# Why no Chinese chain restaurants? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 24, 2004, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007 "2004-06-24T13:39:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/41 "2004-06-24T22:25:59Z")
Almost no chinese chains here S Florida that I know of, except for Manchu Wok. There is a good Japanese sushi buffet chain called Taisho. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/42 "2004-06-24T23:01:31Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > Another one around here (Silicon Valley) is Mr. Chu’s. Same category as Panda Express - fast food type place that serves cheap Chinese. Did [Chef Chu](http://www.chefchu.com/mall/c102/s11_new/home.asp) and [Mr. Chau](http://www.mrchausfastfood.com/index.htm) have a kid? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/43 "2004-06-24T23:04:49Z")
There is at least one PF Chang’s in Atlanta and there _was_ at least one China Coast as well. I tend to think of both of them the same way: cool decor and mediocre food that’s not nearly as good as a _good_ strip-mall Chinese place but costs twice as much. Apparently I’m one of the few that believes that - PF Chang’s is _always_ jam packed. Also, now that I live in Charlotte I can also say that there’s a PF Chang’s here too. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2004, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/44 "2004-06-24T23:58:37Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > As an aside…heh, I used to live in Torrance, **rjung** , we’ve probably eaten at the same Panda Express. I lived two blocks from the one next to the Best Buy on at PCH and Hawthorne. I don’t recall seeing the Panda Express there, but I admit I don’t frequent that part of Torrance too much. The closest PE to me is the one at the Torrance Crossroads shopping center, inside the Vons. And not to hijack this any further, but the Del Amo Fashion Center is _way_ overdue for a demolition and renovation, preferably with one of those awesome new open-air malls. ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/45 "2004-06-25T00:49:08Z")
There is a block in N.Y. Citys China Town, that consists of some 15 take-out, and delivery restaurants. The local joke is that they all share the same downstairs kitchen. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/46 "2004-06-25T00:54:27Z")
> [@NE Texan](#): > > China Coast used to have a location in Houston, and our family thought it was pretty good. I’d like to note that it was not _just_ in “the model of a Red Lobster or Olive Garden”; I thought that it was in fact owned by the same chain as Olive Garden. I just did some research and you are correct. China Coast was owned by Darden Restaurants Inc. The parent company of Olive Garden and Red Lobster. It seems that they also have a BBQ chain called Smokey Bones Barbecue & Grill, but that dog won’t hunt in Texas. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/47 "2004-06-25T01:07:40Z")
The food court at Edison Mall in Ft.Myers had 3 Chinese food places out of the 10 places to eat. And of course they all wanted you to try a sample on a toothpick. “Bourbon Chicken!” “Teriyaki Chicken!” “Orange Cicken!” “Seasame Chicken!” ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/48 "2004-06-25T01:39:47Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > …The takeout place. It’s got the aforementioned backlit picture of mountains and pagodas, it’s got the pictures of dishes on the wall, and if it’s a buffet, it’s got the same fried rice as every other place. A lot of them are owned by actual, authentic Chinese immigrant families, which heightens the confusion, given how very, very identical the restaurants are. Is there some business that operates below the radar to provide standardized decorations and food to independent family businesses? > > … I thought that Wok-n-Go “I know it’s only Wok-n-Go, but I like it.” was a chain, but nobody else mentioned it. Now to the hijack… IME, For every Chi Chi’s, there are 10 (seemingly) independent Mexican restaurants. Yet, like Excalibre mentioned about “the eerie sameness of Chinese takeout places”, almost all of them have essentially the same menu. The first item listed on the Lunch menu is the Speedy Gonzales (taco, enchilada, and choice of rice or beans) for $3.20 - ~ $5.00. [Easily the cheapest item on the menu. I’d have that for lunch every day if I could. Not counting the tip, it costs about the same as Taco Bell’s version, and twice as good.] Anyway, I have a hypothesis that there’s some underlying company that tell immigrants wanting to open a restaurant, "We’ve got a (proven successful) kit that you can buy that will show you how to run a Mexican restaurant properly. If you don’t buy our kit, then every gringo who eats at your place will scream “Where’s my Speedy Gonzales? Where’s my number 2 combo? This isn’t the kind of food that I was expecting! I was expecting something like what I get from ‘El [insert random Spanish word]’ across town! I’ll never come here again!”