À la carte

60. Hong Far Low Boston  1902.jpg

Creator

Hong Far Low

Title

À la carte

Coverage

Boston

Date

ca. 1902

Description

The caption under the cover photo reads: “The first man in Boston who made chop suey in 1879.” Still, it was not until the early twentieth century that Chinese restaurateurs widely promoted modified Chinese cuisine as a way of attracting more customers to their establishments. Chop suey, which roughly translated to “odds and ends,” was the most successful adaptation. Chinese-American restaurants also began to offer a few Western foods, such as the stuffed olives, bread and butter, and chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry cake on this menu. Within a year or two, Hong Far Low added French fries to its bill of fare. By the 1920s, Chinese restaurateurs devoted fully half of their large menus to “American dishes.”