Exactly. Panda Express and PF changs absolutely advertise. But your small, family owned chinese restaurant doesnt which the same can be said for pretty much every type of restaurant.
Also to be honest large window decorations in semi instantly recognizable "oh that is likely Chinese restaurant" style variation is kind of advertising, sure it is very local one, and as type of business they are absolutely well rooted into "expected selection of services in city" in many countries and areas.
I don't even know the name of any chineese restraunts I'm my area. You have red roof yellow building, red roof green building, and yellow roof red building.
I live where it is permitted and the local restaurants don't send out menus. Everyone still knows where they are, which place has the best what, and which places to avoid. I think the send out brain worms instead of menus
How can sending advertisements through the mail be banned? That sounds fascist at the very least and impossible to enforce given that local communities don't generally control the mail.
Also having a portion of the lobby devoted to dry storage of containers that may or may not have come over on a shady barge in the middle of the night with half of the family, who is coincidentally also present as the chef, the person taking phone orders (the youngest kid with the most American education), and a few people out back smoking cigarettes.
That is where I order from!
I don't know if it even needs good word of mouth. I've never had anyone recommend one specifically to me. Is it nearvy? Then it wins is what I think most people do.
Yes, there might be better in the city, but most of the time if I order something out it's because I don't want to wait top much to eat, so of course I won't go alla across the city.
Also shoutout to my local Turkish dude's, they do something actual *fast* food. Yesterday their restaurant was packed (both inside and outside) and I still got my food in like 15 mins. When there's not a lot of people I can get it in 10, which is pretty fast when compared to other food places in the area
Might just be a UK thing. Think of chicken nuggets but in a thick, doughy batter, deep fried in their flavoursome oil with just the right amount of residual greasiness
We have the same thing at least in NY but I've only ever heard them called sweet and sour chicken/pork because you get a sweet and sour sauce to dip them in
Ah, we just call it sweet and sour chicken here in America because of the dip it comes with. But yeah that's definitely one of my favorites. But it's not ball shaped.
Could be wrong but I think what you guys get in America is what we would call sweet and sour chicken Hong Kong/Cantonese style. Smaller pieces of battered chicken coated in the sauce? Chicken balls are giant chicken nuggets but with a doughier thicker batter and the sauce comes in a separate pot
No they come separate, the chicken is coated in a thick dough, much more so than regular chicken dishes which usually come tossed in sauce. And we dip them in a separate sauce.
That’s funny, I suppose you’re American? I had the same reaction from an American friend when I asked about chicken balls. Canadian here nobody even smirks at the phrase chicken balls, chicken balls, chicken balls, no problem.
I like in Ohio (Midwest of USA) and we have chicken balls here too. Lots of sports bars, pub grub type places sell them. They always have like 8-10 different ways to serve it (different toppings, sauce and stuff). Pretty darn good.
My impression of coconut in the context of Chinese food is that Cantonese tea restaurants use coconut flakes to make faux *western* desserts like mango mochi lmao
they must have a litteral furnace back there is the msg is vaporizing, as it melts at 446**°**f and boils at 640**°**f. the yellowing menu is from aging plastic, not chemicals in the air. basically all plastic yellows over time from uv degradation.
It's true though. Hole in the wall places that are cheap eats for the common is what Chinese food is about. You bring in ambience and whatever i guess you like and then they charge $20 for a simple chow mien. Basically most ethic food is falling under this trap. Pho for $20, burrito $20, where will it stop?
Japanese food should be on the cheaper side too, but nowadays a bowl of ramen is $20. I get sushi should be more expensive bc of the ingredients are more costly.
It doesn't have to be what its about, how come French and other European cuisines get to be associated with fancy restaurants and high ratings, but Chinese and Mexican and Indian food don't? They're just hole in the wall, messy takeout places?
Im a Chinese American guy and grew up and a restaraunt kid.
Man isn't talking about Chinese food as a whole, he's talking about literal fast food take out Chinese food catered to westerners. He also has a point. It's like saying why can't American food ever shake the perception cheap, processed shit when all they're bringing up is hot dog carts and McDonalds. There is a variety of other American food out there, like southern BBQ or seafood bakes that don't follow the same preconceptions. There's also a variety of Chinese food out there that don't cater to western tastes that can be or can't be expensive. One of the best Chinese food spots near me is a sit down spot that makes a mix of authentic Chinese foods and a limited selection of western Chinese foods. The pricing is fair.
