Vee: The original restaurant was catchily named "AAAAAAA Chinese Food" and it was located in a dilapidated building right across from our apartment.
They never passed their health inspection, their menu was based solely on the whim of the chef, and sometimes there were mysterious bits of what appeared to be shoes in the chow mein - but god damnit I LOVED that place.
I don't care how many rats were swimming around in the wonton batter- every single thing I ever ordered from there was DELICIOUS.
(Actually, my second favorite place is the Rat Dumpling House in Chinatown, so maybe there's just something special about rodent excretions.)
At any rate, one day, AAAAAAAAAAAAA Chinese Food was suddenly gone. The building was gutted and built up brand new, shiny, and no longer leaning dangerously into oncoming traffic.
A few weeks later it opened up as a "pet project" for a local money bags who wanted to make the neighborhood more classy.
I wish I could punch her withered old face until it was young again.
Just looking at their hoity toity sign, and their fucking TEN DOLLAR GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH menu makes me boil with rage. It spits in the eye of everything AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Chinese Food stood for: community, frugality, and serving beer to underage kids from the technical school down the road.
Jaime: I used to love that Chinese Food Restaurant - the proprietor ran the place by himself, alongside his son, and knew me by name.
I had my regular order, and my seat right at the counter, and while he prepared the food he'd try to teach me Mandarin while I drank $2 glasses of cheap draft beer.
It was RIGHT across the street! I could pop my head in while I was walking the dog and tell him I'd be back in a few minutes, and by the time I got there the food would be waiting!
Now it's this pompous restaurant that sells simple comfort foods for ridiculously inflated prices, undoubtedly justified by it's list of local micro-brews and fancy interior design... obviously, I boycott it, and give it hateful looks every day as I walk by.
