# Why are their only Asians working at Chinese food places? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 19, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501 "2011-05-19T21:01:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tingbudong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tingbudong/32/520_2.png) [@tingbudong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tingbudong)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/21 "2011-05-19T23:05:15Z")
Quite common to see white wait staff in the places up where I am. There just isn’t the Asian population to sustain that kind of human resource exclusivity. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/22 "2011-05-19T23:06:09Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > There’s lots of Korean-owned sushi joints in LA. Sushi style rolls are pretty traditional Korean food. I know my mother in law makes rolls with pickled vegetables and she is not doing this because it is trendy she is doing that because she has done that for years going back to when she lived in Korea. I am not sure if raw fish is traditional with Korean rolls. My father in law thinks that sushi including the raw fish is originally Korean and the Japanese learned it from the Koreans. He lives in a world largely perceived through some strange beliefs so I am not sure how credible this is but he is not alone in his beliefs about the origins of sushi. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/23 "2011-05-19T23:08:44Z")
On the subject of crossover restaurant owners, two of the local Thai places are owned by a Laotian family and a Vietnamese family respectively. In both instances it’s because Thai is considered a more pleasant language and more familiar and upscale cuisine than Laotian or Vietnamese. (Thai is evidently considered to southeast Asian languages what French is to European languages in the “aesthetically pleasing” department.) ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/24 "2011-05-19T23:20:26Z")
If the wait staff can only write in Chinese (Mandarin, whatever) and the cook can’t read it you have a problem. Same thing, if the wait staff cant write in Chinese and that’s the only writing the cook can read you have a problem. Some things just work better when everyone is in synch. Communication is everything. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/25 "2011-05-19T23:25:24Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > Sushi style rolls are pretty traditional Korean food. I know my mother in law makes rolls with pickled vegetables and she is not doing this because it is trendy she is doing that because she has done that for years going back to when she lived in Korea. I am not sure if raw fish is traditional with Korean rolls. It’s called 김밥 (keem-baap), and it’s a little different from Japanese sushi. I don’t believe raw fish has been part of it, at least not traditionally, and they tend to be much more bold flavors (like most of Korean cuisine). I doubt the Japanese learned it from the Koreans. Probably it was just an obvious use of the keem (seaweed paper). It’s very commonly eaten in Korea as an easily transportable lunch. If you see a Korean school field trip probably 80-90% of kids will be eating 김밥. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/26 "2011-05-19T23:30:24Z")
99% of the Indian restaurants I’ve been in were run by Pakistani people. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/27 "2011-05-20T01:48:35Z")
> [@audiobottle](#): > > It’s called 김밥 (keem-baap), and it’s a little different from Japanese sushi. I don’t believe raw fish has been part of it, at least not traditionally, and they tend to be much more bold flavors (like most of Korean cuisine). There’s all sorts of varieties, and at least in my family, raw fish has been one variety that’s been used for at least the last century. No clue if it was used before that. Also, the rice tends to be different. Traditional sushi rice is vinegared. Koreans tend to do more sesame oil, and 김밥 is usually made with rice that’s been lightly tossed in it, instead of vinegar. Here in Houston, it seems like most of the sushi restaurants are run by Chinese folk while the sushi stands inside supermarkets are run by Koreans. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/28 "2011-05-20T02:49:55Z")
> [@lukeinva](#): > > On a similar note, why is the Japanese restaurant down the street owned and run by Koreans? I’d say that virtually every non-upscale Japanese restaurant I’ve been to on the west coast was run by Koreans. I attribute it to two things: 1) Japanese food is better known and more popular than Korean food and 2) there are more Koreans than Japanese in the economic demographic most likely to be running family restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/29 "2011-05-20T03:00:37Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > Sushi style rolls are pretty traditional Korean food. I know my mother in law makes rolls with pickled vegetables and she is not doing this because it is trendy she is doing that because she has done that for years going back to when she lived in Korea. I am not sure if raw fish is traditional with Korean rolls. It’s a matter of some controversy (as opposed to everything else in Japan-Korean relations), but there’s a good chance that gimbap is derived from sushi. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/30 "2011-05-20T03:32:20Z")
I have oft wondered about this sort of thing. When I am on Capitol Hill, I stop by an Irish pub. All the staff seem to be Irish. (I swear the place is just begging for an INS bust, but I digress.) Can that be legal? ---
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/31 "2011-05-20T03:47:18Z")
