Some years back I stopped at a small restaurant, the Wong Cafe, at Rice Street and Wheelock Parkway. It was a small operation in one of those buildings with a trademarked corporate design that you know was once a fast food restaurant (Pizza Hut, perhaps). Inside, however, was a family operation turning out some very tasty, if expectedly formulaic Chinese-American fare: chow mein, sweet and sour pork, Kung Pao chicken, that kind of thing.

What really captured my attention, however, were two framed menus hung on the wall. The menus, were from a Wong Cafe that had once been at 367 Selby Avenue. It turned out that the earlier cafe was the successor to the one on Rice street—that family had been local Saint Paul restauranteurs for a long time.

The menus were fascinating for what they say about food (and prices) at some earlier time, so I snapped a few photos. Unfortunately there were no dates on the menus, but I thought I might use them in a class at some point. Looking at the prices it seems that the Menu was from the 1930s-1940s, and seeing which years during that decade had April 17th fall on a Sunday, narrowed it to 1932, 1938 or 1949. I noticed that the April 17th menu had a soup called “Martha Washington” which was popular during the late 1930s, so I’m guessing that the menus might be from 1938.

Just look at those dishes! Chow mein and noodles to deliver (“to any part of the city”) or take out—sold in large quantities (“per gal.” and “enough for two”), of course. But to me, the interesting thing is that fried chicken was their specialty! The main “Sunday Dinner” was an all-day affair (11am-9pm) and included a soup, entree and dessert for fifty cents.

According this paywalled article in the Pioneer Press The Wong Cafe closed on April 2, 2017 after 94 years when Elsdon Lee, the grandson of the first owner retired.

Today I was going through some old folders and came upon these images, which I never did use in class. I thought, however, that they really need to be shared.