. … but that’s just my hypothesis. Also, most will list about 5 to 10 other locations in 5 or 10 other nearby cities. Rarely 2 locations in the same city. BUT, there will be 5 or 10 other different (seemingly unrelated and in-competition) restaurants in the same city; again, each listing on their menu 5 or 10 locations in other cities. (I’m just trying to ask a question and keep it tangently related to the OP and other posts.) ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/49 "2004-06-25T02:01:26Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > The food court at Edison Mall in Ft.Myers had 3 Chinese food places out of the 10 places to eat. > And of course they all wanted you to try a sample on a toothpick. > “Bourbon Chicken!” “Teriyaki Chicken!” “Orange Cicken!” “Seasame Chicken!” Oh, man, one time there was this rather stocky Asian woman in the Natick Mall who was yelling (quite loudly) in the middle of the food court “Orange Chicken! Chicky chick! Chicken good! You try!?! Orange Chick! Chicky chick!”…or something like that. I thought she was a little nuts at first until I spied… The Toothpick! Well give me another heapin’ helpin’ o’ that fat-laden Orange Chicken, Ma’am! ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/50 "2004-06-25T02:40:21Z")
We have a Vietnamese chain here, called [Pho Hoa](http://www.phohoa.com/). The web site lists locations in Washington, California, Florida, New York as well as “Canada, Asia, Brunei, Indonesia, Korea, Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore” Main menu item is Vietnamese Noodle Soup - you get a bowl of soup for about 4 bucks. Mind you, the small is a rather large bowl, and a large can feed a small family (for a couple of bucks more). A friend takes her family (parents, three kids) and feeds them all with one large and one small. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/51 "2004-06-25T02:43:56Z")
> [@lawoot](#): > > We have a Vietnamese chain here, called [Pho Hoa](http://www.phohoa.com/). The web site lists locations in Washington, California, Florida, New \ OK - further into the site - locations also in Utah, Illinois, North Carolina, Virginia, Texas (as ‘Pho Cong Ly’), Philidelphia, Nevada, and Massachusetts, ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/52 "2004-06-25T02:57:22Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > In the Pacific Northwest there aren’t many Chinese chain restaurants, but there is a lot of east Asian cuisine, mostly family-run restaurants where Mom cooks and her sister waits tables and her son busses them and her daughter runs the cash register—you know the kind. Here we have Panda Express, and the smaller chains Flaming Wok and The Mustard Seed. ---
**Author:** ![Scopata\_Fuori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@Scopata\_Fuori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scopata_Fuori)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/53 "2004-06-25T02:57:38Z")
We have a rather mediocre local chain called the Rice House. And a Charlie Chiang’s, which serves ok food in a decent sit down setting, with overpriced overiced sodas sold one by one in small glasses. Better to order some take-out from one of the ubiquitous Number One Chinese Food or Hunan Delight hole in the walls. Does every town have at least one Number One Chinese Food or a Hunan Delight? And am I the only one who has misread that as Human Delight? I prefer Szechuan cuisine to Mandarin or Cantonese. I know there’s other regional Chinese cuisines, but I can’t think of them. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/54 "2004-06-25T03:08:10Z")
OK, I can’t resist: When traveling once in Canada, I think I ate a brand of Chinese noodles which were produced by a company called “Hung-Wang”. I know, this is in incredibly poor (ahem) taste, and a minor hijack, but I just cannot contain this crass little brain fart. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/55 "2004-06-25T05:07:55Z")
The only names I’ve seen multiple people in the thread list that I recognize are Panda Express and PF Chang’s. Panda Express is a mall foodcourt sort of thing, not quite the same spirit as Olive Garden or Red Lobster. They certainly do seem to be everywhere, though (or at least in Nashville and Knoxville (TN), Charleston (SC), and Saratoga Springs (NY)). PF Chang’s certainly fits the corporate restaurant. Every single one I’ve been in has the lions out front and the lillypond-moodlight ceiling. I have seen them in Nashville, Knoxville, and Chapel Hill (NC). But it’s a Chinese _Bistro_ so I don’t know if it counts. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/56 "2004-06-25T13:11:37Z")
