Kim Tang, owner of A Golden Dragon Chinese Restaurant in Selma, is up for a "Best Front-of-House MVP" award from Yelp. Photo contributed

A local Chinese restaurant owner is in the running for a first-of-its-kind award from national ratings platform Yelp that includes a $3,000 cash prize.

This is the second year for the Servies, “the first-ever awards solely dedicated to front-of-house staff,” according to Yelp. These are the customer-facing restaurant staff such as hosts, servers, bartenders and managers — crucial to restaurant operations but not often as acclaimed as cooking staff.

Online voting just began for dozens of nominees from the public, whittled down by a panel of restaurant executives.

 

In the category of “Best Front-of-House MVP” is Kim Tang, owner and server at A Golden Dragon Chinese Restaurant in Selma. In business for more than 35 years, A Golden Dragon is well-reviewed for its potstickers as well as Kim’s welcoming personality.

Here are just some of the Yelp reviews left for A Golden Dragon, which carries an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.

“We love the owner that waits on tables. She makes you feel like family.”

“This business has made it through COVID-19 the hospitality has not been tarnished.”

“Reviews do not lie about how nice she is.”

 

Voting will continue through Sept. 22. People can cast one vote per day in each of the six categories.

Winners and runners up for each category will be announced Oct. 17. Winners will receive a trophy and a $3,000 gift card. Runners up will receive a certificate and $1,000 gift card.

Melissa Fmura of Perko’s Café in Modesto was a winner in the Best Server category for the inaugural Servies last year. The 33-year hospitality veteran grew up on a dairy farm.