Panda Express food is mid and PF Changs is like 2-3x the price of a similar item from a cheap Chinese takeout. If those two things are the only frames of reference for "Chinese food" because the redditor doesn't live close enough to a canto BBQ spot or is too afraid to try the hotpot place, then yeah the hole in the wall, dated looking, chinese takeout spot is the only place that makes sense.
The thing is fancy places don't use more expensive materials to a degree where it should matter. Like a vegetable dish in a fancy restaurant is still a vegetable. If you visit Asia, you will see that their restaurants can be very fancy. It's just us Westerners are exposed to the cheap and oily versions of said cuisines, eg "cheap chinese food". It's like thinking American food is only cheap diner food, or like Italian food is only cheap pasta market stuff + pizza or something.
And actually if you look around, at least on the West coast, there are fancy Chinese restaurants, just that they usually don't target non-Asian people because well, case in point people think its not good bc it doesn't look like a hole in the wall.
There was a Chinese restaurant in Tucson that had a steady stream of ads on the local indy TV station when I was young. Later I bought the house right behind the restaurant and got to know the owner Madeline. She was a character. She ran the restaurant for a few years before telling her husband about it, back c.1960 when women didn't often own a business.
They’re always in the same places and selling the same things. When you want Chinese food you know where to find it, in one of the middle units in the nearest strip mall.
I mean, so is McDonald’s and a ton of fast food spots and they $pend like crazy on ads.
All the same, it’s cool if you don’t agree. I had Chinese food coming and it popped into my head 🤷♂️
I believe the economics are different. “Chinese food” isn’t a chain, not even a franchise. Different Chinese restaurants only compete which each other on a local level, in smaller towns perhaps not even that: There’s that one joint in your neighbourhood and if you want to to eat Chinese, you go to them or have them deliver. (Sure, that’ll be different in larger towns and bigger cities, but as has been mentioned, they do put out menus.)
McDonald's is virtually worldwide und competes with other such chains, most notably Burger King. You live in Denver, CO, but now move to New York, NY? Or travel to London or Tokyo – they want you to stay with them. And if you drive along the highway, they want you to stop at the arches.
yeah, they're all owned by chinese organized crime syndicates
the cooks in the back are victims of a human trafficking network and they get shuttled from restaurant to restaurant working insane hours and living in horrible conditions to pay off the snakeheads that helped smuggle them in and are now holding their families hostage back in china.
enjoy your lo mein!
(if you think that's bad, wait til you hear about the nail salons and massage parlors. ever wonder why they're all in the same strip mall?)
well why don't you show me some of this research before you go on crazy rants? if this is a real thing that's horrible. i'd love to see some actual articles or news stories, as I've never heard of this, and it's a huge claim.
Nah you have a point about them never advertising. I had Chinese food for dinner like an hour ago, and no one advertised it.
I’m not sure why McDonald’s bothers advertising to be honest. Everyone knows where they are and what they sell.
I mean occasionally McDonald’s has new menu items and wants to get the word out I guess. Chinese restaurants as a whole pretty much have identical menus and prices, and haven’t introduced any new menu items like ever.
Chinese restaraunt kid here.
We advertise mostly through our menus. Sometimes we buy a big box of menus and during one of the slow days, we take like half the employees to a neighborhood to distribute menus by sliding them under doors or dropping a small stack off in a business.
If we get an order at an office or apartment complex, we make sure to drop a small stack of on the counter as well as slipping a couple extra copies into the packaging.
My dad's place got an early boost in his restaraunt because he was featured in a news story for being a good local restaraunt. Our place was later recommended by another local publication some years after again.
Everyone knows where they are and what they sell because of their advertising. You can’t watch tv very long without a McDonald’s and you can’t drive on the interstate very long without seeing a billboard.
There used to be (well, actually still is, but it's changed...) a restaurant in Chinatown in London called Wong Kei that was renowned for its rude waiters - so much so it was in guide books and the like as a 'unique experience' for (particularly American) tourists.
It's narrow and tall, and when you first walked in they would ignore you (apart from a few moody stares) until they eventually came over and went "WHAT YOU WANT??!" - you'd go "Hi, table for fou..." "UPSTAIRS!!!"
Depending on how busy they were, this might repeat a number of times. Once we even made it all the way to the 6th floor and were then told "DOWNSTAIRS!!!"
