Yum!
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Well the change was the influence of Vietnamese/Chinese in Chinatown. Largely people of Chinese descent who had lived in Viet Nam who speak Cantonese. Good example is Pho Broadway in Chinatown, where my wife converses with the owners in Cantonese.
Sorry to burst your bubble but Kim Chuy’s consistent business isn’t guaranteeing they will stay open. Word is the owners want to retire and the children have no interest in taking over the business so its on death watch too.
A good mix of Chinese-Vietnamese (especially true in Lincoln Heights), Chinese-Cambodians, and Chinese Chinese.
Well that’s that.
They had a good run.
30 something years. And the only restaurant still standing from the OG days.
Still remember eating at Far East Plaza as a kid and Wing Hop Fung, going up the stairs.
There was a kick ass Chinese BBQ place that I loved at the Far East Plaza.
If you hear anything about an actual closing date, let us know. Would love to go one last time.
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Hoping not to take this too off-topic but I can’t remember the name of another restaurant I used to go to often in the '70s. . It was on Alpine, I think, in the first block east of Broadway, on the north side of the street. We started going to Yang Chow when it first opened, and (I think) before it wound up on the not-authentic list), but our Chinese business associates also liked the place on Alpine.
Well the only restaurants on that part of Alpine were Chiu Heng (preceded by Lu Ming Chuen in the 70s) and a Vietnamese place (Vien Dongs) in the same little mall.
I could have the street wrong. Maybe on College or Ord (but I don’t recall it being that close to Phillipe’s). I don’t recall a Chinese name either, but it was a long time ago. It was definitely not Vietnamese. IIRC, it had a standard dining room look, much like Yang Chow. Not very big, but not takeout-like or with neon signage. No dim sum either, if that helps (though I don’t recall dim sum being a thing in those years).
Not a lot of restaurants on the north side of a side street east of Broadway. On Ord there’s Phoenix Inn (still there), Lime House in the location currently home to ABC Seafood, and Chung Mee, currently Little Jewel of New Orleans.
Hmmmm. You’d know what was there if anyone would. Lime House is sounding familiar.
“Old” (or maybe not so old) Chinatown places I used to frequent back in my student days (when dinosaurs walked the earth):
Mon Kee
Won Kok
Yang Chow (holding my head in shame)
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Lime House was on the NE corner of Ord and New High. Certainly the first banquet restaurant I remember as a tyke in the 50s. Reverse “L” shaped dining room that held about 20 tables on the right side and a handful of tables on the left. (Kitchen took up rest of the space.) Replaced by ABC Seafood in 1984.
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There is no shame in liking Slippery Shrimp … or maybe it’s that there’s nowhere near enough shame to go around; we went there with a relative from Colorado, and every table but one that we passed had a platter of that. And she fell for it too. Authentic, hell no, but I could put it in my pants.
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We used to go to Yang Chow when they opened since they, and Plum Tree, served this newfangled non-Cantonese food that we weren’t used to. I remember they had a creamy minced chicken dish that was quite good.
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I actually had my first visit to Yang Chow last year and was pleasantly surprised. Very tasty american chinese food, in the same way that Uncle Jon’s Ham & Eggs is very tasty.
I started going to Yang Chow in the first few days after it opened in 1977. Went for lunch maybe twice a month for the next 2 years as I worked in Lincoln Heights at the time. I actually became somewhat friendly with one of the sons, who worked there for a short time but moved to Africa and then Hong Kong.
I’ve always found the negativity about Yang Chow to be unfortunate. I assume it’s because they found a groove and stuck to it when the world of regional Chinese cuisine was exploding, although I always enjoyed their food. I moved away from LA in late '79 but moved back in '82. We’d drive up to Yang Chow from OC several times a year and would also visit the Canoga Park location with friends who lived in the West Valley. Msybe it’s the nostalgia, but I think they’re just fine as they are.
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I think the argument can be made that yang chow IS serving regional Chinese - that region just happens to be America.
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It’s definitely a “thing”.
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Don’t forget that times changes and things evolve. Today Paul’s Kitchen is seen as the quintessential old style Americanized Chinese food, but 50 years ago that was comfort food for us Toishanese Americans.
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Paul’s and Man Fook Low were each once a month through the '70’s for me. Also managed to fit in New Moon once in a while.
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