Chinese Restaurants impacted?

[Canoeboy]

Two weeks ago (just as Covid Awareness/Fears we’re ramping up) we went out to our favorite Chinese Restaurant for a family meal. Was a Friday night at 7:30 and the place was 100% empty except for ourselves the entire hour we were there. The owner commented their business was greatly reduced that day. Heard this past Monday that the owners had to completely shut down (takeout only by that time) because they were receiving derogatory comments about “Chinese virus” and even getting some threats. On same day saw another Chinese restaurant one town over was still open for takeout but have no sense if they have similar concerns/experience. Feel sad that these hardworking family oriented folks have the added stress of intolerance above the financial hardship they are now experiencing.

Interested to hear about related experiences in your community.

 

[Ready]

We have been going to the same Chinese restaurant every week for the past 25 years. We have stopped going since the stay at home order, so it’s been almost a month since we visited. We may go at some point for takeout. But with the virus spreading so quickly we just have not had any desire to order take out from any restaurant.

Most of the restaurants in our area that tried take out only have shut down. A few of the larger chains are still trying to make it work. But with the discounts they are offering it can’t be going very well for them.

And a few of the restaurants have announced permanent closures, meaning they have no intention of reopening if the stay at home order is lifted.

 

[NavAir]

We have been going to the same Chinese restaurant every week for the past 25 years...

Same here. Both of our sons' HS Graduation parties were held there. We know the owners and wait staff on a personal basis. Their business was also off before the switch to take out/delivery only. We did take out on our usual day, and tipped the wait staff too. I want them in business when this is over...

 

[statsman]

We had a Chinese restaurant we went to for many years back in California. A couple of months before we moved to Texas in October 2018, their building caught fire in the ceiling area and required repairs. During that time we were preparing to sell our house and pack for our move to Texas, they were closed for inspections and repairs. We never got a chance to say thank you or goodbye or have a final meal (or several!) from them.

Their repairs took longer than they originally estimated, as their initial four month schedule ended up taking 18 months! From their Yelp page, they re-opened in late February 2020, just in time for the COVID-19 restrictions to be implemented in the Bay Area of California.

Since an older couple owns the restaurant, I wondered if they were ever going to reopen when the repairs seem to take forever (or given it's California, likely the inspections). Now, I wonder what kind of financial hit they'll experience during the shelter in place rules. Very sad.

Chinese food near Cedar Park in Texas? Not so much that we've seen.

 

[NavAir]

There should be some good ones in/near Austin...

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

Metro Vancouver has a large Chinese population and correspondingly a lot of Chinese restaurants. Beginning a week and a bit ago, all restaurants have been ordered shut down for dine-in meals but can be open for takeout.

Before that, in January/February, Chinese restaurants and food fairs in asian style malls began hurting from a lack of business, mainly from the Chinese population staying away. One of the places we go to regularly was still serving at near capacity for dinner up to late February but we were able to get a table instantly whereas normally we have to wait up to 30 minutes to get a table at peak dinner times. We went to dim sum on a Sunday in early March and only half the tables were occupied where again, there would normally be a wait.

 

[brewer12345]

No doubt all restaurants are hurting now.

 

[gcgang]

My 19year old daughter is adopted from China.

She’d never mentioned racist discrimination except for one event several years ago. But now, to my surprise, She said she’s very offended by the term and has witnessed several racist comments.

While the term may not be racist, racists do use it to put others down.

It’s Covid-19 to me from now on.

 

[Sunset]

Last week we got 3 takeout lunches from our favorite Chinese restaurant. Hopefully they will stay in business.

 

[DrRoy]

We got Chinese takeout on Tues.

 

[Music Lover]

No doubt all restaurants are hurting now.

Definitely.

Most Chinese restaurants around here have a strong delivery service and that definitely is helping them stay afloat. We always order Chinese delivery and never eat inside.

It's the mid-range mom and pop "eat in" restaurants that never had delivery that are really suffering...places where you can have a $12 burger and fries or a $16 chicken or rib dish. They're now offering delivery service but I'm not sure how successful they are. I don't know how many people are willing to pay $30 to have a couple burgers and fries delivered.

