Gene's Restaurant

06/11/2026

Here’s your chance to get in a dragon boat. Genes Restaurant has been supportive of dragon boat through the years. A sport I helped to bring to Stratford 30 years ago with the help of the Rotary Club of Stratford in 1996.

06/06/2026

Hmm….don’t feel a day over 40 but Gene’s Restaurant is 56 years old today!

05/30/2026

This is really exciting
to announce that Iris Ng won for Best Cinematography for Exclusion - Beyond the Silence. I had small role in this documentary.

05/19/2026

This is the Rotary club documentary about Stratford Dragon Boat Festival which I helped start in 1996 and how the community and beyond has benefitted from the million dollars that the event has raised. Great Opportunity see it tonight 7pm at the former Central High School which is now the Stratford Intermediate School.

Stratford, Ontario friends and followers: Please join the Rotary Club of Stratford for a community screening of “The Ripple Effect”, a short documentary (30 minutes) that illuminates the extraordinary fundraising power of the long-running Stratford Rotary Dragon Boat Festival and its impact on local and global causes. The film features music from The Bookends with the Stratford Symphony Orchestra and Paul Shilton. Catch “The Ripple Effect” and support this year’s dragon boat festival. Details below. The film will have its international premiere in Taiwan next month at the Rotary International Global Convention. Ken Gene Robert Ritz Gary Wreford Rotary Hospice Stratford Perth Stratford General Hospital Foundation Stratford and Perth County Community Foundation

05/07/2026

I grew up in Stratford and back then we were known as “Orientals”. Around the mid 90’s we became Asians? The term Orientals was considered offensive! We used to have a dish called Oriental Chicken. No one seemed to care or be offended by the name. We weren’t going to change it to Asian Chicken. Eventually there were some ingredients we could no obtain and that item did get eliminated from the menu.

05/06/2026

Open Mother’s Day 4:30-8pm

Pre-order your takeouts or reserve a table for dine in!

05/05/2026

May is Asian Heritage Month

In 1996, I was happy to co-found the Rotary Stratford Dragon Boat Festival and bring some Chinese Culture to Stratford. The event has raised over $1 million for Rotary charities. Below is a podcast discussing the documentary - The Ripple Effect and the event’s far reaching impact. There is a screening in Stratford later in the month. A link for ticket information will be in the comments.

Rotary Voices · Episode

04/19/2026

Mayor Ted Blowes in 1982 helping my parents Rae and Larry Gene with the Grand Opening of House of Gene Restaurant. We expanded into the Pounder Brothers building at the corner of Downie and George Street. This was our 2nd restaurant and featured a buffet that ran until about 2000.