IN SPACE, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU CHOMP A DELICIOUS EGG ROLL. Egg Roll-Plus on Bellinger Street near downtown Eau Claire recently multiplied its formerly cramped dining area and refreshed the eatery’s now spacious interior.

In April of 1998, Bee Xiong opened Egg Roll-Plus, and it has since become one of Eau Claire’s hidden gems, voted 2nd Best Kept Secret in Volume One’s 2012 Best of the Chippewa Valley reader’s poll. The restaurant provides great Hmong, Thai, Laotian, and Vietnamese cuisine, featuring cultural staples including some fantastic curry dishes, rice dishes, stir fries, baked fish and other seafood, pho (a traditional Vietnamese noodle soup), spring rolls, and of course their signature egg rolls.

But lately, attendees craving Southeast Asian foods off Bellinger Street will notice Egg Roll-Plus’ north wood-paneled wall has been torn down. Serving an extra-large slice of indoor dining, Egg Roll-Plus owner Bee Xiong has expanded the original restaurant into the next-door alteration shop, effectively doubling the restaurant’s dining room.

Surprisingly enough, this is the business’ first expansion since its inception. “This remodel is really for the customers because we have been able to stay open for 15 years and we wanted to make sure that they would be able to bring in more of their friends instead of having a long line outside,” Gaosheng Xiong, a manager, said about the expansion. “Now when you come here in the wintertime you won’t have to stand outside in a line. We will have plenty of seating.”

With business improving after the new expansion, some worry that it will take away from the friendly and hospitable atmosphere that the business has provided for the last 15 years, but Xiong thinks differently. “I don’t see that happening,” she goes on to say. “Since it’s family run and owned, I don’t see the growing popularity changing the way we operate.” Xiong’s family has run the restaurant since the beginning and doesn’t plan on breaking tradition anytime soon.

As Egg Roll-Plus continues to flourish as one of the Chippewa Valley’s finest Asian restaurant one can only wonder what they could roll out next.

Check out the new Egg Roll-Plus at 1611 Belllinger St., Eau Claire or call them at (715) 832-6125. The restaurant also provides carry-out options and is vegetarian friendly.