foreign South Side Columbus since 1962 and our family took over 1981 till now for 41 years our family immigrants from Hong Kong April 1974 when I met my husband he saw his family won a bingo restaurant and I said it'd be good and busy the opportunity you know family seven my mom my dad sister brother could participate to get in the business so work all together a true family business yes why Columbus Ohio to come to you from Hong Kong my aunt and uncle who sponsor us they live in Columbus Ohio this is a big opportunity for a family to start a business you know for the better life was it easy that you would want it's hard to get it back in days it's hard to get back toy on Napa even so they had to order from San Francisco big shipment and then distributed to the people and part of this discussion is about your restaurant and and how covid-19 the entire pandemic affected the business well at that time you know the the government ordering shut down the dining service for March 14 and a lot of people could panic and a lot of restaurant even closed for the number of months for the business but we stay open we were lucky to survive actually but during the time we had a couple cooked got scared too so it's all our family were only so we working seven days straight get the food pep you know get the business going but we're still okay yeah yes we survive yes foreign Joy is somebody who knows a lot about all the businesses throughout the Asian American Community what was that like on the impact for them oh certainly they struggled during the pandemic a lot of like what Connie said a lot of Asian restaurants Asian owned restaurants they close on the other hand there were some or a few asian-owned restaurants that even Thrive because of carryout one of the challenges that we face as Asian for the Asian owned businesses is this rise of hate crime for for Asians just because of course that the fallacy of where of course covet started and so a lot of us a lot of those Asian owned businesses were affected by it I mean Nationwide I know that anti Asian hate crime rose up to about 300 percent very not very much here in Columbus Ohio because culturally we don't really want to make waves you know and we just mind our own business and there there was this mistrust about reporting those kinds of incidents so there was that fear of reporting and of course there was that fear about this hate against again Asian especially the Asian owned businesses they were very much affected by that I do heard some restaurant they got certain letter yes how is it being an Asian American Asian business in the city of Columbus what is that like and maybe a joy from what you've heard from your some of the people you work with Connie is a business owner we had a lot of people supportive then you know for the business at the time you know come from everywhere we were amazed you know all the supporters to Keep Us Alive thanks to the small business administration SBA and the City of Columbus and Franklin County Who provided education and really ask all these businesses the Asian on in particular too through the Asian American Commerce group is to take a loan you know through PPP of course and the eidl loan and then Franklin County had this recovery grant that a lot of our asian-owned businesses actually took advantage of that's how Asian owns small business work survived we had to reach out to make sure that we are able to provide the education we had a speaker from SBA we had a speaker from Columbus State that really helped them with the resources like giving them access to funds access to finding ways to help them survive through this pandemic oh we have construction engineering businesses I.T owned businesses we have restaurant Hotel nail salons a matter of fact very big nowadays you know owned by mostly Nepalese or Indian from eyebrow to massage to nail are really coming out in the Woodwork right now in terms of ownership from Asian women as a matter of fact and that kind of speaks to how diverse the community is as well are there any obstacles for you Connie as like a woman owning a business would you say uh there's a lot of hard work that's all I could say yeah yeah so when people come in and sit down and eat at The Rice Bowl what makes the restaurant unique and what would you say some of your Specialties are here everyone had their own specialty number one this awesome guy generoso chicken now spicy chicken wings egg roll because of homemade homemade so they love the sweet and sour sauce homemade mustard what is the most rewarding thing about working here you see all the customer here coming in just like a family some of them travel long distance they laugh and come back you know first thing they come come back they come here get their favorite food that probably feels pretty good to see them right when they walk in I say oh you're here you know it's like a big family all the customer all those years without them we would be here joy and Connie thank you so much for joining me in this conversation today it's been really wonderful to learn more about the community and your business and the Asian American Commerce group so thank you you're welcome welcome