{"id":639921,"date":"2026-05-01T03:27:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T03:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/639921\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T03:27:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T03:27:08","slug":"mandarin-restaurant-co-founder-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/639921\/","title":{"rendered":"Mandarin Restaurant co-founder dies"},"content":{"rendered":"

The co-founder of Ontario\u2019s famous Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet has died.<\/p>\n

In a post on Instagram, Mandarin Restaurant announced that James Chiu, its president and co-founder, died on April 29 following a \u201clong and courageous\u201d battle with pulmonary fibrosis. He was 78.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have lost a true restaurant icon and passionate champion of people and community,\u201d the restaurant said in the post.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis vision for exceptional food and genuine customer service will live on, inspiring generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a separate tribute posted on Chiu\u2019s website,<\/a> his family recounted his beginnings in the restaurant industry.<\/p>\n

Chiu and his parents emigrated from Taiwan in 1963 and lived in Montreal. After university, he launched his first restaurant, \u201cSweet \u2018N Sour.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat began as a means for survival, transformed into a life-long love of hospitality,\u201d the tribute reads.<\/p>\n

Chiu moved to Ontario with his wife and daughter in 1979, along with his brother, George, sister-in-law, Diana, and long-time friend K.C. Chang \u2013 all three would become his future co-founders.<\/p>\n

They then bought a small Chinese restaurant on Queen Street in Brampton called Mandarin. In 1986,<\/a> the restaurant adopted a Chinese buffet concept to accommodate long line-ups.<\/p>\n

\"\"Mandarin restaurant A Mandarin restaurant in Ottawa is shown, on Friday, June 28, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Justin Tang <\/p>\n

\u201cOver the years, James, together with his co-founders, led Mandarin\u2019s expansion,\u201d the tribute read, noting that there are currently 29 Mandarin restaurants across Ontario.<\/p>\n

\u201cJames lived a full and vibrant life and will be remembered for his wit, wisdom, and warmth,\u201d the tribute read. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The co-founder of Ontario\u2019s famous Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet has died. In a post on Instagram, Mandarin Restaurant announced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639922,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[712,45,49,48],"class_list":["post-639921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-apple-news","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}