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Szechwan Chinese Kitchen named Best of State

Wendy Kuo, middle, owner of Szechwan Chinese Kitchen in Kimball Junction, poses with her two daughters, Jessica Kuo, left, and Nicole Chang. The restaurant, which has been in Park City for nearly three decades, recently won a prestigious Best of State award. (Bubba Brown/Park Record)
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Wendy Kuo and Nicole Chang had no expectations of winning when they entered their restaurant, Szechwan Chinese Kitchen, in the 2016 Best of State awards competition.

In fact, they’d never even considered entering until a representative of the competition ate at the restaurant one day and urged them to apply. So they did. They wrote essays about the restaurant’s history and its relationship with the Park City community and sent off an application.

A few months later, they got an email delivering news that gave them a jolt: They had won the Best of State’s Szechwan Chinese casual dining category.

"We were really surprised," said Chang, the daughter of the Kuo, the restaurant’s owner "It was exciting. We’ve had this establishment for 30 years, and it was really nice to get that kind of recognition. We’ve won, like, Best of Park City before and everything, but this was kind of something that was really unexpected."

Kuo opened the restaurant in 1989, when she moved to Park City. She started it on Main Street, then opened another location in Kimball Junction, at 1612 W. Ute Blvd., in the late 1990s. A few years later, she sold the Main Street restaurant, but the Kimball Junction location has continued to thrive.

Chang said they have never tried to make the restaurant anything more than a family-owned small business. They became a favorite in the community, relying on Parkites for all-season success instead of gearing up for tourists in the winter. Garnering statewide recognition has been gratifying.

"We’ve gotten a lot of customers who have come here and tried this place and they never knew about it," Chang said. "It’s really nice to have that attention."

The restaurant’s success has been built on Kuo, who has been in the food industry for years. She waitressed in Chinese restaurants all over the country when she first immigrated here from Taiwan. When she first visited Park City, she fell in love and knew it was the right place to take her career to the next level.

She opened the restaurant and Parkites quickly fell in love with her authentic dishes. The rest has been history.

"When people come here, they tell me or my employees, ‘Every time we come here, the flavor is the same quality,’" Kuo said. "Quality is always my priority. I think that’s why people come here."


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