How a law professor discovered the oldest Chinese restaurant in America 

This is true for most Asian immigrants!

@@eradicatepoverty5444 I’m going to go 1 further and say all immigrants. Especially looking at today’s demographics Latinos are making a huge surge and the most educated immigrants right now are actually African, surpassing east and south Asians.

Its not the best way of thinking really. It's having a mentality of thinking low of others. Any business is a lot of work if you're the owner. You're "slaving" away one way or the other. When being a successful restaurant owner is great and makes money, how is that a bad thing. And one can always hire people to do the work one doesn't want to. They work it because they want to. It's the same mentality that lead to people thinking low of trade jobs and now immigrants who take over these jobs are doing better in the usa l, making money.

@@flatcube3706 It is undeniable that service and labor jobs are significantly more physically demanding than blue collar jobs. Even if blue collar jobs are mentally draining, it doesn't leave you in pain every night. Owning a business doesn't automatically mean that the restaurant is successful either. In some cases, and I have anecdotal experience, the restaurant makes just enough money to get by, but if they hire even 1 employee to reduce their workload, then the revenue drops significantly due to wages. So instead, they just took it head on even if it meant working early in the morning and late into the night so they could save money. For every successful restaurant, there's many more that are decent or struggling to get by.

Great Mom 😊🥀

Interesting, America still had King when it opened in 1607, didn't know China was so young.

Republic of China and People's Republic of China are younger than the USA too. Even Prussia was younger than US.

Lies again? NASCAR GrabCar USD SGD

Even funner fact china didnt exsist till 1911!

I saw the movie The Last Emperor. It made no mention of this chop suey joint.

Indeed. This kind of old school chop suey is becoming a museum piece itself, as newer generations of Chinese immigrants move in and take over the hearts and palates of America, Chinese or otherwise! In contrast, this kind of food is often perceived as dry, uninteresting, or bland - but this is the stuff that deserves to be vividly remembered and continued in practice, like how we remember "colonial times food".

Growing and being very familiar with Asian American cuisine I can tell you the Chicago restaurant's food looks infinitely better than the one in Montana which looks absolutely disgusting from their reviews. My guess is that Pekin Noodle Parlor solely rests on it's false reputation as the oldest Chinese restaurant in the US.

Perhaps, then again for the owners, they did fulfill the goal through opening this restaurant after 3 generations. It had a brilliant run.

@@passbyicecube indeed, well said

It's not just part of Chinese American history, it is part of American history.

Yeah unless someone wants to buy it to continue the tradition (they can teach the recipes to the new chef), it’s just the cycle of mom and pop restaurants. The restaurant business is tough.

Chinese Americans today are still opening restaurants with classics, new food, and different takes on some awesome dishes. The continued existence and development of Chinese American cuisine is also a preservation of its history!

There may be a Woodland Cafe in Chicago. 🧐

Kinda sucks though, ive seen a few excellent Chinese places close down because of this, but the owners and their family really encompass the American dream

It’s sad. Working so hard your whole life that you don’t have time to find hobbies or things you can enjoy for yourself. Hope they find some fun in retirement!

@@atomic_ryu i feel like quite a few people go through that though. A lot of people go back to working after retirement. Also not being used to retiring doesn't mean they don't have enjoyable things to do. Its just a lot of hobbies are usually done in the few hours after you get off work, and they become boring after more than a few hours a day. It's hard to entertain yourself 24/7.

Are these your parents in the video?

Hope you had a blast trolling and pretending to be someone's child. Get a life.

I wonder what the fights were about?

I used to go to a restaurant as a kid in Wichita, Kansas, but my mom said someone threw a cat in the restaurant's attic to frame them and then called the police, and they had to shut down. I don't know if that's true or not.

Trying to carry on a family business for more than several generations is extremely difficult. Always about $$.

@@hblee88 It's not about money, because a family business is typically longstanding. There is revenue there. It's about personal choice and individual dreams over family values and tradition.

@@hblee88 They weren't fighting over the parking space closest to the door.

