by Cierra Lannon

Bryan Li grew up in Hong Kong, China, a city known for its distinctive Cantonese cuisine, beautiful lights, and emphasis on traditional culture. Li moved to North Carolina from Hong Kong at 13 and later attended the UNC Charlotte Belk College of Business, graduating in 2008.

In 2009, Li and his business partners, Charle Au and Jason Cheung, opened their first restaurant, Pisces Sushi Bar and Lounge, when Li was just 23 years old. After a few years, the team wanted to open something closer to their roots, something that would “feel like home.”

Open Rice opened in 2019 in Blakeney on Rea Road, then expanded to the Metropolitan shopping center in 2022. When asked about the rapidity of their expansion, Li expressed his confidence in their growth model.

“I think it’s just one of those things where, when you feel like you have something special, you just got to go for it,” he says. “You just have to go all in, and that has always been our mindset when it comes to running a business.”

After Dim Sum Chinese Restaurant on Central Avenue closed in 2019, Li saw it as an opportunity to bring authentic dim sum back to the city. “It’s just such a big part of our culture,” he says. “At least two times a week, my family would go to a traditional dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong, and that was how we would spend our time together in the mornings. We were very excited to bring that feeling to Charlotte.”

As Charlotte grows at breakneck speed, some businesses suffer as new developments and chain concepts move in. The years-long construction off Kings Drive, near Open Rice’s Metropolitan location, isn’t deterring their customers.

“Our people show up,” Li says. “We’re very, very lucky to have such a strong, supporting group.”

Open Rice focuses on Cantonese cuisine. In Hong Kong, with its history as a British colony, Western influence is strong. Ingredients like cheese and curry color Cantonese dishes, making them distinct from typical Chinese food.

“Cantonese cuisine sucks up all the cool things around the world and puts it into Chinese cuisine,” Li says. “What we’re doing is pretty unique, especially on Saturdays and Sundays with our traditional push cart service.”

The push cart service offers a handful of traditional dim sum dishes, organized by how they are served (like hot items in a steam cart). Servers push the cart to the tables, where they explain the available dishes. Open Rice uses a special order sheet that they mark as customers order from different carts.

“It’s a very cool experience, because you get to see things that you don’t typically order. You’re seeing everything that we have,” Li says. “It’s a fun experience because we get pretty busy. The energy is absolutely fantastic.”

Open Rice also features a chef-special menu that changes weekly based on what the chefs come up with or what’s fresh at the market. Two recent menu features include ginger scallion chicken and ginger scallion stir-fried lobster.

Li is looking ahead to his next venture, announcing a piano bar opening in Plaza Midwood in early 2027 alongside Tim Edwards, founder of interactive paint studio Splatter Charlotte. Li and Edwards have hosted pop-up singalongs for the past year and a half, and are giving their gatherings a permanent home with Residency Music Experience.

“The idea is that we put a piano in the middle of the room, and every night there’s a theme – we put lyrics on the wall, and for 2 hours, people are just scream-singing songs that they love,” Li says. “The entire place is built on customer engagement.”

Details for Residency should be available later this year.

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