Beloved Boston Chinatown Restaurant Closes Due to Pandemic

Although taking a break from her business was one of the reasons she decided to close China King, Huang said the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic also played a major role, according to Boston.com.

The restaurant opened in 2012, serves traditional Northern Chinese cuisine with food from Shanghai to Beijing at competitive prices.

“The past months, [there’s been] no business,” Huang said. “It’s empty. Every day there’s not enough business in Chinatown. So I just wanted to sell [China King] and take a break and take time.”

Huang also opened a restaurant in the neighborhood with her husband, Erwin Mei, in 1976 called King Fung Garden, according to one of their Instagram posts. Since opening up that first restaurant, Huang has been delivering delicious food ever since.

“Ever since then, she’s refused to hang up the apron and still serves fresh, delicious food year-round,” a Facebook biography explains.

Although this is goodbye, for now, Huang said she might consider opening up a restaurant again in the South End or Cambridge.

China King, famous for staples including dumplings, chow mein and Peking duck, is still in operation until the end of December, but Huang said she’s already missing her regulars at the restaurant.

Many Chinese restaurants and businesses throughout the country have been suffering from low sales since the beginning of the pandemic. America’s oldest running Chinese restaurant, Pekin Noodle Parlor, was also hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and forced to come up with a new business model to stay afloat.

Feature Image via Facebook