Authenticity is such a silly standard to apply here. Yes, the food is "Americanized." In the same way "Chinese food" is "Koreanized" in Korea. In the same way that "Chinese food" is "Singaporeanized" in Singapore. The restaurant is a business that makes money to feed one's family and not a home kitchen that makes your family's food. Chicago Cafe is without question a Chinese a restaurant because it was a Chinese business that has enabled countless Chinese peoples to feed their family.

😂 I still have a "Nixon Digs Chinese Food" patch. It's an elephant in a patty hat.

Not to correct, but just noting that it could be that the may they used was as an auxiliary function to show concession, e.g.: "he may be slow but he is thorough" They already stated that Chicago Cafe was left out of the business census, but their point was that the restaurant stayed resilient despite sinophobia I opt to give the benefit of the doubt, especially if a word has multiple meanings. I can see how his tone could be misleading, though.

@@urgo2man The Chicago cafe is not in Chicago. It's in Woodland, CA. ABC 10 is not a channel in IL, ABC 7 serves the Chicago area. Also, a UC Davis prof would not be traveling all the way to Chicago to eat at a cafe. Historically, Chinese immigration to the US has always centered around California, Hawaii, and NYC. Chicago's Chinese community is much smaller and less significant.

Whites experience discrimination now. But...do all of them? It stands to reason not all asians experienced discrimination. Thus, their factual statement.

⁠@@urgo2man Why are you saying you’re not correcting them? You ARE. Since the usage of “may” isn’t an opinion, there IS a correct answer. Apologizing for correcting and characterizing both sides as opinions only creates doubt in your comment. You already thought the restaurant was in Chicago, so you’re not helping yourself trying to convey your point.

​​@@mynameisname567oh! Did not catch that detail 😅 funny name, I wondered why they didn't explore the origins of being called the "Chicago" cafe

i wonder if they're willing to sell the business to someone else who wants to continue the legacy or like an apprentice

That's an answer that's probably been lost forever. I found an article on the UC Davis site and it said: "My grandfather opened it, and everybody asks me the question, ‘Why do they call it ‘Chicago’?’” Paul Fong said during a rare break from work at the café on that Tuesday. “I have no idea. That was 120 years ago. Maybe he came [via] Chicago.” (The UC Davis research shows the name “Chicago” was used in association with Chinese restaurants in various parts of the country.)"

Today the bragging rights is Tech, Hedge Fund, AI and TikToker 😂

@@robocop581 Tiktoker only if they bring in money, otherwise its the biggest failure

@@robocop581 software engineer, doctor, quant, ceo

@@icodestuff6241 Portfolio Manager, Radiologist, RE Agent, RU-vidr

@@HelloOnepiece E-MOHHHH-tional Damage!!!!......Niece and nephew, do not be Tik Toker. Tik Toker failure like Jamie Oliver....

Agreed, this should be viral

Sure, that's one of the lessons, but it's also we used hide people the country didn't like even if they wanted to work, shrink their options to get them out of the way--which in the case of Chinese food, we Americans also have a history of mocking and insulting--and they succeed inspite of that. That's America too.

@@somethingcleverhere you’re 100% correct and I’m not asking you to ignore reality but your mental health is directly related to the way you perceive information. There were way more interesting facts and uplifting moments in that story than there were negatives. I chose to see the good in things. Maybe give it a try, being a “Debbie downer” gets old real fast.

@@Lostin2024 I reacted to you generalizing the story down to a nub--I'd argue it actually diminishes their accomplishments by reducing it to hard work and just how America is. Yes, let celebrate what works, and also improve on things when we see them, which starts with acknowledging them.

I would, but I don't know enough about source rules to change it. I'm pretty sure that RU-vid is never allowed as a reference. Even though they're literally showing the interior of the building claiming it's from 1903 and various newspaper snippets, those still aren't proof. Because it's on a RU-vid video. I'm not sure what websites and reports on them are allowed since I don't know, but if someone could find out that would be great.

It deserves an honorable mention - this place might be technically 8 years older, but the Butte location actually feels like going back in time and is surrounded by blocks of preserved 1880s-1920s buildings and signs. Unfortunately it is a couple hundred miles from just about anything, so very few people will ever actually go (and the food, like I can tell from looking here - is not what i'd describe as good, perhaps more historical). Of course, both are noobs compared to establishments in china - Chings Bucket Chicken house is nearly 1000 years old, and I had amaizing food at a place in Beijing that was 700 years old and several that were 200-300 years.

