The original, near White Rock Lake, has served xiao long, hand-pulled noodles, Mongolian beef and orange chicken since late 2024. By spring 2025, Romano and his co-founder\u00a0Jia Huang were already looking to expand.<\/p>\n
They plan to open five MiYa Chinese restaurants, including the original, then pause. A restaurant in Fort Worth is expected to open next, followed by one in\u00a0Frisco. The team is also planning to open a location\u00a0in San Antonio, Romano’s hometown, in the Alamo Heights neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Romano would like to open a fifth in Highland Park or University Park but he hasn’t secured a lease yet.<\/p>\n
Romano was raised in the restaurant industry; his uncle is Phil Romano, who helped create\u00a0Eatzi’s, Fuddruckers, Romano’s Macaroni Grill and more. David Romano attributes the growth of MiYa to co-founder Jia Huang, who was born and raised in Fujian Province in China. Huang and David Romano had worked together on Wok Star Chinese<\/a>, which was sold to Local Favorite, the Dallas company that recently acquired Cotton Patch Cafe and owns many D-FW restaurant brands like Twisted Root Burger Co. and the nearly 110-year-old El Fenix.<\/p>\n At MiYa, Huang has helped chefs fine-tune dishes like the scallion pancakes and\u00a0bao, two things she ate for breakfast as a child.<\/p>\n She’s also a natural connector, Romano said. “There are not many people in the city Jia doesn’t know.”<\/p>\n