If it’s the same folks from the original Chung King (and indications are it was), then they’ve probably flipped the place. They have a history of doing that (where’s TonyC when you need him?): the original Garfield location of Chung King in MPK, then the SG Chung King, one in Artesia, one in Arcadia (which flipped really quickly!). Somewhere in the original thread, I suggested that folks hurry and go and not get too attached for that very reason.
So, from Pho Mai to Pho Hai. Got it. Odd, because there are other Pho Mai locations, some of which seemed to be related, some of which seemed to be unrelated.
Okay, so what would be the point of doing this? Seems like it would take a lot of capital to get a new place opened only to quickly flip it and lather/rinse/repeat…
Profit? I would guess build up a restaurant until it has name/value, sell that to someone, then repeat.
Both the Chung King in Monterey Park, and the one in San Gabriel continued on under different operators (hence all the downhill posts during those owners, with some not realizing what had happened).
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Okay, that makes sense if you’re continuing with a restaurant under new ownership, but in this case it’s straight-up closed for nearly 2 months for “rebranding” – suggesting wiping-out any brand equity in the process. If/when it reopens, it’ll be a different restaurant.
True, but I would guess that’s down to the buyer, or contingent on what came along with the sale (did they buy the location? the name? any of the recipes? which combo of these?). We still have to wait and see whether the restaurant is still known as “Best Noodle House” when it re-opens. Based on the note, it sounds like it will be.
Here was what I wrote in the Best Noodle House thread in January 2017:
And Saturday at lunch, I found this on the door of Mr. Fish:
Apologies about the reflection, other angles were worse.
Ugh, one of my favorite restaurants!
Not sure if it’s been mentioned, but Shen Yang in Monterey Park has now converted to Guang Dong Garden. Brightly lit front with lots of red paper lanterns. Need to go back and check on a menu.
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with that name, cantonese? i loved shen yang’s naengmyun.
Or perhaps it means Dongbei, like Guan Dong, the onetime Dongbei restaurant in Cupertino.
Thanks for the report. I noticed an ownership change sign in the window as I drove by last week, but literally ran out of time to investigate. TonyC reported Shen Yang being sold and turned into another restaurant (shabu shabu?) some time ago, yet they continued on serving the Dongbei dishes for at least a couple of years.
…and, invariably, something else turns up immediately after finishing the latest update.
Chronicling restaurant openings and closings in the SGV is truly a Sisyphean task.
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that works for me - especially if they kept the noodle machines so as to keep making those buckwheat noodles.
You are right. It is Guan Dong Garden serving Dongbei cuisine. Just didn’tread it properly while driving
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and here is their menu LOL
Open until 10, but apparently their kitchen stops taking new orders at 9:30, so I just missed being able to eat there tonight
For those of you keeping score at home, and are scratching your heads about the naming…
关东, in this case, does not refer to Guangdong Province (the former Canton) in Southern China. Rather, it refers to the Guandong area (loosely called Manchuria), located in the northeast (dongbei) portion of China.
Unless you are a Chinese-speaking historical geography geek, this is straight-up shittily confusing nomenclature for a restaurant.
Where’s the laowai version?