@@aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa790 you could probably add a section for "other restaurants claiming to be the oldest". That might get around the sourcing issue, because you're not making an outright statement of fact.

@@OptimusWombat Maybe, but I still need a source for their claim. If they said it, I have to explain where I heard it, right?

@@aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa790 I found at least five good reputable sources that could be used, but I can't even give you the names because of the filtering, sigh.

The evidence for "oldest" seems pretty slim. Not exactly solid history work here, lol. Nevertheless, I don't think which is old-EST matters much. It is old, and remarkable, and wonderful.

Arnold Schwarzenegger still has his Austrian accent

@@robocop581 What??? Schwarzenegger was born in Austria. It’s difficult for an adult to lose an accent. Oddly, he says that he can no longer speak German fluently.

Paul from Hong Kong.

Paul was not born in the U.S. He emigrated from Hong Kong and was born in the family village in China. The Chinese Exclusion Act forbade Chinese in the U.S. from bringing their families over. His grandfather was already here in 1903 but he couldn't bring over his wife or children. Paul's father most likely got to the U.S. as a "paper son." Google it. Even though the Act was repealed in 1943, the paper sons already here could not bring over their families because that would have revealed that they came under false papers. Congress finally rectified this sad dilemma in 1967 when an immigration amnesty was declared, which resulted in a large influx of Chinese women and children a that time. Paul arrived in 1973, a beneficiary of that amnesty. It is a very common history for many, many Chinese families in the CA central valley, particularly those from the Toi Shan region of China.

@@bellesogne thanks for that, i had no idea...you spared me a rabbit hole...i was curious about his accent too..

lol, that use to be me. I didn't learn how to use chopsticks until I was in my mid twenties and I'm from the Philippines. I taught myself though :)

So they closed due to political correctness. Isn’t it ironic, political correctness disproportionately hurts immigrant and minority owned businesses.

@@marvinsulzer8258 lol aint life grand !.. lolol you'll get over it kiddo.. lolol

The place is in Woodland, Ca.

Uh.. 🦞 is facing financial woes.

Apparently it’s because he was born and raised in Hong Kong, his grandfather wasn’t able to bring the family over with him due to the Chinese exclusion act. So his family didn’t actually come to the United Stares until decades later

Go to any Asian country if you want to see discrimination

Do they have lynching?😂

@@dynasty781yes and worse

That's why the "continually operating" condition

Chinese-Americans (or "American-born Chinese", as they prefer to call themselves) tend to be slower to assimilate than other groups.

Getting into the USA is easy. Trying to renounce U.S citizenship will cost $2,300+taxes and permission from the state department.

Probably passed down from grandparents to parents then to him

No someone explained it… he’s not born in America. His grandfather came in 1903 during the Chinese exclusion act. So he wasn’t about to bring Paul’s father too they found some loophole. By the time Paul’s father reunited with his grandfather, Paul was born. But they weren’t allowed to bring a Paul nor his mother until 1967. I suspect by 1967, Paul would have been a young man. Way too late in life to lose one’s accent. So blame systemic racism. Three generations of Chinese Americans from same family yet none born in the US.

@@marvinsulzer8258 .. apparently so racist in the USA that they spent their lives trying to get there to stay..??? ..lololol cheers from sunny Thailand lolol

His grandfather immigrated but was unable to bring his son and wife due to the Chinese exclusion act. He was born in Hong Kong and raised there, and came to the untied states decades later after his grandfather and father when the laws in the United States changed

@@Tran-ll2it 🤯now my brain is making it make sense. Thanks so much!!!

Misleading for sure. Watched the whole video, thinking no way the oldest one is in Chicago, it has to be somewhere in California or New York.

@@jtttt nope, it is in butte Montans..llololol NY And LA real estate $$ wpied out ALL the old Chinese restaurants in the 90's

Woodland, CA - NW of Sacramento. Google Maps says it is temporarily closed. Maybe just to keep outsiders away.

no proof?? so, nope,, oldest one is in Butte Montana..lol until you prove different

You are obviously not an old American.

because if you asked for facts or data you'd realize he was making it up 😂