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Restaurants come and go at a dizzying pace. Su’s Garden on Marco Island has been serving Chinese food under the same ownership at the same location on Bald Eagle Drive ever since 1982. So it’s fair to assume they must be doing something right.

Ask co-owner Piyun Su for her secret, and she answers modestly.

“No secrets — just try to be honest, have reasonable price, good employees, good quality.”

Her customers are more lavish in their praise. A dedicated longtime group of customers, in fact, is one of the secrets of Su’s Garden’s success and longevity. Many of these regulars have been coming to Su’s for 20 years, and are eager to tell a newcomer just what they like most about their favorite Chinese eatery.

“This is the best place to eat on the island,” said Rick Mirarcki of East Naples, enjoying a lunch special of lo mein noodles with pork and a chicken wing appetizer. “I eat here three or four times a week.”

Su’s Garden, he continued, offers an unbeatable combination of value, quality and convenience. “How can you go wrong for $6.95?” He has eaten, he said, at “every place on the island — the ones that are here and the ones that have disappeared.”

The lunch special is indeed popular at Su’s Garden. For one low price, the customer can enjoy a complete meal including soup, appetizer and main course, with a choice of steamed or fried rice. The choices are numerous, the soups are savory and the portions are plentiful. If you’ve been disappointed at other restaurants when ordering Crab Rangoon, give this tasty appetizer another chance at Su’s.

Ida Gresio of Marco Island is another regular who eats two to three times a week at Su’s Garden.

“We enjoy it — that’s why we come back,” she said. “The food is always fresh, the atmosphere is very clean and friendly.”

“And you get a lot for very little,” interjected her son-in-law Domingo Aguayo, down visiting from Peachtree City, Ga., with his wife Phyllis. “We all love a bargain.”

Phyllis singles out the wonton soup for special praise, although the egg drop soup is the favorite of many.

While Mrs. Su is not giving away all her secrets, she is willing to share one concerning the soups the restaurant serves. “We make soup the second day,” she confessed. “First, we cook chicken all night, bones and all.” The resulting slow-cooked stock has no fat, and forms the base for the restaurant’s popular egg drop, chicken rice and wonton soups.

Su’s Garden depends heavily on island residents, as the tourist season is short and not always dependable. Another key to success, noted Piyun, is careful budgeting, controlling dollars during the busy winter season to sustain the restaurant during the summer months.

“Summer is real long and difficult,” said Piyun Su. “Many restaurants close for two to three months.”

In addition to loyal customers, Su’s Garden depends on a cadre of longtime veteran employees. Some have worked there for 10 or 15 years. Headwaiter Matt Setiawan, from Bandung, Indonesia, has been with Su’s for 10 years, and just returned from a visit to his homeland. Su’s Garden is a great place to work, he said, and as a regular himself, he has gotten to know the customers.

Promptness and convenience also help make Su’s a popular destination for lunch on Marco Island. Just down the street from the island’s business district, it makes for a quick getaway or rendezvous for local workers. They can order a complete meal, and typically be eating within five minutes of arriving.

Piyun Su arrived on Marco from Taiwan 26 years ago with her husband Jimmy, who died in 2003. They were lured by Jimmy’s brother Jack Su, who had opened the first Chinese restaurant in Naples. They opened their current location on Marco Island, and one by one the entire family came and joined them. Over the years, they have incorporated elements of many styles of Chinese cookery into the menu at Su’s Garden.

“We’re not Mandarin, not Cantonese, not Hunan, not Szechuan,” says Piyun. “We’re Su’s Garden.” It is a mélange of whatever dishes and methods of preparation they and their customers liked best.

In addition to recipes, the restaurant features Chinese objects d’art in a wide variety of styles, brought back by Mrs. Su from her travels. The foo dogs flanking the front door are a traditional bringer of luck. The ornate screen at the rear of the dining room is from mainland China, and the ceiling lamps come from Taiwan.

When you enter Su’s Garden, the first sight you see is a tank filled with colorful saltwater reef fish swimming back and forth. Unlike the fish in the tanks of Hong Kong’s famous floating restaurants, these fish never have to worry about ending up on the menu.