How can you tell they are all Irish as opposed to any other Northern European? The American “[Irish pub](http://www.irishpubcompany.com/)” is just a thing invented by Diageo and InBev and other beverage conglomerates to sell more beer. You can buy a prepackaged kit with everything you need to set one up like any other franchise. Same with Chinese restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/32 "2011-05-20T04:00:33Z")
> [@panamajack](#): > > Is this something you’ve only noticed at Chinese restaurants? Allowing for the generalization, I think you’ll find that any place that focuses on a specific ethnicity’s food is going to mostly have people of that ethnicity working in the front. I agree with the generalization, but there are exceptions. One of my favorite fast-casual joints is Greek. Owners are married, both Greek. They speak exclusively Greek to each other, though both speak flawless English as well. Their souvlaki pita makes me weep it’s so good. But aside from the two owners, who are ALWAYS WORKING (seriously, I’ve never been there and not seen them both) every other worker in the joint is Mexican. Which is not uncommon in my area (locally the pop. is about half Hispanic, most recent or second-gen immigrants). But hey, here’s a Greek restaurant that employs mostly Mexicans. ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/33 "2011-05-20T04:07:06Z")
The university I went to has a few Tim Hortons coffee shops on campus, with an extremely high proportion of Asian employees compared to the demographics of both general population and nearby off-campus Tim Hortons locations. Actually, I can’t recall ever seeing a single non-Asian person working at Tim Hortons at that university. I never figured out why. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/34 "2011-05-20T04:24:54Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > On the subject of crossover restaurant owners, two of the local Thai places are owned by a Laotian family and a Vietnamese family respectively. In both instances it’s because Thai is considered a more pleasant language and more familiar and upscale cuisine than Laotian or Vietnamese. (Thai is evidently considered to southeast Asian languages what French is to European languages in the “aesthetically pleasing” department.) I’m more used than others to hearing it spoken harshly. Some of these old village mamas screech it like chalk on a blackboard. I find Lao a bit more pleasant overall myself. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/35 "2011-05-20T04:27:27Z")
The last Chinese restaurant I ate at was actually in China… and it was run by an American. It served pizzas and hamburgers, so I’m guessing it wasn’t all that authentic. The last P.F. Chang’s I ate at was in Mexico City. Guess whom the entire staff was compromised of! (Hint: not Chinese). ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/36 "2011-05-20T05:04:07Z")
The Mexican place in my hometown is run by a Pakistani family. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/37 "2011-05-20T06:04:52Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I’m more used than others to hearing it spoken harshly. Some of these old village mamas screech it like **chalk** on a blackboard. And of course, I meant “like _fingernails_ on a blackboard.” There’s a Mexican-food place in Bangkok owned and operated by actual Mexicans. The rather unimaginatively named [Tacos and Salsa](http://www.tacosandsalsa.com/Home.html). It’s quite good, especialy the margaritas. It’s Thais at all the other Mexican joints. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/38 "2011-05-20T06:21:40Z")
> [@heathen\_earthling](#): > > The university I went to has a few Tim Hortons coffee shops on campus, with an extremely high proportion of Asian employees compared to the demographics of both general population and nearby off-campus Tim Hortons locations. Actually, I can’t recall ever seeing a single non-Asian person working at Tim Hortons at that university. I never figured out why. HAHAHAHAHA. Please, please, PLEASE tell me you went to Carleton. I’m pretty sure that’s a phenomenon restricted to Carleton… 😃 Someone once explained it to me that Aramark streamlined the process for Chinese exchange students to work there in tandem with their ESL courses, which is part of the reason it appealed to them so much. It also requires less English interaction than the crazy-ass drink orders at Starbucks. But to the OP: I see this at non-mom’n’pop restaurants too. Like Manchu-Wok. And more recently at T&T, the all oriental/asian grocery store. Part of the appeal is that other Chinese shop there, and so the staff are supposed to speak their native dialects. I don’t think they discriminate based on race, but the white people I know who speak fluent Cantonese, Mandarin etc., are jet setting businessmen who don’t want to stock the aisle full of salted duck eggs… ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/39 "2011-05-20T06:52:56Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > The last Chinese restaurant I ate at was actually in China… and it was run by an American. It served pizzas and hamburgers, so I’m guessing it wasn’t all that authentic. > > The last P.F. Chang’s I ate at was in Mexico City. Guess whom the entire staff was compromised of! (Hint: not Chinese). Technically, if it’s in China they’re ALL Chinese food places. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501/40 "2011-05-20T08:10:37Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > HAHAHAHAHA. Please, please, PLEASE tell me you went to Carleton. Yes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-their-only-asians-working-at-chinese-food-places/582501.md?page=3)