 

[Aerides]

No doubt all restaurants are hurting now.

Agree, but I do think that Chinese restaurants took an earlier hit due to silliness/bias/fear. Especially when this disease was very new.

So their pain started with a slope before the drop that everyone got.

 

[Music Lover]

My 19year old daughter is adopted from China.

She’d never mentioned racist discrimination except for one event several years ago. But now, to my surprise, She said she’s very offended by the term and has witnessed several racist comments.

While the term may not be racist, racists do use it to put others down.

It’s Covid-19 to me from now on.

Diseases have been named after places for decades and no one complained until now. Even the media called it the Wuhan coronavirus until they suddenly decided (or were told) that it was racist. Do we now have to change the name of all these (and many other) diseases?:

Ebola virus - Ebola river
MERS - Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome
Lyme disease - Lyme, Connecticut
West Nile disease
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
Norovirus - Norwalk, Ohio
Japanese Encephalitis
etc, etc, etc...

 

[grasshopper]

In Tucson on Tuesday carryout only orders. Our favorite asian restaurant never answered their phone. Our 2nd choice Chinese/Vietnamese was open and they were doing a booming delivery business.

 

[donheff]

I hope the proposed loan forgiveness program is big enough to help these businesses and their employees but I suspect the restaurant industry is going to be fundamentally altered. Not looking forward to the effect on my high density area.

 

[ERD50]

Diseases have been named after places for decades and no one complained until now. Even the media called it the Wuhan coronavirus until they suddenly decided (or were told) that it was racist. Do we now have to change the name of all these (and many other) diseases?:

Ebola virus - Ebola river
MERS - Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome
Lyme disease - Lyme, Connecticut
West Nile disease
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
Norovirus - Norwalk, Ohio
Japanese Encephalitis
etc, etc, etc...

You left out "German Measles", and the Germans have already been getting a bad rap for bombing Pearl Harbor (Animal House reference for those who don't know).

I did not know about the connections to Lyme,CT, Norwalk, OH and only recently heard about MERS acronym.

Oh, and the 1968 "Hong Kong Flu" (H3N2).

Agree, but I do think that Chinese restaurants took an earlier hit due to silliness/bias/fear. Especially when this disease was very new.

So their pain started with a slope before the drop that everyone got.

I wouldn't accuse anyone of "silliness" or "bias" for that. Chinatown in Chicago did get hit hard, and that's sad, but it is a fact that there was a much higher chance that someone working in one of those restaurants had traveled to China recently, or came into contact with someone who did. And a restaurant would be a prime place for transmission, close contact for an extended period of time, all these items being touched, etc.

I'd call it "prudent" before I called it silly, or biased, or fear.

-ERD50

 

[candrew]

Diseases have been named after places for decades and no one complained until now.

No one complained until now?

Ascribing diseases to particular locations and groups of people has had an ugly past and stoked xenophobic responses as a result. In the 14th century the Black Death provoked mass violence against Jews, Catalans, clerics and beggars; when syphilis spread in the 15th century, it was referred to as the Neapolitan, French, Polish and German disease, depending on who was blaming who. When the plague struck Honolulu in 1899, officials burned down Chinatown where the disease's first victims died. Epidemics like Ebola, SARS and Zika fueled animus toward specific regions or peoples. AIDS was often referred to as "The Gay Plague" and fueled violence against the gay community.

On the contrary, there have been more than a few complaints lodged over time on the part of those who suffered the consequences.

 

[Canoeboy]

Diseases have been named after places for decades and no one complained until now. Even the media called it the Wuhan coronavirus until they suddenly decided (or were told) that it was racist. Do we now have to change the name of all these (and many other) diseases?:

Ebola virus - Ebola river
MERS - Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome
Lyme disease - Lyme, Connecticut
West Nile disease
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
Norovirus - Norwalk, Ohio
Japanese Encephalitis
etc, etc, etc...

There is a difference between naming a specific strain of a biological agent/pathogen after the geographic location of origin verses deliberately assigning it to a culture/people, as in “The Chinese virus”. We have seen this intolerance before. The 1918-19 influenza pandemic was popularized as the “Spanish Flu” to place blame elsewhere. Interestingly that virus strain more than likely emerged out of an army base in Kansas after WW1.

