I went to one Vietnamese restaurant all the time that was exactly like this. I ate there so often, one time when they were full they let me sit at the table with their son doing homework. I felt so honored.
Oh yeah, I know that place.
- constant stream of Asian students from the nearby university
- enormous menu, but somehow everything is made quickly
- additional staff are either family from the old country, or Latinos
- flyers in Mandarin (?) for things like churches, lawyers, and real estate agents.
Also the menu is huge but it’s all composed from like 6 ingredients.
To your last point they have at least one Shen Yun poster.
Idk, every Chinese person I know hates Shen Yun
it depends on the chinese in question. its because the people in Shen Yun are from the Falun Gong, which was a notorious religious group im china that was exiled and migrated to the U.S. The are staunchly anti CCP
And staunchly religious. This is one case of enemy of my enemy is not my friend.
I judge my Chinese food by the condition of the place, if it’s super fancy and well kept, not going to be that good. If the building looks like it’s ready to be condemned, you damn well know it’s gonna be the best Chinese food you have ever had
Also MSG is the best.
MSG is the king of flavour!
It needs to have those backlit pictures of the food above the counter where most of the color has faded away.
I was going to one for a while where the wife never even asked my name when I ordered. Not even the first time. Yet, when I showed up, she knew. Same for every customer.
I used a seamstress for 20 years. Same thing.
Their excellent yet casual customer service is a thing of beauty. I’m impressed with their ability to do that.
I worked at one of these places for a while. My primary duties: Delivery, manning the phones, being a native English speaker. I gained a lot of insight about the Chinese takeout industry.
Also, you’ve never lived until you’ve seen the owner’s wife march out into the lobby and whack the shit out of some hood rat with a giant spoon.
If it has 3.5 stars on Google, and 90% of the bad reviews are from people with white sounding names complaining of poor service… You’re in for some fucking delicious food from a proper family owned Chinese restaurant!
