You know how on every sitcom there’s a place where all the main characters meet? That place where you know the owner and you always get the same waitress? Like the bar in “Cheers” or “The Drunken Clam” in “Family Guy”? Call it cliché, but when I came to college, that’s what I was looking for.

Fortunately, Burlington, N.C., is a treasure trove of fast food chains. No night out is complete without a stack of pancakes from IHOP or a milkshake too thick for a straw from Cookout. When I visited Elon, I instantly noticed all of the places in Alamance Crossing. Red Robin, Red Lobster, Starbucks, Olive Garden, Moe’s, Brixx Pizza and plenty more I can’t remember right now.

But to me, one restaurant clearly stands out from the rest.

Before you get to Alamance Crossing, you cross over a street called Saint Mark’s Church Road. On that street you will find my savory sanctuary, my edible enlightenment, my good food getaway, also known as Golden Dragon Asian Bistro.

From the outside, most people may think Golden Dragon is just a standard Chinese restaurant, but this isn’t your “dime-a-dozen” sesame chicken and shrimp fried rice place. They use healthy and natural ingredients, they have vegetarian options, they deliver and they take Phoenix Cash.

The owner of Golden Dragon, Ching Lin Lin, told me how Golden Dragon came to be. Though this location has only been open for four years, the original Golden Dragon was opened 35 years ago as one of two Chinese restaurants in the city of Burlington. That location closed after a few years, and Ching started working in a restaurant with his uncle in Richmond, Va.

Unfortunately, Ching’s aunt became sick, and he moved to Burlington to take care of her. To make sure she wouldn’t be alone, he opened Golden Dragon so he could stay with her and tend to her.

Ching’s entire family works at Golden Dragon, and together they strive to be exceptional.

“I try to use the restaurant to show my culture,” Ching said. “It’s different than other Chinese restaurants. “

Ching’s efforts paid off when a certain customer came in one day.

“The customer came in, ordered their food, ate and left,” he said.

A week later, Ching received a call from The Chinese Top 100, a partner of the Chinese Restaurant Foundation that looks around the country for the best Chinese eateries around. The mystery customer happened to be an inspector in disguise, and evidently, he loved what he tasted. A few weeks later, Golden Dragon was subject to a random inspection, and after that, Ching received a call saying Golden Dragon had earned a spot in the top 100.

Who would’ve thought a place like that would be so close by in Burlington? I took a couple of my friends to try it out, and they loved it.

“This is so good, I didn’t even know this was here,” said sophomore Kimberly Kitay.

“I don’t know why we don’t come here more often,” added freshman Janae Jones.

Though on the surface it may look like Burlington is just a fast food haven, if you take a closer look, you’ll find there are plenty of exceptional places that will make your taste buds sing.