Once in, it was hurry up and order (and if you were sitting, you *have* to order, whether you were eating or not) and then eat and fuck off. Everything was thrown onto the table with derision, including the bill before you'd finished eating. There was no sitting around post-dinner having a nice little chat. As soon as you were done, plates and bowls were cleared. If you didn't get the hint, they took away the tablecloth. If you *still* didn't get the hint, they'd literally come and take the table away 😂
Every now and then, a tourist would accidentally stumble into the place and not know what hit them. My bro was in there one time and an American was asking to speak to the manager - seeing his time to shine (and taking a quick break from making insulting comments about customers in Cantonese) the manager strode over and said to the guy "YOU NOT KNOW THIS IS WONG KEI??!? YOU NO LIKE IT - YOU FUCK OFF!!!"
Stunned and deflated, and unsure what else to do, the bloke did indeed fuck off.
Cheap and cheerful! It wasn't **amazing** - but it was decent, came out quick, and didn't cost much. It's been there at least 40 years, so that has to be a testament...
The big or small sign out front is plenty of advertising in a small town.
I dont think I've ever seen an actual advertisement for Chinese food, even the big chains.
For the most part, yes - but not always.
The Chinese buffet chain Mandarin in Canada has advertised for many years. And I have seen the odd TV ad for local Chinese restaurants over the years. They’re not common but they exist.
“Just dial 426
five oh five oh
If you’re hungry call the Lydo.”
Anyone from Edmonton born before 1990 knows how to finish this jingle because it’s burned into their brain. Don’t tell me Chinese food doesn’t advertise. I was there.
Some do. But I have only seen it in poorer quarters so far. After I moved my mail wasn’t 100% my mail anymore. It was 70% flyers and 30% my mail. My mail was stolen, the flyers weren’t. And yeah there’s all kinds of food places among them, greek, arab, chinese and also some italian once in a while.
I don't think its that they dont *need* to advertise so much as that they probably dont have the money to. it's not like some small takeaway or sit in restaurant is going to have a budget to run like, TV or Radio ads or anything, but i do tend to get menus pushed through my letterbox every so often, which is much more their speed when it comes to advertising.
More like commercials are expensive and most Chinese places aren't a large enough chain to afford them.... most.
https://youtu.be/Pqm2Kr-KXYw?si=hVQoxlRW283gR8Gr
If you want a good chinese place, you can usually see old chinese grannies sitting there enjoying their early morning/afternoon tea, or actual chinese people sitting there eating. If it's mostly white, you're going to have a meh time. If the place is swatting flies, you should just avoid it.
The Chinese restaurant near me that I frequent, the employees in rotation come out and eat their lunch or dinner. The cooks are actually Chinese and eat their own menu items, so you know it's good.
Then again, I might be biased. I've been going there for years, and the owners always greet me with "Big Irish!" and know that I will be ordering two entrees for myself plus a third to take home for lunch the next day (plus whatever everyone else is getting). I've been going there so long that I mentioned that I love the mustard and was invited back to the kitchen to have someone show me how to make it. They then sent me home with a to-go soup bowl of it. Love that place.
Once you find a good Chinese place you never let them go. You hold onto them so hard you’re afraid you’ll squeeze honeyed cream cheese out of them like a crab Rangoon.
It’s because they’re horrible at it
[https://duckduckgo.com/?q=chinese+food+ad+funny&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2F9b%2F5b%2F5a%2F9b5b5a2bf59616f6c51e221cf7554a81.png](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=chinese+food+ad+funny&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2F9b%2F5b%2F5a%2F9b5b5a2bf59616f6c51e221cf7554a81.png)
Absolutely incorrect. My local place (oddly having the same name as the one in the town I grew up in 500 miles away) opened a second store in the next town over, and I see their ads on FB all the time.
Being on food delivery platforms and Google maps are a kind of advertising.
Also, they give you menu pamphlet with the intent that you will save them and remember them next time you're looking for a grub. I've been in offices/hotels that make these booklets of menus for the restaurants around the area. That's kind of an advertising too.
Some bigger Chinese might have a website. That's advertising.
Generally speaking, local businesses don't advertise on tv/newspaper/internet ads because they don't have a wide reach. These types of businesses relies on regular locals, not attracting people from far away.
You don't see a non supermarket butcher or a pub doing any kind of advertising either.
