Wu's Garden Restaurant Closing After 39 Years in Vienna

A beloved Vienna culinary institution — Wu's Garden Restaurant — is closing its doors next week, after 39 years, one of the owners confirmed Monday.

The restaurant, located at 418 Maple Ave. E, will close its doors after the last customer leaves on Wednesday, Nov. 27, the day before Thanksgiving.

The restaurant will likely serve up plenty of its most popular dish on the menu — Kung Pao Chicken — before it's all over.

"Words cannot describe the feeling," Bill Wu said Monday morning. He is one of the owners of the family business, along with his two brothers and sister, and their father — who everyone calls simply "Mr. Wu," 86. The elder Wu usually makes it a point to stop by the restaurant once each day.

The restaurant opened its doors in 1974. Bill Wu has worked at the restaurant, beginning on the weekends, since he was in high school, when the family lived in Rockville. These days, everyone is a resident of Vienna, he said.

Why did the Wu family decide to close? "We're old! It's time," Wu said with a smile. The next generation, he said, has gone on to corporate careers and he noted that to grow the business, they would need to get bigger and go more regional. But Wu's always stayed a one-restaurant family business through the years.

The family has sold the land and the building, which will be renovated for a new retail business, Wu said.

"We will become part of history," Bill Wu said. "But we'll still be part of the community."

What are your memories of Wu's Garden Restaurant? What will you miss most? Share your thoughts in the comments box below.