“This is my second home,” said Bong Lee, owner of the Twin Dragon restaurant. “I’m 60 but I lived in Dillingham for 30 years. Half and half, so my second home town is here in Dillingham.”
The Twin Dragon restaurant was located above the Grant Aviation building at the Dillingham airport, up a steep set of stairs.
In a small room with windows overlooking the runway, Young and Bong Lee cooked and served Chinese food for 30 years.
The Lees, who are Korean, moved to Dillingham and opened the Twin Dragon in 1991. Their kids, Jae and Sue, grew up around the restaurant waiting tables and helping clean.
Jae said the family is grateful for the community’s response to the news that Twin Dragon was closing.
“They really appreciate the community for supporting them throughout the years and to all the people who came by to say goodbye,” Jae said.
On one of the last days, the phone rang constantly as patrons placed orders. One customer, Abbey Whitcomb, said Twin Dragon was her favorite place to go for celebrations.
“I’ll miss every little time I came here for every occasion, every family gathering, every meal,” she said.
In late May, Grant Aviation told the family it would not renew their lease. Jae said their reasons were unclear.
“Grant Aviation, I guess, had a change in ownership,” he said. “They didn’t really provide us a reason why they didn’t want to renew the lease. So basically the lease period was up and they weren’t open to renewing it.”
The family looked for a new building to lease, but didn’t find any viable options.
“We did look around everywhere and basically some places aren’t open to leasing right now and basically we have some specialized equipment and so if we were to move that stuff and reinstall it, costs would add up and it would be an investment that I don’t know if it would be worth doing,” Jae said.
Young and Bong, the owners, said the restaurant’s closure is bittersweet.
Young says they wanted to continue to run the restaurant, but without a space, the best option for them is to hang up their aprons.
“We wanted more work,” she said. “But we don’t have any chances so right now, (the plan) is only to retire.
Bong says he’s grateful to the people of Dillingham for welcoming him.
“This is my second home,” he said. “I’m 60 but I lived in Dillingham for 30 years. Half and half so my second home town is here in Dillingham.”
As the Lees closed up shop, they sold plates, decorations, and extra to-go containers.
Jae plans to enlist for the Air Force. His sister, Sue, is in school and wants to become a dentist.
Bong and Young plan to stay in Dillingham for a few more years, and eventually move to Anchorage to be closer to family.
Contact the author at brian@kdlg.org or 907-842-2200.