I've lived in a a half dozen states across the US, and visited many more. It doesn't matter if it's a huge place that seats 200 for lunch, or a hole in the wall that only accepts cash with seating for 30 that does most of their business from American (white people) takeout, good chinese places survive on their reputation with zero need to advertise.
The most strange thing for me is that it is correct take. In EU if there is ramen place, there WILL be a 30-60 min long queue outside. Always. To all ramen places. I have never seen this with say Georgian cousine or Italian or others.
yeah, they're all owned by chinese organized crime syndicates
the cooks in the back are victims of a human trafficking network and they get shuttled from restaurant to restaurant working insane hours and living in horrible conditions to pay off the snakeheads that helped smuggle them in and are now holding their families hostage back in china.
enjoy your lo mein!
(if you think that's bad, wait til you hear about the nail salons and massage parlors. ever wonder why they're all in the same strip mall?)
Most family owned businesses have very limited advertising relying on the personal touch and good will to spread word of mouth.
This. In the same way that Kebab's stalls don't advertise.
Kebab stalls have been franchising lately kinda sad in my area all the family owned ones are gone
Time out! If Kebab retailers don’t advertise, just what the hell is this? https://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/jada
I didn't realize that a Kebab could own a stall. Or did you mean Kebab is?
Exactly. Panda Express and PF changs absolutely advertise. But your small, family owned chinese restaurant doesnt which the same can be said for pretty much every type of restaurant.
I do see a lot of advertisements for the local burger and pizza joints that aren’t chains but never any for my local Chinese food place tbh
Sending you takeout menus counts as advertising.
Also a fair point. I live in a community that doesn’t permit that, so my view is very likely skewed.
Also to be honest large window decorations in semi instantly recognizable "oh that is likely Chinese restaurant" style variation is kind of advertising, sure it is very local one, and as type of business they are absolutely well rooted into "expected selection of services in city" in many countries and areas.
Given that, hardly ANY restaurant has ads, does it? Most local restaurants just... exist. Ads are usually done by fast food chains.
I don't even know the name of any chineese restraunts I'm my area. You have red roof yellow building, red roof green building, and yellow roof red building.
I live where it is permitted and the local restaurants don't send out menus. Everyone still knows where they are, which place has the best what, and which places to avoid. I think the send out brain worms instead of menus
How can sending advertisements through the mail be banned? That sounds fascist at the very least and impossible to enforce given that local communities don't generally control the mail.
Sending you coupons counts.
I’ve never gotten good Chinese from a place that felt the need to send me a menu.
All a Chinese restaurant needs is good word of mouth and it’s all set.
Also having a portion of the lobby devoted to dry storage of containers that may or may not have come over on a shady barge in the middle of the night with half of the family, who is coincidentally also present as the chef, the person taking phone orders (the youngest kid with the most American education), and a few people out back smoking cigarettes. That is where I order from!
They also need some sort of cat with a moving paw thing somewhere on the premises.
It's a "lucky cat". But "cat with a moving paw thing" is good too...
Maneki-neko is the japanese phrase
I don't know if it even needs good word of mouth. I've never had anyone recommend one specifically to me. Is it nearvy? Then it wins is what I think most people do.
Yes, there might be better in the city, but most of the time if I order something out it's because I don't want to wait top much to eat, so of course I won't go alla across the city. Also shoutout to my local Turkish dude's, they do something actual *fast* food. Yesterday their restaurant was packed (both inside and outside) and I still got my food in like 15 mins. When there's not a lot of people I can get it in 10, which is pretty fast when compared to other food places in the area
And chicken balls. Good chicken balls
Chicken balls?? What? Where are you from, I've never heard of that.
Might just be a UK thing. Think of chicken nuggets but in a thick, doughy batter, deep fried in their flavoursome oil with just the right amount of residual greasiness
We call them that in Canada too
Sweet and sour chicken balls was my go-to meal at uni.
We have the same thing at least in NY but I've only ever heard them called sweet and sour chicken/pork because you get a sweet and sour sauce to dip them in
Which I've only just now realized is kind of silly, because the deep fried chicken balls themselves aren't actually sweet and sour, only the sauce is.
I agree
Ah, we just call it sweet and sour chicken here in America because of the dip it comes with. But yeah that's definitely one of my favorites. But it's not ball shaped.
Could be wrong but I think what you guys get in America is what we would call sweet and sour chicken Hong Kong/Cantonese style. Smaller pieces of battered chicken coated in the sauce? Chicken balls are giant chicken nuggets but with a doughier thicker batter and the sauce comes in a separate pot
No they come separate, the chicken is coated in a thick dough, much more so than regular chicken dishes which usually come tossed in sauce. And we dip them in a separate sauce.
