The Moneris Merchant Spotlight- The Lingnan Restaurant

The Moneris^® Merchant Spotlight Series is dedicated to highlighting Canadian businesses thriving amidst an ever-changing landscape. Featuring exclusive interviews, learn more about the entrepreneurs behind the scenes, their stories of how they got their businesses off the ground, what it really takes to achieve success, and what the next steps could look like for a resilient future.
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Get the scoop on The Lingnan Restaurant with co-owner, Miles Quon.

• Where: Edmonton, Alberta
• What: Chinese Restaurant
• Product: Moneris Go
• Time with Moneris: 20+ years

What’s the backstory behind the Lingnan?

The Lingnan has a long, intergenerational history in Canada. My family emigrated from China in the 1800s. Some settled in Victoria, British Columbia, but a few eventually made their way to Edmonton, where my grandparents were later born and raised. They opened the restaurant together in 1947, moving locations only once, and have been in the same place since 1963.

What’s your role with the restaurant?

I’m the third generation to run the Lingnan and oversee operations, but we’re a family-oriented business through and through, so my parents are still very much part of the restaurant. Even my siblings, who have their own careers, will come out to help every now and then. I grew up working in the business and loved doing it. After university, when the time came to decide if we wanted to support the business or pursue jobs in our educational field, it wasn’t much of a choice for me. I took it as an opportunity to continue our family’s legacy. 

Tell us about your menu.

For the last 76 years, the Lingnan has been known for making Western-Chinese cuisine. We’ve done our best to build a robust menu that represents our family history and celebrates the larger Chinese Canadian community. This includes western twists on Szechuan-style, Cantonese food classics, as well as dishes that were inspired by the influx of immigration from Hong Kong in the 80s, and Mandarin-speaking Chinese immigrants in the 2000s.

We’ve received a lot of flak over the years about the authenticity of our menu, with some people telling us that we’re not serving up ‘real’ Chinese food. But like many immigrants, my grandparents adapted their knowledge of traditional cooking using whatever ingredients were available to them. I think our menu tells a very real and important story about the struggle of immigrants who are just trying to make a place for themselves and make a better life for their families.

Why Moneris?

We’ve worked with Moneris for a very long time. They’ve become an integral part of our business, particularly their customer service support. If we ever had an issue with our terminals, our customer calls would be answered right away, and a technician would be dispatched to the restaurant promptly. They’re efficient and very knowledgeable, and walk us through any issue with immense patience, ensuring we understand what they’re doing to fix the problem. That type of service can’t be beat

For a while, competing payment processors and financial institutions would reach out, asking me to switch over by offering flashy incentives and lower introductory rates. But I always tell them, one easy phone call and a Moneris service tech is coming to my restaurant with an extra battery, and I’m not waiting days to have my terminals serviced. I’m getting the consistent and quality service that I was promised when we first signed up. With Moneris, I can prioritize running the business while having peace of mind – which is much more important than stressing over whatever percentage of a dollar I could be saving with another processor.

What Moneris product are you currently using?

We’ve experienced many generations of the Moneris terminals and are currently using the Moneris Go. It’s by far the most intuitive solution we’ve used and the easiest to navigate. I think we’re only using its most basic functions, but I can see how powerful the terminal can be.

Overall thoughts?

My experience with Moneris is that they won’t let you down, and they won’t leave you hanging. We really just need something that works, and Moneris does that for us. We’re excited to see what innovative products they come out with, but right now we just appreciate their ongoing service and commitment to supporting our business.

Fun Fact!

Your family has been on TV, twice! Tell us about that experience.

I met a gentleman who worked at this gym that I used to frequent; we ended up having quite a few conversations and at some point, he mentioned he was moving to the east coast. I decided to buy him and his wife dinner at the Lingnan; we had built that kind of relationship. Years passed and a production company based in Edmonton called me, inviting my family to do a show about our restaurant. My dad was pretty against it at first, but I thought being part of the show would be a fantastic opportunity to share our family’s story and share all that we’ve accomplished together.

When I asked the production company how they heard about our restaurant, it turns out the wife of the gentlemen I met at the gym put in a good word about our business. Thanks to them, we were able to do a reality television show for Citytv called The Quon Dynasty, then a season of The Family Restaurant on Food Network called The Quon’s. That experience really stuck with us, and I always think about how serendipitous the world is because you never know how your actions will come back to you.