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For most Americans when we think of Chinese food we envision endless buffets heaped with piles of sweet and sour shrimp, General Tso’s chicken, and deep fried egg rolls. This is especially true for those of us living in the Midwest where if we’re not eating at buffets it’s from microwaved cans of La Choy. For years this was the attitude I had about Chinese cuisine until visiting Chinatown in Honolulu two years ago.

On this fateful trip we ate at a restaurant serving dim sum, a traditional Cantonese brunch time meal. Dim Sum consists of several small Chinese dishes brought to you by waitresses pushing metal carts. These are piled high with steamer trays full of small and delicious dishes that you wash down with hot tea. This way you can order a variety of different dishes and everyone gets to have a little of each. While our dim sum cherries were popped by a rather brusk and anti-tourist waitress in Honolulu, it wet our appetite for more. At first we were convinced that there couldn’t be anywhere in Toledo serving dim sum, and were surprised when we discovered there is one restaurant that does.

Situated in the Spring Meadows Shopping Center in Holland, OH, the New Empire Restaurant continues the proud midwest tradition that amazing food can come from strip malls if you know where to look. While they have all the deep fried and sauce heavy dishes that us midwesterners come to expect from Chinese food (as well as hamburgers and fries for the truly unadventurous), they also serve dim sum daily from 11am until 4pm.

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