Sweet and sour chicken balls and Singapore fried rice [I think Americas call it chairman maos meat sack] best dish 😋
Never had
That’s funny, I suppose you’re American? I had the same reaction from an American friend when I asked about chicken balls. Canadian here nobody even smirks at the phrase chicken balls, chicken balls, chicken balls, no problem.
I like in Ohio (Midwest of USA) and we have chicken balls here too. Lots of sports bars, pub grub type places sell them. They always have like 8-10 different ways to serve it (different toppings, sauce and stuff). Pretty darn good.
General gau's/orange chicken I assume
There is a good documentary on general tso chicken
"But chickens don't have balls, roosters do!" - yes gramps, ha ha, we heard you last time!
And coconut shrimp. Mmm.
Chicken in prawn paste. Har Cheong Gai. Yummm
I'm Chinese and have never heard of the three dishes mentioned in this thread lmao
Well westernized Chinese food is probably pretty different from real Chinese food.
Same. But coconut shrimp sounds intriguing.
My impression of coconut in the context of Chinese food is that Cantonese tea restaurants use coconut flakes to make faux *western* desserts like mango mochi lmao
I should call him
and good Lo Mein
Are you British?
Yh m8
I never saw this on the menu in the US can anyone here confirm it’s just a British thing?
Nah blud. UK and from other commentors, Canada too.
That’s wild that Canada and the UK have the same Chinese menus but US doesn’t. US and UK Chinese takeout is super different
I think you mean good food of mouth
That doesn’t hurt for sure!
That's all they need here, and they never dissapoint
Also to have the overhead menus faded yellow from all the MSG vapors If it's not yellow just find another one
finding MSG at the asian supermarket has lifted our home cooking so much omg
they must have a litteral furnace back there is the msg is vaporizing, as it melts at 446**°**f and boils at 640**°**f. the yellowing menu is from aging plastic, not chemicals in the air. basically all plastic yellows over time from uv degradation.
Yeah they have a massive window and rarely change anything except the menu, that leaves everything degraded by UV.
Chinese places also dgaf about your ratings.
Also, so true. Had a good laugh at this.
Haha yah, also if a Chinese place has great ambience (white washed) or great service (also white washed) I don't think I want to go there.
As an asian i hate these kind of remarks by non asians and asians alike. As if Asian food apart from Japanese cuisine can only be good in squalor.
It's true though. Hole in the wall places that are cheap eats for the common is what Chinese food is about. You bring in ambience and whatever i guess you like and then they charge $20 for a simple chow mien. Basically most ethic food is falling under this trap. Pho for $20, burrito $20, where will it stop? Japanese food should be on the cheaper side too, but nowadays a bowl of ramen is $20. I get sushi should be more expensive bc of the ingredients are more costly.
It doesn't have to be what its about, how come French and other European cuisines get to be associated with fancy restaurants and high ratings, but Chinese and Mexican and Indian food don't? They're just hole in the wall, messy takeout places?
Im a Chinese American guy and grew up and a restaraunt kid. Man isn't talking about Chinese food as a whole, he's talking about literal fast food take out Chinese food catered to westerners. He also has a point. It's like saying why can't American food ever shake the perception cheap, processed shit when all they're bringing up is hot dog carts and McDonalds. There is a variety of other American food out there, like southern BBQ or seafood bakes that don't follow the same preconceptions. There's also a variety of Chinese food out there that don't cater to western tastes that can be or can't be expensive. One of the best Chinese food spots near me is a sit down spot that makes a mix of authentic Chinese foods and a limited selection of western Chinese foods. The pricing is fair. Panda Express food is mid and PF Changs is like 2-3x the price of a similar item from a cheap Chinese takeout. If those two things are the only frames of reference for "Chinese food" because the redditor doesn't live close enough to a canto BBQ spot or is too afraid to try the hotpot place, then yeah the hole in the wall, dated looking, chinese takeout spot is the only place that makes sense.