Panda Expresses aren’t only in the food courts at the mall. Here in Tucson there’s a free-standing one. After posting about it yesterday, I had to go have the Orange Chicken for lunch. Their A/C was broken. And I was miserable the whole time. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![hammos1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba8739/32.png) [@hammos1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammos1)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/57 "2004-06-25T14:00:20Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > A side question, but a related one: Why, apart from fast-food joints and a handful of “pub fare” places, are there no real national restaurant chains in the UK? The only one I can think of off the top of my head is Pizza Express (despite its name, it’s actually a sit-down restaurant with bar service), but I don’t think it’s much found outside of the south of England. There’s also Cafe Rouge, Bella Pasta, La Tasca, Cafe Flo (maybe only in London- I’m not sure), Nando’s (borderline fast food)… The only Chinese chain restaurant in the UK is Yellow River Cafe- Southern England only, except for one branch in Birmingham. It’s perhaps more surprising that there’s no national chain of Indian restaurants in the UK, given the popularity. I suppose it’s only a matter of time. ---
**Author:** ![NE\_Texan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e99b99/32.png) [@NE\_Texan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NE_Texan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/58 "2004-06-25T14:10:18Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > I just did some research and you are correct. China Coast was owned by Darden Restaurants Inc. The parent company of Olive Garden and Red Lobster. It seems that they also have a BBQ chain called Smokey Bones Barbecue & Grill, but that dog won’t hunt in Texas. Wow, I didn’t know Smokey Bones was owned by the same company! Since moving to New England, there’s been a real dearth of BBQ places. Of the few we found, the only one that’s near us that is anywhere in a league with places we knew in Houston is… Smokey Bones! How about that. I think Smokey Bones would do OK in Texas. It has a good variety, and would compare favorably with existing chains like Luther’s, and be right in there with Goode Company. ---
**Author:** ![NE\_Texan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e99b99/32.png) [@NE\_Texan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NE_Texan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/59 "2004-06-25T14:19:23Z")
> [@Rucksinator](#): > > IME, For every Chi Chi’s, there are 10 (seemingly) independent Mexican restaurants. Yet, like Excalibre mentioned about “the eerie sameness of Chinese takeout places”, almost all of them have essentially the same menu. The first item listed on the Lunch menu is the Speedy Gonzales (taco, enchilada, and choice of rice or beans) for $3.20 - ~ $5.00. That’s interesting – I’ve _never_ seen a “Speedy Gonzales” on a Mexican menu. Maybe it’s a regional thing? It’s possible that, rather than being a corporate plan to make them all alike, they merely get that way due to competition and consumer pressure. If it sells well at one restaurant, the others pick it up (either by noticing it themselves, or by being asked about it by a customer). Then restaurants that put popular combinations on their menu do better than those that don’t. Also, you mentioned lunch menu. Now, if I were making a lunch menu for a Mexican restaurant, and wanted to indicate a quick lunch dish that could come to the table quickly(\*), and it’s for the US culture… isn’t an obvious joke to use the name “Speedy Gonzalez”? (\*) I hope that’s why they call it that… ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007/60 "2004-06-25T15:02:48Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > Did [Chef Chu](http://www.chefchu.com/mall/c102/s11_new/home.asp) and [Mr. Chau](http://www.mrchausfastfood.com/index.htm) have a kid? 🙂 Whups, Mr. Chau is what I meant. The food isn’t very memorable, so maybe I didn’t remember the name very well either. > [@](#): > > Panda Expresses aren’t only in the food courts at the mall. Here in Tucson there’s a free-standing one. After posting about it yesterday, I had to go have the Orange Chicken for lunch. There’s free standing, or retail-space-in-a-strip-mall ones around here, too. It’s still a fast-food style place, rather than a sit-down resturaunt. The “Panda Inn” would seem to be more of the OP’s “Olive Garden” class, but a quick check of their web site only lists 5, all Southern California. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-chinese-chain-restaurants/252007.md?page=4)