Shanghai Express

Shanghai Express

By Joseph M. de Leon Friday, 12 March 2010

GEORGETOWN — When Leo Ponce crossed the border from Mexico into Texas nearly 20 years ago, he neither considered opening a restaurant nor would have believed he would become skilled at preparing Chinese food.

Leo and his wife, Tiffany, own and operate Shanghai Express, located at 900 N. Austin Ave. in Georgetown. The restaurant offers weekday lunch specials, a Sunday buffet and group dining options.

Leo, a native of Querétaro, Mexico, came to Austin in 1994. He scraped together a living throughout the Austin area working as a dishwasher in several restaurants.

“I only came here to work, and I always dreamed of owning a business, but I never imagined I could own a restaurant,” he said. “It was a struggle getting here, but it’s also a struggle running a restaurant.”

In 1998, Leo worked as a dishwasher at Peking Palace in Round Rock, which closed in 2005. Over the next five years, he learned the restaurant business.

Leo advanced from cleaning plates to cutting vegetables and finally to the cook’s line. He learned how to combine meat, vegetables and sauces in a traditional interpretation of Chinese cuisine.

Leo then met Tiffany, who waited tables at the same restaurant. They married in 1999 and now have two boys, Devon, 10, and Benjamin, 4.

When the pair opened Shanghai Express in 2002, the restaurant could hardly seat 20 people and only employed one worker. In 2007, the restaurant expanded, adding a bar and quadrupling the restaurant’s capacity. Now, 10 people work there.

“Sometimes it’s hard to deal with running a restaurant. It’s not my favorite part of the job to have to boss someone around,” Tiffany said. “I also see how hard Leo works for the family and we miss out on spending time together.”

While working long hours is a necessary sacrifice, Leo enjoys running the kitchen almost as much as he likes making sure clients are happy.

“I love to be around the customers and my workers,” he said. “The most important thing is to make sure you treat people like family.”

Guests can choose from more than two dozen lunch specials from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. during the workweek, each for less than $6. The lunch entrées, such as Chicken Supreme, ($5.50), include soup, egg roll and fried rice.

The menu includes chef’s specialties, such as Dragon and Tiger Fight, ($9.50), tiger shrimp, chicken, broccoli, mushrooms and snow peas served in a light white sauce. Shrimp Egg Foo Young, ($9.50), is a lightly fried Chinese crêpe filled with jumbo shrimp and covered with a tangy brown sauce.

Groups can order House Gourmet Dinner C, ($50.95), which includes appetizers and entrées for five including soup, crab rangoons, fried crispy apples, double-cooked pork, shrimp with snow peas, moo goo gai pan and other dishes.

Leo and Tiffany are proud the menu—along with the prices—has remained unchanged since the doors opened eight years ago.

The couple said they occasionally think about what it would be like to open another restaurant—hunt for the perfect location, manage a new staff and spend additional time away from home.

“Sometimes it just feels like we work so much now with just one restaurant,” she said. “It’s a lot of work.”

Leo nodded in agreement and after a pause said, “That’s when we realize we’re happy with what we have.”