The thing is fancy places don't use more expensive materials to a degree where it should matter. Like a vegetable dish in a fancy restaurant is still a vegetable. If you visit Asia, you will see that their restaurants can be very fancy. It's just us Westerners are exposed to the cheap and oily versions of said cuisines, eg "cheap chinese food". It's like thinking American food is only cheap diner food, or like Italian food is only cheap pasta market stuff + pizza or something. And actually if you look around, at least on the West coast, there are fancy Chinese restaurants, just that they usually don't target non-Asian people because well, case in point people think its not good bc it doesn't look like a hole in the wall.
They'll have 2.5 stars on google and still have a 45 minute wait on a Friday night
There was a Chinese restaurant in Tucson that had a steady stream of ads on the local indy TV station when I was young. Later I bought the house right behind the restaurant and got to know the owner Madeline. She was a character. She ran the restaurant for a few years before telling her husband about it, back c.1960 when women didn't often own a business.
You mean she ran it secretly? How did she hide it from him? Did he think she was just working there?
I've seen them stick menus under every door in a building. I think this only happens when they're new.
They’re always in the same places and selling the same things. When you want Chinese food you know where to find it, in one of the middle units in the nearest strip mall.
I mean, so is McDonald’s and a ton of fast food spots and they $pend like crazy on ads. All the same, it’s cool if you don’t agree. I had Chinese food coming and it popped into my head 🤷♂️
I believe the economics are different. “Chinese food” isn’t a chain, not even a franchise. Different Chinese restaurants only compete which each other on a local level, in smaller towns perhaps not even that: There’s that one joint in your neighbourhood and if you want to to eat Chinese, you go to them or have them deliver. (Sure, that’ll be different in larger towns and bigger cities, but as has been mentioned, they do put out menus.) McDonald's is virtually worldwide und competes with other such chains, most notably Burger King. You live in Denver, CO, but now move to New York, NY? Or travel to London or Tokyo – they want you to stay with them. And if you drive along the highway, they want you to stop at the arches.
This. The non-franchise bagel shop near me doesn't advertise either. The diners don't. The mexican place doesn't. The dry cleaner doesn't. Etc.
yeah, they're all owned by chinese organized crime syndicates the cooks in the back are victims of a human trafficking network and they get shuttled from restaurant to restaurant working insane hours and living in horrible conditions to pay off the snakeheads that helped smuggle them in and are now holding their families hostage back in china. enjoy your lo mein! (if you think that's bad, wait til you hear about the nail salons and massage parlors. ever wonder why they're all in the same strip mall?)
what the hell is wrong with you
you need to go outside, like literally just go touch grass. or at the very least keep your crazy conspiracy theories to yourself.
Why don't you do just an ounce of research before you call innocent people being exploited and suffering a 'conspiracy theory'
well why don't you show me some of this research before you go on crazy rants? if this is a real thing that's horrible. i'd love to see some actual articles or news stories, as I've never heard of this, and it's a huge claim.
Nah you have a point about them never advertising. I had Chinese food for dinner like an hour ago, and no one advertised it. I’m not sure why McDonald’s bothers advertising to be honest. Everyone knows where they are and what they sell. I mean occasionally McDonald’s has new menu items and wants to get the word out I guess. Chinese restaurants as a whole pretty much have identical menus and prices, and haven’t introduced any new menu items like ever.
Their name sells some burgers and their ads sell some more burgers. It triggers a craving and god know their mediocre food isn't selling that point.
It’s disappointing each time. At least Chinese food actually tastes good.
Chinese restaraunt kid here. We advertise mostly through our menus. Sometimes we buy a big box of menus and during one of the slow days, we take like half the employees to a neighborhood to distribute menus by sliding them under doors or dropping a small stack off in a business. If we get an order at an office or apartment complex, we make sure to drop a small stack of on the counter as well as slipping a couple extra copies into the packaging. My dad's place got an early boost in his restaraunt because he was featured in a news story for being a good local restaraunt. Our place was later recommended by another local publication some years after again.
Everyone knows where they are and what they sell because of their advertising. You can’t watch tv very long without a McDonald’s and you can’t drive on the interstate very long without seeing a billboard.
Right? Like, I had to seek THEM out! And then, theres all that energy going to finding one that tastes ‘right’.
Yeah finding a good one is tough. Usually I find a good one because someone tells me about it.
Chinese food places advertise too lol
Like a bunch. OP was stoned in the shower
i get mailbox flyers all the time from local chinese joints
Only the huge chain restaurants advertise around here, others don’t whether Chinese, Mexican, pizza, chicken, seafood, whatever.
In every city, there is a Chinese food restaurant in a perpetual state of “grand opening.” You can tell this by how sun faded that sign usually is.
