New Restaurant Brings Taste of South China to Rosemount

Make no bones about it. Hong Kong Bistro is a family-owned affair.

Rosemount newest restaurant at 15065 Canada Avenue West is a labor of love by Manager Kee, and the owners, his parents, Yik-Chi Lo and Yau Mui Lo. The Los have been in the restaurant business almost as long as they have been in the United States. The family started managing restaurants in 1976, shortly after immigrating from a small island near the metropolis of Hong Kong. They opened their own restaurant in 1982, an establishment that is still humming along at the intersection of Rice and Arlington Streets in St. Paul.

Through the years, the Los' restaurant empire has grown and contracted, at one time encompassing multiple locations in both St. Paul and the northeastern suburbs. Kee Lo said the family decided to put down stakes in the south after gas prices began to climb. Kee lives in Farmington and his commute was getting to be too costly to keep up.

The Los looked all over the south metro, considering spots in Burnsville, Apple Valley and Eagan before settling on their latest outpost in Rosemount. They acquired the property last year, then began renovations in January.

The restaurant opened on June 8. Kee says that the grand opening specials will persist throughout the summer, so there is still plenty of time to try their particular variety of south Chinese home-cooking.