"Customers bring in their children," Tam says. "They grow up and bring in their children." He believes consistency is the reason for his longevity. "I treat everybody the same," he says. Generations of customers know they will get the same good food, the same reasonable prices and the same surroundings they experienced when they first went there. "We have a cozy atmosphere," he says.

But some things are different. Besides the boxed trees dividing some seating areas and a couple of framed art pieces in the restaurant, "the biggest changes are the traffic. It's hard to find parking," he says. "Restaurants have come and gone. This building used to be all retail. Now upstairs and downstairs are all offices. The landlord has changed five times."

Inside Jasmine, the staff has consisted of many relatives over the years--Tam, his niece Frances Au, sons Eric and Kevin, daughter Clarissa and wife Rose. Au and the boys are the mainstays now, filling in for the regular staff where needed while balancing their college classes and day jobs.

In the kitchen, as he has since the restaurant opened, chef Bill Wong prepares his Mandarin and Szechwan dishes using the fresh produce Tam buys each morning. He serves noodles, beef, fish, pork and poultry dishes--all priced under $8.25, only $2 more than it was 10 years ago. Items may be ordered a la carte to eat in or for takeout. A family special dinner for two at $10.25 per person includes soup, wonton, rice, tea, kung pao chicken and beef with oyster sauce. For each additional person up to six, another entree is added. Catering is available.

The simple menu doesn't confuse guests with the more than 100 choices typical of many Asian restaurants. "We keep a small menu," Tam says. "It's easier to control consistency." In 23 years, customer favorites haven't varied much. Mongolian beef and honey walnut shrimp are the most popular among the dishes, with newer specials such as tangerine chicken ($8.95) and the chef's special Szechwan lemon fish fillet ($10.25) getting rave notices.

"I don't see how I've never been to this restaurant before in the 15 years I've lived in Los Gatos," says one reviewer who entered his comments on a diner's review website, giving Jasmine a perfect score of 10. Another says, "When they say they'll be done in 10 minutes, they mean it." And still another, "They not only treated me like a king, but they treat my family the same when my kids go there to eat." Jasmine may be unobtrusive, but locals and children of locals find their way.

Tam came to the United States in 1976 from Hong Kong, where he ran a garment factory. After a few stops between Illinois and San Jose for jobs in the food industry, he attended San José State University. There he met the former Rose Lee while taking part in some campus political activities. They returned to Hong Kong to be married. When Rose was expecting their first child, she asked to return to San Jose where her family lived. Eventually, the couple moved to Saratoga, where they still reside. Children Clarissa and Eric both attended UC-Davis, and both work now for Hewlett-Packard. Kevin is a UC-Davis sophomore.

Jasmine Chinese Cuisine, 20 S. Santa Cruz Ave. in Los Gatos, is open daily for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and for dinner daily from 4:30 to 9 p.m. Call 408.395.2373 for takeout orders or visit www.jasminechinese.com.