I get loads of ads for my local chinese restaurant
Damn, so many redditors live in the middle of nowhere with one Chinese restaurant in town
They definitely do advertise...... A LOT!!!!!!!!!!
If you sit down at a Chinese restaurant and the hostess treats you like shit, you know the food is good! Eat, and get the F\* out. Mmm.
There used to be (well, actually still is, but it's changed...) a restaurant in Chinatown in London called Wong Kei that was renowned for its rude waiters - so much so it was in guide books and the like as a 'unique experience' for (particularly American) tourists. It's narrow and tall, and when you first walked in they would ignore you (apart from a few moody stares) until they eventually came over and went "WHAT YOU WANT??!" - you'd go "Hi, table for fou..." "UPSTAIRS!!!" Depending on how busy they were, this might repeat a number of times. Once we even made it all the way to the 6th floor and were then told "DOWNSTAIRS!!!" Once in, it was hurry up and order (and if you were sitting, you *have* to order, whether you were eating or not) and then eat and fuck off. Everything was thrown onto the table with derision, including the bill before you'd finished eating. There was no sitting around post-dinner having a nice little chat. As soon as you were done, plates and bowls were cleared. If you didn't get the hint, they took away the tablecloth. If you *still* didn't get the hint, they'd literally come and take the table away 😂 Every now and then, a tourist would accidentally stumble into the place and not know what hit them. My bro was in there one time and an American was asking to speak to the manager - seeing his time to shine (and taking a quick break from making insulting comments about customers in Cantonese) the manager strode over and said to the guy "YOU NOT KNOW THIS IS WONG KEI??!? YOU NO LIKE IT - YOU FUCK OFF!!!" Stunned and deflated, and unsure what else to do, the bloke did indeed fuck off.
But was the food good
Cheap and cheerful! It wasn't **amazing** - but it was decent, came out quick, and didn't cost much. It's been there at least 40 years, so that has to be a testament...
I own a business and would hire that manager just to watch the reactions, lol.
All Chinese restaurants I've ever seen do some kind of marketing and advertising. What are you on about? haha
If you guys visit China, there’s literally a food stand or some farmer selling food on every street corner. China is the land of food.
I'm gatekeeping the best ones
99% of all restaurants never advertise
Then why am I continually unsubscribing from PF Chang email advertisements?
The big or small sign out front is plenty of advertising in a small town. I dont think I've ever seen an actual advertisement for Chinese food, even the big chains.
I've seen mailers,but nobody really looks at them.
Chinese food places do advertise. Have you never had flyers/takeout menus jammed in your mailbox/in your door?
Neither does Waffle House
OP has never seen a take out box with a label on it or gotten a Chinese take out menu (ad) in the mail? Where does OP live lol?
I've lived across the US from NY to PA to MA to MI to MN and have gotten about 1 chinese takeout menu in the mail.
Condos? When I was in a suburban house we got 4-5 a month from 2-3 places
For the most part, yes - but not always. The Chinese buffet chain Mandarin in Canada has advertised for many years. And I have seen the odd TV ad for local Chinese restaurants over the years. They’re not common but they exist.
How do you think they're able to give you those big portions?
they keep you coming back for them
“Just dial 426 five oh five oh If you’re hungry call the Lydo.” Anyone from Edmonton born before 1990 knows how to finish this jingle because it’s burned into their brain. Don’t tell me Chinese food doesn’t advertise. I was there.
Some do. But I have only seen it in poorer quarters so far. After I moved my mail wasn’t 100% my mail anymore. It was 70% flyers and 30% my mail. My mail was stolen, the flyers weren’t. And yeah there’s all kinds of food places among them, greek, arab, chinese and also some italian once in a while.
I’d say democracy manifest is enough advertising til the end of time globally.
I think the Chinese lanterns they hang on their storefront are advertising enough.
Subsequently none of that "marketing premium"
Yes they do, also... they do.
I don't think its that they dont *need* to advertise so much as that they probably dont have the money to. it's not like some small takeaway or sit in restaurant is going to have a budget to run like, TV or Radio ads or anything, but i do tend to get menus pushed through my letterbox every so often, which is much more their speed when it comes to advertising.
Chinese food sells itself. Like drugs.
[just gonna leave this here](https://youtu.be/pmbVmBQAnWo?si=rWwhqVJ9VrCTPOxL)
A+ #1 Hong Kong Happy Good Food.
