Madame Wong's, Los Angeles, CA (restaurant) - Locating Tiki

C Chub Tiki Socialite Detroit, MI but now in sunny Los Angeles Joined: Jan 26, 2005 Posts: 265	C Chub Posted posted on Wed, Sep 15, 2010 10:17 AM Name:Madame Wong's Type:restaurant Street:949 Sun Mun Way - Chinatown City:Los Angeles State:CA Zip:90012 country:USA Phone:624-5346 Status:defunct Description: Here is some info I found on wikipedia about the owner, Esther Wong and what became of the restaurant... "Esther Wong started in the early 1970s as the owner of “Madame Wong’s," a Los Angeles Chinatown restaurant with a floorshow. Polynesian dance acts weren’t attracting customers, yet when Paul Greenstein, a Los Angeles "bum vivant," first approached her husband George about booking bands, she declined. Greenstein's persistence, and the fact that he had already given the nearby "Atomic Cafe" a new lease on life (cross-polination between owners' children worked the magic), caused her to agree to a trial run in Fall of 1978. Initially, under Greenstein, a showcase for unsigned, unbookable punk-bands, Madame Wong's was one of few places such bands could perform. With the exit of Greenstein, Madame Wong's morphed into a power-pop palace with bookings more influenced by a now-interested Wong. Notable bands that she showcased included a “who’s who” of rock music, including The Knack, The Police, The Motels, The Go-Go's, Naughty Sweeties, Oingo Boingo, Los Illegals, The WILD, The Kats/The Nu Kats, The Wigs, Daniel Amos, The Kempsters, Guns N' Roses, Black Flag, Fear, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Glass Target, The Twisters, and The Ramones. Eventually this led to her nickname, the “Godmother of Punk.” She closed the original “Madame Wong’s” after a fire in 1985 and “Madame Wong’s West” in Santa Monica, California in 1991." She died from emphysema and lung cancer on August 14, 2005 in Los Angeles, California, and was survived by her second husband, Harry Wong, two children, Frank Wong and Melinda Braun, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren

Name:Madame Wong's
Type:restaurant
Street:949 Sun Mun Way - Chinatown
City:Los Angeles
State:CA
Zip:90012
country:USA
Phone:624-5346
Status:defunct

Description:
Here is some info I found on wikipedia about the owner, Esther Wong and what became of the restaurant... "Esther Wong started in the early 1970s as the owner of “Madame Wong’s," a Los Angeles Chinatown restaurant with a floorshow. Polynesian dance acts weren’t attracting customers, yet when Paul Greenstein, a Los Angeles "bum vivant," first approached her husband George about booking bands, she declined. Greenstein's persistence, and the fact that he had already given the nearby "Atomic Cafe" a new lease on life (cross-polination between owners' children worked the magic), caused her to agree to a trial run in Fall of 1978. Initially, under Greenstein, a showcase for unsigned, unbookable punk-bands, Madame Wong's was one of few places such bands could perform. With the exit of Greenstein, Madame Wong's morphed into a power-pop palace with bookings more influenced by a now-interested Wong. Notable bands that she showcased included a “who’s who” of rock music, including The Knack, The Police, The Motels, The Go-Go's, Naughty Sweeties, Oingo Boingo, Los Illegals, The WILD, The Kats/The Nu Kats, The Wigs, Daniel Amos, The Kempsters, Guns N' Roses, Black Flag, Fear, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Glass Target, The Twisters, and The Ramones. Eventually this led to her nickname, the “Godmother of Punk.”
She closed the original “Madame Wong’s” after a fire in 1985 and “Madame Wong’s West” in Santa Monica, California in 1991."
She died from emphysema and lung cancer on August 14, 2005 in Los Angeles, California, and was survived by her second husband, Harry Wong, two children, Frank Wong and Melinda Braun, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren

Post #553973 by Chub on Wed, Sep 15, 2010 10:17 AM