Tong's, where fine dining started downtown, closes tomorrow Tong's, where fine dining started downtown, closes tomorrow (April 29, 2005)

by Jeb Bing

W hen Cabi and Max Tong close the doors of their popular Chinese restaurant at 425 Main St. tomorrow night, they'll end 12-1/2 years of serving award-winning cuisine that helped make downtown Pleasanton a destination for fine dining. Tong's, which has been open for lunch and dinner since July 28, 1992, initially was closed only on Mondays. Four years ago, the Tongs started closing Sundays to give themselves more time to enjoy their Kottinger Ranch home. Even then, much of the time on those days off has been spent procuring specialty food and supplies that meet their longstanding commitment in food, service and amenities. As the first white tablecloth restaurant on Main Street south of the Pleasanton Hotel, the Tongs have long prided themselves as standard-setters in quality dining, with ironed tablecloths that extend exactly 2 inches above each dining room chair to patterned dishes and crystal meticulously set the same way at each place-setting. The food is fresh and cooked to order, with meats hand-carved and nothing machine-sliced or microwaved. It's this pride in their work and their obsession to pleasing each one of the thousands of customers they have served that has given Tong's name recognition throughout the Bay Area with top awards and media acclaim.

Now it's over, with Max Tong, 53, saying he needs a rest and with Cabi pointing to the more than 60 years both have worked in the restaurant business - 37 years for Max Tong and 27 for her. During their years in Pleasanton, they have worked from 10 a.m. to well after 10 at night, with neither ever taking a day off because of illness. Next month, their older son Kevin, 21, will graduate from Cal State Long Beach and their younger son Brandon, 17, from Foothill High School. A talented saxophone player in both Foothill's marching band and jazz band, Brandon will leave this summer to enroll as a music major at Cal State Northridge, leaving the parents as empty nesters and free to travel for the first time since moving here. "Just say we're going fishing," Cabi Tong said.

Actually, opening a restaurant in Pleasanton was something of a fluke. In 1990, after always working for other restaurant owners, they decided to strike out on their own and considered lakefront property on Lake Oswego near Portland. But the climate was too damp for Max, who has arthritis, so they headed back to California at the suggestion of a friend who told them about Pleasanton. The directions were wrong and for a time the Tongs searched for restaurant space in Hacienda Business Park until they finally found our historic downtown. Like so many others, their search ended here, leasing the space occupied by building owner Chris Beratlis. At the time, Main Street had potholes, crumbling sidewalks and flooded sections every time it rained. Even so, they were impressed by the quality schools and sports programs for their young sons, and knew that Main Street would soon be renovated. Fortunately, they had eight months to fill their new restaurant with patrons who praised the food to others and kept coming back, keeping Tong's reasonably filled even as Main street was ripped up for its major facelift right up to the board sidewalk placed at their front door. When the work ended, the Tongs said their restaurant and the new Main Street were the new jewels of downtown Pleasanton as the restaurant and retail business started booming.

Tomorrow it ends, with the Tongs joining the rest of us next week to enjoy other Main Street restaurants, including a new Polynesian fish restaurant where Tong's used to be. As for the specialty Chinese cuisine the Tongs brought to Pleasanton, theirs, like ours, will be happy memories.

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