At the center of every family is a leader -- the go-to person for knowledge or expertise.

For the Kuo family, Sho Chin Pearce fills this role. The 62-year-old is the matriarch and business genius behind her family's success in the Augusta area's restaurant industry.

This marks the family's 20th year in business. The owner and founder of Shangri-La Chinese Cuisine, Shangri-La Gourmet Buffet and Sho Chin's Asian Kitchen started her first restaurant, Formosa, in 1988.

As her business has grown, she has involved each of her children in the enterprise.

At the upscale Shangri-La Chinese Cuisine at 2933 Washington Road, her son Kuan Kuo and daughter-in-law Susie are in charge.

Down the street in Martinez, her daughter, YaLou Kuo, runs Shangri-La Gourmet Buffet at 3847 Washington Road.

In Evans, her son Mongsee Kuo operates the family's newest restaurant, Sho Chin's Asian Kitchen, a fast-dining restaurant at 4466 Washington Road.

"This name is so that my children will remember me," Sho Chin said about Sho Chin's Asian Kitchen.

Today, Sho Chin has a total staff of about 60 employees.

Though English was not her first language, Sho Chin came to the United States in 1987 with her three children and mastered American business practices.

"She's awesome. I've never seen anything that she touches that didn't turn to gold," said longtime friend Pam Fischbach.

They met over 20 years ago because their husbands worked together as physicians. Sho Chin's husband, Dr. Harry Pearce, died in 1997.

Ms. Fischbach remembers when Sho Chin opened her first restaurant, Formosa, in Aiken. "It was hands down the best thing in town," she said.

Sho Chin sold the business in 2005 because she wanted to move to Augusta.

Their families are extremely close, and Ms. Fischbach's children call Sho Chin Aunt Sho Chin. Sho Chin's own family is extremely close-knit.

"Her kids work willingly with her and love what they do," Ms. Fischbach said.

The savvy businesswoman is also a dynamic singer, her friend said. Sho Chin often sings at events in her native language.

"She's a wonderful singer. She can bring tears to your eyes. She's good at what she does, no matter what she does. She's a totally talented person," Ms. Fischbach said.

Born for business

Sho Chin was born in Taiwan in 1946, one of 10 children. Her father, Kundi Chang, and mother, Jin Hua, owned a hardware and fertilizer store. Her grandfather owned a Singer sewing machine dealership.

"She's been helping out in the family business since she was a small girl," her son Kuan said.

During her upbringing, Sho Chin handled all aspects of business, from management, maintaining financial records and tracking inventory.

Growing up around business fired Sho Chin's entrepreneurial spirit. In fact, most of her siblings are involved in business today. Her sister owns Sho-Ane's Design Studio, a bridal shop on Broad Street in downtown Augusta.

While living overseas, Sho Chin owned several enterprises, including import/export trading businesses and restaurants.

As a young adult, she married Jian Ming Kuo, her children's father, who died last year. They divorced before she moved to the United States.

To ensure that her children received the best education possible, she sent them to middle school in Japan, where the family had a home. Kuan speaks and writes Japanese --well.

"That's how we get a lot of Japanese customers, especially during Masters week," said Kuan's wife, Susie.

Entrepreneur

Sho Chin and her teenage children emigrated to the United States in 1987. After locating in the Aiken-Augusta area, she met and married Dr. Harry Pearce, an Aiken orthopedic surgeon.

A year later, she opened her first restaurant and enrolled in English classes at Aiken Technical College.

Then in 1991, she branched out to Augusta and opened Shangri-La Chinese Cuisine on Washington Road. Shangri-La means "utopia" in Chinese.

"It's like a paradise or a perfect world," Kuan explained.

Formosa is the ancient name for Taiwan. The Dutch were early settlers on the island, and in their language "Formosa" means "beautiful island," he said.

She Chin's three children worked in the restaurants throughout high school and college. After finishing their studies, they joined their mother full-time.

Her restaurants were flourishing, so Sho Chin opened Shangri-La Gourmet Buffet in 2000. She sold Formosa in 2005 and opened Sho Chin's Asian Kitchen one year later.

Sho Chin designed all three restaurants and built Sho Chin's from the ground up.

She decided to name the restaurant after herself because customers often showed up at the wrong restaurant for meals or parties, or to pick up carry-out orders. Despite the name change, some people still don't end up at the right place.

"Customers call one restaurant and pick up at mine. It's very funny," Mongsee said.

Each restaurant's cuisine differs slightly from the others, Mongsee explained.

"For example, you can't really serve fillet mignon on a buffet. We use sea scallops at Shangri-La Chinese Cuisine, but you also can't serve sea scallops at a buffet," Kuan said. "But as far as sauces and cooking style, it's the same."

What's cooking

"We sell a lot of sesame chicken at all three locations. There's something about the South -- fried chicken with some gravy on top -- people just love it," Kuan said.

Other best-selling restaurant items include chicken in lettuce wraps, volcano shrimp salad and rice or noodle bowls, Susie added.

"We've realized that people seem to like spicier food now. People also seem to appreciate different food nowadays. I think the Food Network has helped to expose people to different cultures," Kuan said.

The entire family loves to cook and travels across the country to sample food at different restaurants, YaLou said.

"We always travel together. We go to Taiwan, China to sample food," Sho Chin said.