 

[easysurfer]

No one complained until now?

Ascribing diseases to particular locations and groups of people has had an ugly past and stoked xenophobic responses as a result. In the 14th century the Black Death provoked mass violence against Jews, Catalans, clerics and beggars; when syphilis spread in the 15th century, it was referred to as the Neapolitan, French, Polish and German disease, depending on who was blaming who. When the plague struck Honolulu in 1899, officials burned down Chinatown where the disease's first victims died. Epidemics like Ebola, SARS and Zika fueled animus toward specific regions or peoples. AIDS was often referred to as "The Gay Plague" and fueled violence against the gay community.

On the contrary, there have been more than a few complaints lodged over time on the part of those who suffered the consequences.

I kinda see both sides. On one, I too was thinking about back when AIDS was referred to as "The Gay Plague" and as I result fueling violence against the gay community. Because COVID-19 was labeled as "The Chinese Virus", that has led to incidents against Asians.

On the other side, I was in another board months against and used the terms "Indian giver" and "Welch on a Bet" and was called out as being inappropriate. I thought, "What? those terms have been in the American vocabulary a long time." The person wasn't American, so I do see how those terms could be seen as offensive. To be considerate, I didn't use those terms again instead of digging in my heels arguing why I felt the terms are okay.

 

[Sunset]

I kinda see both sides. On one, I too was thinking about back when AIDS was referred to as "The Gay Plague" and as I result fueling violence against the gay community. Because COVID-19 was labeled as "The Chinese Virus", that has led to incidents against Asians.

On the other side, I was in another board months against and used the terms "Indian giver" and "Welch on a Bet" and was called out as being inappropriate. I thought, "What? those terms have been in the American vocabulary a long time." The person wasn't American, so I do see how those terms could be seen as offensive. To be considerate, I didn't use those terms again instead of digging in my heels arguing why I felt the terms are okay.

Mighty White of you.

 

[easysurfer]

Mighty White of you.

More like "Be considerate and nice when you don't have to be mean or perceived as mean" .

 

[Ian S]

We have a great little Chinese restaurant within walking distance and have been going there regularly since we moved to Red Rock country. Last weekend, we did take out and ordered double our usual dine-in order so we would have plenty of tasty leftovers. One thing about Chinese takeout when you are concerned about COVID-19: all our dishes are hot dishes and were delivered in containers suitable for heating in an oven at 200F. This is what we did as soon as we got home so the food and containers would be hot enough to destroy any microbes. In fact, any takeout we are getting is hot food so it can be heated this way.

Regarding racist attacks, a very good Asian friend of ours was in a grocery store parking lot the other day and happened to sneeze into his arm. Some racist jerk nearby shouted angriliy that because he was Chinese, he needed to get tested for the virus which in our state is impossible unless you have certain symptoms. Our friend is of Japanese descent and told the jerk. But it fell on deaf ears.

 

[ERD50]

There is a difference between naming a specific strain of a biological agent/pathogen after the geographic location of origin verses deliberately assigning it to a culture/people, as in “The Chinese virus”. ....

"Chinese", dictionary definition:

relating to China or its language, culture, or people.

China is the geographic location of origin. So "The Chinese Virus" seems just fine by that.

I think too many people are looking for things to be outraged about, and assigning "intent" where there may be none. It's normal to assign names to things that have a more technical description. Who remembers that the "Hong Kong Flu" was "H3N2", etc

-ERD50

 

[ncbill]

Sadly, our favorite Asian restaurant (Thai/Chinese) has not chosen to stay open (for takeout, dine-in prohibited) so I doubt they'll be re-opening after all this is over.

Our other favorite family-owned (Greek) restaurants has done the same.

Apart from pizza we don't really do takeout.

 

[candrew]

I think too many people are looking for things to be outraged about, and assigning "intent" where there may be none.

And regrettably, as history teaches us, there are far too many people who through willful ignorance succumb to their worst instincts and xenophobic proclivities.