Francisco “Chico” Teng, a third generation restaurateur, said when his mom Mei Teng moved to Texas from China, following a stint in Taiwan and Brazil due to political unrest, she started working in an Asian supermarket in Richardson. Eventually, she offered to make and sell steamed buns at the store.

“I remember in high school we’d make steamed buns on the weekends and she sold them at the supermarket,” Chico said.

Eventually, Chico’s father Yuan Teng joined the family in Texas and together they decided to open a dough-centric Chinese restaurant versus a rice-oriented restaurant, since those already existed in the community.

Backstory

Chico’s grandfather opened many businesses in China, including a restaurant he named Jeng Chi. In 1990, the Tengs opened Jeng Chi in DFW China Town in Richardson. The business tripled in size during the first two decades in operation.


During that time, Chico graduated from University of North Texas with a graphic design degree, worked a corporate job for a while then decided that lifestyle wasn’t for him. He returned to the family business where he became a manager. Then, to increase his skillset, he trained as a baker at a large culinary establishment in Taiwan. While there, he learned how to elevate Chinese cuisine.

“Somehow the Chinese cuisine kind of stepped itself down to the point that it became a buffet in America,” Chico said. “In Taiwan it is not that way. The food progressed into this modern thing. So my purpose here was to create this idea of traditional food, but meeting today's needs.”

In 2013, Chico and his wife, Janelle Teng, who had extensive hospitality experience, took over ownership of the family restaurant which was being relocated to a much larger space within DFW China Town.

“He asked me to marry him in October 2012, we were married in March 2013 and opened the [new location] in April,” Janelle said. “[The Jeng family] took a huge leap of faith in their son's choice of a spouse. They didn't really know me.”


On the menu

Chico said he and his mother created recipes for all the menu items.

“Our kitchen is most well known for our dumplings,” Janelle said.

Dumpling options, which are all hand-rolled, include juicy, steamed, boiled and pot stickers.


“When we say we make everything from scratch, we really mean from scratch. It's a complicated process,” Chico said. “We buy pork skin and ... process them to extract the gelatin. The gelatin is then chilled then it's minced to just the right size to add to the pork filling. We create beads of gelatin so when it's incorporated in the meat, the beads melt away leaving cavities to make sure that the bite is soft.”

What else

Drink and pastry offerings are also made from scratch.

“Our bartenders have crafted some really unique beverages, just for Jeng Chi,” Janelle said. “The bartenders also prepare the fine teas. We do loose leaf tea here. Guests can enjoy coffee, tea, cocktails and mocktails.”


Chico said he taught two of their pastry chefs everything he learned in Taiwan so the desserts are Taiwanese inspired. He said there are seasonal items as well as bakery case stalwarts.

“Our traditional fruit cake, we’ve been preparing since 1990,” Janelle said. "It is a very soft vanilla cake layered with whipped cream, sweet peaches and finished with fresh fruit.”

Quote of note

When Chico walks through the restaurant, which will celebrate its 35th year anniversary in May, he finds audible joy in the journey.


“When the restaurant is going well, it's about the roar—that's the exciting thing. It's actually people enjoying themselves,” Chico said. “You provide something that is really good, and then that thing churns and creates something beautiful.”