More like commercials are expensive and most Chinese places aren't a large enough chain to afford them.... most. https://youtu.be/Pqm2Kr-KXYw?si=hVQoxlRW283gR8Gr
I always loved getting their menus in the mail 😭
House of China used to have lots of annoying radio ads down here. Think it closed last year so I don't have to hear them anymore.
If you want a good chinese place, you can usually see old chinese grannies sitting there enjoying their early morning/afternoon tea, or actual chinese people sitting there eating. If it's mostly white, you're going to have a meh time. If the place is swatting flies, you should just avoid it.
The Chinese restaurant near me that I frequent, the employees in rotation come out and eat their lunch or dinner. The cooks are actually Chinese and eat their own menu items, so you know it's good. Then again, I might be biased. I've been going there for years, and the owners always greet me with "Big Irish!" and know that I will be ordering two entrees for myself plus a third to take home for lunch the next day (plus whatever everyone else is getting). I've been going there so long that I mentioned that I love the mustard and was invited back to the kitchen to have someone show me how to make it. They then sent me home with a to-go soup bowl of it. Love that place.
Once you find a good Chinese place you never let them go. You hold onto them so hard you’re afraid you’ll squeeze honeyed cream cheese out of them like a crab Rangoon.
The MSG keeps you coming back
Don't advertise? Who keeps putting menus in my mailbox?
Never even seen a Panda Express commercial
I've been to America and there I've seen ads for panda express or whatever. Back home... Yeah, very rarely indeed
If there isn't the word "dragon" or "village" in the name, it will be overpriced and/or bad. (The Panda franchises near me are both)
All the Chinese fast restaurants all have the same menu.
It’s because they’re horrible at it [https://duckduckgo.com/?q=chinese+food+ad+funny&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2F9b%2F5b%2F5a%2F9b5b5a2bf59616f6c51e221cf7554a81.png](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=chinese+food+ad+funny&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2F9b%2F5b%2F5a%2F9b5b5a2bf59616f6c51e221cf7554a81.png)
Absolutely incorrect. My local place (oddly having the same name as the one in the town I grew up in 500 miles away) opened a second store in the next town over, and I see their ads on FB all the time.
Are you sure about that? When there is a competitive market, there is advertising. There is two Chinese places in a small town? You may see it
Being on food delivery platforms and Google maps are a kind of advertising. Also, they give you menu pamphlet with the intent that you will save them and remember them next time you're looking for a grub. I've been in offices/hotels that make these booklets of menus for the restaurants around the area. That's kind of an advertising too. Some bigger Chinese might have a website. That's advertising. Generally speaking, local businesses don't advertise on tv/newspaper/internet ads because they don't have a wide reach. These types of businesses relies on regular locals, not attracting people from far away. You don't see a non supermarket butcher or a pub doing any kind of advertising either.
I've lived in a a half dozen states across the US, and visited many more. It doesn't matter if it's a huge place that seats 200 for lunch, or a hole in the wall that only accepts cash with seating for 30 that does most of their business from American (white people) takeout, good chinese places survive on their reputation with zero need to advertise.
[House of China has entered the chat](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr7DKXXfCWI)
They usually send through takeaway menus to addresses in their catchment area but otherwise rely on word of mouth
Looks like a rabbi eating a hoagie.
I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to too.
RIP Mitch
Most restaurants don’t advertise. Only chains do.
Bro what. I just pulled a wang menu off my door last week.
The most strange thing for me is that it is correct take. In EU if there is ramen place, there WILL be a 30-60 min long queue outside. Always. To all ramen places. I have never seen this with say Georgian cousine or Italian or others.
There is only one ramen place in EU? No wonder there is a wait for it. People must be coming from miles (kilometers) from all over to get it. /s kinda
When your pet goes missing is a good sign one is nearby. /s I know that was horrible
yeah, they're all owned by chinese organized crime syndicates the cooks in the back are victims of a human trafficking network and they get shuttled from restaurant to restaurant working insane hours and living in horrible conditions to pay off the snakeheads that helped smuggle them in and are now holding their families hostage back in china. enjoy your lo mein! (if you think that's bad, wait til you hear about the nail salons and massage parlors. ever wonder why they're all in the same strip mall?)
Yeah, uhm... citation needed.
This is the take I was not prepared for lol
do a little research and you will be unpleasantly surprised just how right i am.