Sho Chin has traveled to Taiwan and Hong Kong four times this year. It is a 23-hour flight each way.

"There might be recipes out there for dishes that we like, so we'll bring them back and try to bring the international flavor to Augusta," Kuan said.

If customers enjoy the dishes, they add them to the menu.

"A lot of Chinese cuisine, they used a lot of MSG (monosodium glutamate), sugar and salt, and soy sauce. For new dishes that we make, we try to reduce all of that. So it's much healthier," Mongsee explained.

For example, they've made changes to dishes such as mango shrimp and bourbon chicken. They use natural sweeteners, such as honey, he said.

This is what keeps Ranette Brill, a regular customer at Sho Chin's, coming back to the restaurant.

"They don't use MSG in their food, and that's very important to me," Ms. Brill said.

Ms. Brill, who works at Security Federal Bank, refers family, friends and co-workers to Sho Chin's, which is down the street from her Evans office, which allows her to dine there often. She enjoys the environment and said that Mongsee and his wife, who manage the restaurant, are very accommodating.

"They make special dishes for me upon request, otherwise, they know what I order all the time. They provide fast service where I can call in my order and have it waiting for me," Ms. Brill said.

It's challenging to operate three restaurants, but the siblings work well together and have good employees. The economy has impacted all businesses, which is making things additionally challenging, Kuan said.

"We see a little decline but we're still doing OK because commodity prices have dropped. People definitely have to eat out because they don't have time to cook nowadays," he said.

Also, grocery prices are sometimes more expensive compared to going out to eat, he said.

The average ticket price for the Chinese buffet is $10. It is $8 or $9 for the fast-casual restaurant and $15 for their upscale dining location.

In Mom's footsteps

When Kuan was nearing the end of his college studies at Clemson University, Savannah River Site was laying off workers.

As an industrial engineer, he would have been required to move around often because the job primarily deals with improving efficiency. After a company has achieved its efficiency goals, it might release the engineer and that person has to find a new job.

"So I picked the family business to help the family," Kuan said.

He met his wife, Susie, while she was working as a flight attendant for a Japanese airline. They were married in 1996.

"He was flying on my flight with his brother," Susie said.

To celebrate their nuptials, the couple had their wedding reception at Shangri-La Chinese Cuisine. While Susie never planned to work in the restaurant business, she enjoys it.

"I had to learn everything from scratch because I had no experience working in a restaurant before," she said.

Susie's restaurant skills have since blossomed, and she provides catering for events. She specializes in dishes from hors d'oeuvres to desserts.

People often throw parties and receptions at the restaurant, which can hold 200 people, Mongsee said.

"We always have our mom's birthday in one of the restaurants," Susie continued.

The family restaurants have also made some love connections. Both YaLou and Mongsee met their spouses at work. Susie catered both of their wedding receptions in 2000.

YaLou decided to major in business at Perimeter College in the Atlanta area to be an asset to the family business.

She enjoys the flexible hours because she has two young children. There are many benefits of working with family, she said.

"We can always discuss things, and we help each other. Sometimes if I run out something, I can go to another restaurant to get it. Or if they run out of something, they can come to mine," she said.

"And you get to eat free," Susie added.

"You don't have to spend money on groceries. And you don't have to do the dishes after you eat."

The restaurants also allow the family to share meals together, Sho Chin said.

"We also get to know a lot of nice customers. They become like family, too," YaLou said.

The family-owned business has created fond memories for all involved.

"At Christmas or Chinese New Year, we always cook and have a big dinner with the staff. We give presents, and we enjoy that a lot," Susie said.

Raymond Chong, a close family friend, said this is what impressed him about Sho Chin. He met the family about eight years ago while dining at their restaurants.

Many people have different circles of friends, but Sho Chin brings everyone together at once, even her employees, Dr. Chong said.

Ms. Fischbach believes Sho Chin's generous nature is why workers remain with her so long.

"She has the same employees, so she must be very good to her employees. They stay with her," she said.

Sho Chin considers Dr. Chong to be "like a son." She often invites him and his wife, Rose, over for holidays and family dinners.

He first became acquainted with the family when he learned that he and Susie were both from Singapore.

"We consider her to be family. She's a very friendly lady. Whenever there is a gathering, she never forgets us," Ms. Chong said of Sho Chin.

Dr. Chong said that Sho Chin is a good mother and provides support to ensure her children will be successful.

"She definitely loves her children very much. There's no doubt about that," Dr. Chong said.

"She's a very caring person. I know she has a very good heart.

''When she finds out that people are in need, she will reach out and try to do something."

Dr. Chong said that Sho Chin's work ethic and interaction with customers are the driving forces behind her success.

"She is definitely a very driven person, and she likes to get things done right," Dr. Chong said. "She also tries to find out as much information as needed to make a decision. She does what is necessary to keep the business running successfully."

The family is satisfied with their restaurants' growth and doesn't have any short-term plans for expansion.

"We don't want to overspend, and we want to make sure we can take care of our customers," YaLou said.

Sho Chin is full of energy, which keeps her restaurants on-track, Dr. Chong said.

"She's always on the move. It drives her crazy if she has to sit still for a long period of time," Dr. Chong added.

"I think she has the personality for the restaurant business. It's her life. It's long hours, but she still has the energy to do it."

Reach LaTina Emerson at (706) 823-3227 or latina.emerson@augustachronicle.com.