Chinese Restaurant-Fail!!

On a recent road trip across the Southwest, ran across this and thought of Tiki Central.

Not tiki, but reminds me of the tiki shame of the 70s-80s devolution era. :(

Don't think of it as a Chinese restaurant serving Mexican food, think of it as Pacific Rim fusion cuisine. :wink:

That's not devolution. It's re-purposing.

If the new owners are so cheap that they simply put up a cardboard sign to advertise the new cusine, it's a good bet that the kitschy vintage signage will remain intact.

And remember it's acceptable to eat Chinese food cooked by Mexicans (ever peek inside the kitchen of a P.F. Chang's ?) but never ever, in any circumstances should you eat Mexican food cooked by Chinese. :)

And on a related-note, I've always thought about putting together an urban archeology pictorial thread in "Beyond Tiki", which highlights the post-1970's transformations of mid-century era buildings into Chinese restaurants. The phenomena is especially prevalent in So Ca's San Gabriel Valley, the nation's first suburban Chinatown. Before the real foreign money started pouring in, the new restaurant entrepreneurs would simply work with the existing architecture rather than tearing it down.

Ever see an A-framed (as in former House of Pies) Chinese restaurant ??

Ha!

Now that you mention it, I do recall many specifically themed places transforming into Asian related cuisine joints in an awkward way.

I remember a really cool old Googie-esque coffee shop in Burbank (Don's?) on Glen Oaks Blvd. that turned into a strange sushi place. Something about sushi in 50s moderne leaves a strange taste in my mouth.

...almost like Chinese guys making Mexican food!!

On 2011-07-03 06:52, tiki1963 wrote:
On a recent road trip across the Southwest, ran across this and thought of Tiki Central.

Not tiki, but reminds me of the tiki shame of the 70s-80s devolution era. :(

Nice sign. Where is it?

In Los Angeles' Chinatown, across from the dramatic neon sign (made famous by the Jack Nicholson movie of the same name)

Is the Golden Dragon, which still serves the Boo Loo, in a Volcano-like Tiki bowl.

Here is a link on the issue:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=31585&forum=1&start=0&hilite=golden%20dragon

The 'China Lantern' is in Carlsbad, New Mexico.

Best Mexican food this side of the Yangtze!!

It's funny :)
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Necessity is a caring mother.
Hunger acutes resourcefulness.

Make your choice...

On 2011-07-03 10:25, JOHN-O wrote:
That's not devolution. It's re-purposing.

If the new owners are so cheap that they simply put up a cardboard sign to advertise the new cusine, it's a good bet that the kitschy vintage signage will remain intact.

And remember it's acceptable to eat Chinese food cooked by Mexicans (ever peek inside the kitchen of a P.F. Chang's ?) but never ever, in any circumstances should you eat Mexican food cooked by Chinese. :)

And on a related-note, I've always thought about putting together an urban archeology pictorial thread in "Beyond Tiki", which highlights the post-1970's transformations of mid-century era buildings into Chinese restaurants. The phenomena is especially prevalent in So Ca's San Gabriel Valley, the nation's first suburban Chinatown. Before the real foreign money started pouring in, the new restaurant entrepreneurs would simply work with the existing architecture rather than tearing it down.

Ever see an A-framed (as in former House of Pies) Chinese restaurant ??

I've seen a broken-back A-frame (a la Der Wienerschnitzel) that evolved into a sushi joint.
It's in Berkeley, on Telegraph Avenue near the campus.

On 2011-07-03 10:42, tiki1963 wrote:
Ha!

Now that you mention it, I do recall many specifically themed places transforming into Asian related cuisine joints in an awkward way.

I remember a really cool old Googie-esque coffee shop in Burbank (Don's?) on Glen Oaks Blvd. that turned into a strange sushi place. Something about sushi in 50s moderne leaves a strange taste in my mouth.

...almost like Chinese guys making Mexican food!!

Which was the standard in San Francisco's upscale Mexican restaurants a few decades back.
"Genuine Mexican food made by Chinese cooks" was the snide comment. One example was
The Papagallo Room in the depths of San Francisco's beloved Fairmont Hotel.

No doubt everyone's tastes have improved since then, along with the authenticity of Mexican
restaurants. But at the time, at least, Mexican by Chinese food seemed very good.

I've heard that Scandinavians make good Eskimo food.

But also that Bolivians make very poor Kurdish food.

-Randy

Eskimo Pies?

Well just to clarify what I heard...

Scandinavians make good Eskimo food WHEN they're prepared right. Over-cook them and they lose their flavor.

-Randy

Oh man, I'm glad someone got a pic of that. My wife and I went through Carlsbad back in September and while I was oogling the sign, she was laughing her butt off at the thrown-together handmade banner. Having worked in the sign industry for more than 15 years, I was in awe and in stitches as well. But sadly out in this part of the SW, there are many Chinese restaurants who serve Tex-Mex or Mexican food in their buffets. I had always figured it was for the people or children who didn't like Oriental food, but were dragged along. But, it is funny to see a Chinese place serving Mexican food. The combination doesn't seem right to me.

On 2011-07-07 08:02, Unkle John wrote:
But, it is funny to see a Chinese place serving Mexican food. The combination doesn't seem right to me.

Why not? Rice, chilis, chicken - it could go either way.

(I intentionally left out any politically incorrect references to cat meat :P )