UC Davis Research Identifies Woodland, California, Chinese Restaurant as Oldest in State:  Family Business Perseveres for More Than a Century – From Chinese Exclusion Era to Now

Carla Meyer in this story tells us about UC Davis Law research led by Professor Jack Chin:

“With its black swivel stools, classic diner lunch counter and heaping $12 combination plates, Woodland, California’s, Chicago Café is charmingly — almost cinematically — retro. But its historical roots run even deeper than first evident.

A University of California, Davis, research project identifies the café as the oldest continuously operating Chinese restaurant in California — and potentially the United States. A multimedia feature story and video published today by UC Davis highlight the interdisciplinary work and the café.

Run by generations of the Fong family, the Chicago Café has operated verifiably since 1910. But family history and archival newspaper reports (official city directories at the time excluded Asian-run businesses) place the café’s debut in 1903, or several years before Pekin Noodle Parlor — the Butte, Montana, Chinese restaurant widely recognized as the nation’s oldest — opened its doors.

Either year of origin establishes the Woodland café as the longest-running in California — longer even than San Francisco’s venerable Sam Wo restaurant. As the UC Davis scholars assert, the Chicago Café’s perseverance despite racist U.S. immigration policies and anti-Asian public sentiment is nothing short of extraordinary.

UC Davis School of Law Professor Gabriel `Jack’ Chin and members of the Fong family are available for interviews about the diner, a Woodland staple that retains a loyal, multigenerational customer base. Open six days a week, the café offers living California and American history one can see, touch and taste.”

KJ