automotive AI Company DensityAI
Former leaders of Tesla Inc. 's supercomputer program have started a new artificial intelligence company focused on the automotive industry, according to people familiar with the matter. DensityAI, which is poised to come out of stealth soon, is in talks to raise hundreds of millions of dollars, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The startup was founded by Ganesh Venkataramanan — the former head of Tesla's Dojo team — and ex-Tesla employees Bill Chang and Ben Floering.
