Great Wall Express owners Hai Lue Lim and Esther Lim have spent the last 35 years working and managing restaurants. And because they love what they do, time has gone by very fast.

Mr. Lim came to the U.S. in 1975 and wasted no time in getting right to work on the American Dream. While working in a restaurant he met his wife Esther, who also had worked in restaurants all her life. After a few years managing kitchens from Austin to Los Angeles, Lim was ready to open his own restaurant.

Lim and Esther opened China Gate Restaurant in May of 1984, in north Austin on Burnet Road. Over the following 19 years they worked hard to impress. Lim and Esther gained many long time customers with their friendly service and well executed oriental dishes. China Gate concentrated on Szechuan style cooking with an emphasis on ginger, garlic and pepper. The menu included everything Lim had practiced so hard to perfect, from Mooshu Pork to Egg Foo Young.

Late 2010, Lim, Esther and their sons completed their last and now only Great Wall express location in Round Rock Texas. In April of 2024 the Five M’s family took over the Great Wall Express restaurant and wished to continue the previous legacy. The Five M’s family consists of a previous employee of Mr.Lim who worked with him since 2018 and his family. We want to thank all of Mr.Lim’s previous customers that have trusted us to take over and to all our new customers we want to welcome you to join our new legacy. We appreciate all of the support and we will continue to improve and make this restaurant an enjoyable experience for you all.