Eating Chinese Food in Phoenix in 1906


I'm hungry, it's 1906, we're in Phoenix, so let's get some Chinese Food. I know a great place that opened three years ago called the American Kitchen. It's on Center Street between Washington and Adams.

1903 ad for the opening of the American Kitchen, Phoenix, Arizona.

Yeah, I know the name "American Kitchen" doesn't sound like a Chinese Food restaurant, but it is. No, I don't speak any Chinese, but the owner, Yee Sing, does, and so do all of the people who work there. Well, enough so that we can get some good food. Come on! They serve the kind of Chinese Food that's so popular in San Francisco these days, you know, Chow Mein, Chinese Noodles, Chop Suey. No, I have no idea if that's what they eat in China, but it's what they eat in California, and it sounds good to me!

Ad for the American Kitchen and the English Kitchen in 1911, Phoenix, Arizona

Let's see, for the two of us we'll need seventy cents. And then about a dime for a tip. Do we have enough. Sure! Let's go!

There's a large Chinese community in Phoenix, mostly east of Center and south of Monroe. They pretty much keep to themselves, and are quiet, except on the Chinese New Year. I'm sure you've heard the noise. It's enough to scare the devil, and I guess it does!

1893 article about celebrating the Chinese New Year in Phoenix. Montezuma street is now called 1st Street.

Thanks for eating Chinese Food with me today!

Images from the Library of Congress
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