Chinatown

[lester1/2jr]

is there a Chinatown where you live? I had some dumplings at the one here in Boston tonight



everything is as small as possible here, except the Dim Sum places which are gigantic for some reason. in this particular food court there's a Ramen place on the left, a sushi place in front of it, a desert cake place (they taste kind of like waffles), and then the old guy sitting there is in front of Dumpling King.



These were like 6.50, pretty cheap for around here. fried pork dumplings

[Alex]

Alas, there isn't one anywhere near where I live, although I have had some very nice food in the one in London.

[Trevor]

I was just told by someone here "Ah, forget it Trev, it's Chinatown." 

[RCMerchant]

I been to the one in NYC- the food was fantastic, and the people were beautiful.

In Lawton-no. It's barely a town itself.

[Rev. Powell]

No Chinatown in Louisville. We have more of a Vietnamese than Chinese population anyway, and sushi and ramen places are popular.

There is an area of town with a lot of ethnic food, but it's crazy eclectic: Tibetan, Ethiopian, Russian, Haitian... but Chinese places are scattered throughout the city.

There's an authentic Szechuan place within walking distance of me, but I always order off the round-eye menu. One of the authentic dishes comes with "blood chunks" (!)

[lester1/2jr]

Rev Powell- yeah sometimes I look around and the Chinese people will be eating a whole fish in a puddle of hot sauce or something.

RC- My Dad live in New York, there is actually a separate Chinatown in every borough now. He goes to the Brooklyn one.

[Allhallowsday]

We cannot get decent Chinese food near me. 
I was lucky enough to have a co-worker order for me off the upstairs Chinese-speaking-only menu at a restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown in year 2000.  It was the most astounding Chinese food I've ever had. 

[LilCerberus]

We have a couple Jade Gardens around the oustskirts, and a lot of Panda Express in the haughtier parts of town, but most places are family owned & pretty good...

[claws]

According to demographics more Americans immigrate here to Germany than Chinese, with America being on the lower end of immigrating countries.

That said I wouldn't mind a Chinatown at all but sadly there just aren't any.

[retrorussell]

Portland has a Chinatown.  It's more officially called OLD TOWN CHINATOWN.  It lies in both SW and NW downtown Portland near the Willamette River.  Full of Chinese restaurants, tea shops and a big garden.  I love the big, ornate "city gate" and the authentic feel but it's not my favorite part of town (much of the homelessness/crime/drugs in Portland is around here).  The Portland Metro Area MAX train goes right through it. 

[The Burgomaster]

is there a Chinatown where you live? I had some dumplings at the one here in Boston tonight

I haven't eaten in Chinatown in Boston in YEARS. I live just up Rte. 93 in Billerica, so there's no excuse. I just don't get in there very often. Years ago people would go to one of the restaurants there after the bars closed and order "cold tea." It was beer served in a tea pot to disguise it from any meddlesome people who might report the restaurant for serving beer after hours.

[Trevor]

My birth town had a lovely Chinese restaurant called "The Peking" for years: my folks took me there once and my Dad ordered me some "Choi pai gai" which made me go  until I realized it was cubed chicken.

[bob]

there is no Chinatown district where I  live

[Jim H]

St. Louis KIND OF does, in the suburban part.  There's one major road with a decent number of Chinese businesses (and other ethnic stores, but mostly Chinese), and there is a sign signifying it as a Chinese area.  More recently, there's been an influx of Korean businesses nearby, which has been great - I recommend KimCheese if you're ever in St. Louis, which is a Korean/Mexican/American fusion fast casual.  

A lot of the Chinese stuff is decaying in that area, as it all opened quite a while ago and doesn't seem to do great business.  There's a Chinese supermarket, bakery, restaurant supply shop, a number of restaurants, acupuncture place, doctors, etc.  

Also, St. Louis had a historical Chinatown for almost a century.  It was actually demolished in the 1960s to make room for Busch stadium, where the Cardinals played.  Nothing at all remains of it.  

Fun fact, my girlfriend is of Chinese descent, and her father came to St. Louis in the 60s or early 70s after the demolition.  At the time, he tells me there were only like 5 Chinese restaurants in the entire metropolitan area (demolition likely helped make it a small number).  So he came to help run them, as demand became SUPER high for a limited number of spots, just packed in day after day for many years.  Really good money apparently.  

[lester1/2jr]

burgomaster - I'm sure some of those places are still there. In general though, there's a lot of new places reflecting various Asian food trends. hot pots and so forth. Some didn't make it through Covid though, including a crucial bahn mi spot that had 2 pay phones in front of it. I think the phones are still there