New York City’s share of Chinese restaurants is shrinking, part of a growing national trend of Chinese restaurants in large metropolitan areas across the country shutting down, a recent Times report reveals.
Many of these restaurants were opened by Chinese immigrants to the United States in the 1960s, and as they age, it becomes harder to sustain the grueling hours of the restaurant business. Plus, their children are often pursuing careers outside of the restaurant industry, leaving them no one to take over. In New York, longtime Chinese restaurants like Legend and Yi Lee have closed in recent years with other possible factors contributing to the decline, including the shortage of trained Chinese cooks.
However, all is not lost for the city’s Chinese restaurants: In some cases, like Chinatown’s Nom Wah Tea Parlor, second- and third-generation immigrants have taken over and expanded the business. Chinese fast-casual establishment Junzi Kitchen recently closed on a $5 million fund this year in part to take over some of these Chinese restaurants that are on the verge of closing, using the money to modernize the spaces and re-open while retaining the restaurants’ menus and identities. There is also a growing group of younger restaurant owners who are establishing modern Chinese restaurants in the city like MáLà Project, Little Tong, and Mimi Cheng’s.
The Gotham Reporter 