Tony Hu Sells Lao Beijing to Focus on Growing Lao Sze Chuan

Tony Hu's Chinese restaurant group is smaller now that he's sold off Lao Beijing.

Hu tells Crain's that he wants to focus more on growing the Lao Sze Chuan brand and the deal went official on Jan. 1. And that brand is growing, as a Michigan Avenue location of the popular Lao Sze Chuan opened in December at the Shops at North Bridge. The Tony Gourmet Group owns 11 restaurants in Chicagoland, and others in Connecticut and Las Vegas. That number includes Lao Sze Chauns in Chinatown, Uptown, Evanston and Downers Grove.

Cong Geng, a 26-year-old employee at Lao Beijing, bought the restaurant at the behest of Hu, Crain's reported. There are no changes planned at the restaurant, which opened in 2008 and specializes in Northern Chinese cuisine. Yes, Lao Beijing was one of the restaurants raided by the FBI in October. No charges have been filed, and the mystery remains.