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(click to enlarge)
The Hempstead Garden Chinese Restaurant
in Hempstead, Long
Island, c.1920
This was Morris Wong's first Chinese Restaurant which he founded shortly after World War I. Located on Main Street between Fulton and Front Streets above Woolworth's and next to the L. Cohen Department Store, the Hempstead Garden was a pioneer in offering the new Chinese American cuisine to Long Islanders. The restaurant featured dancing with a small band. Morris Wong also profited from Prohibition by running a Speakeasy in Woolworth's basement, which had its entrance around the back. Morris Wong claims that Chop Suey is not real Chinese food at all since it was invented at the Hempstead Garden. Chop Suey, which has become as famous as Chinese food itself, came from a Mr. Li, one of the Chefs at the Hempstead Garden. Li, who was a fugitive from justice and had VD, found, on one busy night, that the restaurant was running low on meat. Mr. Li went out back to take a pee and noticed a cat walking around in the alley. The syphilis had gotten to his brain by that time, so Mr. Li said "Here, Kitty," threw it in with some soy sauce and vegetables, and the rest is history. Everyone loved it, and Morris Wong decided to put it on the menu. He called it "Chop Suey". But it never really tasted the same, according to loyal customers, after Mr. Li fell out of a window and had to be replaced by a Chef who used chicken.
(click to enlarge)
The China Restaurant above the corner of Broadway and W. 43rd Street in New York City, c. 1928
Later in the 1920's, Morris Wong brought a new restaurant to the bright lights of Broadway, and it was one of the main attractions. Chop Suey was as popular as ever and there was a larger dance band playing every night. In case you have trouble reading the sign, Luncheon was 55 cents, Dinner, $1.25.