SKOWHEGAN — Macy Lee has heard rumors of all kinds in the weeks since her family closed Pak Lee Chinese Restaurant.

No, she said, the restaurant was not forced to close due to a failed health inspection — that was what happened in March with Mei Lee Garden, just up Madison Avenue. 

And, no, nobody associated with Pak Lee was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

And, no, her family does not own any other Chinese restaurants in Maine, so they’re not simply packing up and moving the operation somewhere else.

“We tried to keep it open, especially my father, who I know is very gutted about it because he wanted to keep it going,” Lee said of the recent closure. “But we just couldn’t handle it financially anymore. It was very frustrating having to negotiate bills with people. … It was just one thing after another.”

It was a tough decision, she said. Her parents, who have lived in Skowhegan for about 30 years and immigrated here because they had family already in the area, were fond of the community and their many regular customers.

“We really do love the community,” said Lee, 28, who grew up in Skowhegan with her younger sister and brother. “We stayed open (for 12 years). We really tried, really hard, to stay open for the community.”

In a Facebook post last week, the restaurant at 252 Madison Ave. announced it had closed a few weeks prior, after more than a decade in business.

Lee’s 67-year-old father — the namesake of the restaurant and originally from Hong Kong — had worked as a cook at Mei Lee Garden and other restaurants, Lee said.

Her father’s brother owned Mei Lee Garden, and after he died and that restaurant eventually changed hands, Lee’s father stopped cooking there, Lee said. He later decided to open his own Chinese restaurant in Skowhegan as an homage to his brother.

But from the beginning, business was tough, Lee said. In Skowhegan, a town of about 9,000 people, Pak Lee was competing against dozens of eateries and fast food joints. There are two other Chinese restaurants, Mei Lee Garden and New Garden, within a mile radius. 

Her family also did not own the building, and people were sometimes upset that they did not offer a buffet like the other Asian restaurant that preceded it in the space.

Attempts to get some buzz in the local press, to tell those who enjoyed her father’s cooking at Mei Lee Garden they could find him at his new place, were unsuccessful, Lee said.

Later challenges included racism during the COVID-19 pandemic, and rising prices of food and other goods. The restaurant, in its last years in business, closed its dining room and offered only take-out, which Lee said some people complained about regularly.

The family, however, worked hard. In the past, they had some employees, but recently, it was just Lee and her parents, with some occasional assistance from their two other children.

For many years, the restaurant was open seven days a week and all holidays, Lee said. In recent years, the restaurant closed one day a week and on some holidays, like Thanksgiving and Independence Day. 

The family took pride in making all but two or three items on their large menu in-house.

Lee said her father, in the kitchen, could identify a regular customer simply by their order. Her mother would give out water and food to anyone who came in and needed it, she said.

When the dining room was open, they would host large parties on a regular basis. They saw children grow tall, learn to drive, go off to college and get married. They hosted rehearsal dinners and brides and grooms after their weddings. 

“We tried to emphasize to everyone, that when you come here — in our tiny little community, in our tiny little restaurant, in our little mom and pop shop — treat it like we’re family,” Lee said.

Lee said she and her parents are adjusting to life without the restaurant as they tie up loose ends, like paperwork. It is too soon to know whether they will one day reopen a business, she said.

“I would like to dream big and hope that I would be able to figure out a smaller means of operation or something to be able to open back up again,” Lee said. “Probably with a much, much more modern menu.”