OVIEDO, Fla. — The search for a hot meal doesn’t always come easy on Christmas Day, especially because most restaurants are typically closed.

When it comes to holiday meals, some folks may not want to cook, some may not celebrate a specific holiday, or others may just have a change in plans.

Whatever the reason might be, restaurants like Yao’s say they’re here to fill the void.

One of the owners of Yao’s, Edward Yiu, was setting the table for a big day of business on Christmas.

Yao’s has become a thriving family-owned restaurant that has been open in Oviedo for seven months.

“This is a childhood dream between my siblings and I,” Yiu explained.

Yiu says his family has owned restaurants all his life, and he knows the business like the back of his hand.

So when he and his two older siblings wanted to open their own restaurant, they wanted to do so with their own twist.

“So, we are a little ironic. We like to kind of do our renditions of kind of classic Chinese Dishes,” explained Yiu. “For instance, one of our biggest sellers is our Mongolian Beef, and it is a 30-ounce ribeye.”

Yiu says they chose Oviedo to fill a void in the lack of family-owned restaurants and the community has welcomed them with open arms.

So much so that it made it almost impossible for them to stay closed for Christmas.

“My brother and I, we were considering whether we should stay open for Christmas and Christmas Eve, but the phone calls we were getting and the questions about reservations we were like we have to,” Yiu said.

With them being a Chinese-style restaurant, Yiu says they also knew that being open sort of came with the territory.

“I think it started with The Christmas Story movie. I think that somehow set a trend. I, myself, even as a child, we would never spend Christmas at home because Christmas Eve was spent at home and we’re going out on Christmas,” shared Yiu.

Opening their restaurant for the holidays has brought them in customers they may not normally see, like the Talmadges.

Paul and Kathy Talmadge say their Christmas plans changed when Paul’s mother, who is a seven-time cancer survivor, woke up not feeling well. So, they decided to stay close to home and pivot.

“Instead of us going up there we wanted to stay close and mom said she wasn’t going to eat so she stayed at home and we decided to find and choose on Chinese food because we knew the restaurants were open this time of year,” Paul Talmadge said.

Yiu says hosting guests like the Talmadges, and adding them to their growing family ties together what the holidays are all about.

“I think that’s what’s so rewarding about the experience,” Yiu said. “Just seeing 10 people, all one family, three generations all just hanging out because those are kind of some of the most special moments and at the end of the day one of the most important things.”

Yao’s had special hours for Christmas as they were open from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. and then 4 p.m. - 9 p.m. but they will resume their normal hours starting Thursday.

Those hours include 4 p.m. - 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 4 p.m. - 10 p.m. on Fridays, 3 p.m. - 10 p.m. on Saturdays and 3 p.m. - 9 p.m. on Sundays.