30 min

How American Chinese Food Became Delivery Food Dish City

    • Food

On a cold November night in 1976, a New York City restaurateur named Misa Chang started sliding delivery menus under her neighbors’ doors for her Chinese restaurant in Manhattan. Chang wasn’t the first to offer delivery, but when delivery gained traction in U.S. cities, Chinese restaurants were often the first to do it. As dishes like chop suey and General Tso's chicken became part of American food culture, Americans’ feelings toward the Chinese Americans who made the food (and delivered it) remained stuck in the past. And now, as demand for delivery increases, many American Chinese restaurants are closing. Is delivery the key to survival?

Read a transcript of this episode at dishcity.org.
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @dishcity.
Leave us a tip at wamu.org/supportdishcity.
Email us your favorite delivery order at dishcity@wamu.org.

On a cold November night in 1976, a New York City restaurateur named Misa Chang started sliding delivery menus under her neighbors’ doors for her Chinese restaurant in Manhattan. Chang wasn’t the first to offer delivery, but when delivery gained traction in U.S. cities, Chinese restaurants were often the first to do it. As dishes like chop suey and General Tso's chicken became part of American food culture, Americans’ feelings toward the Chinese Americans who made the food (and delivered it) remained stuck in the past. And now, as demand for delivery increases, many American Chinese restaurants are closing. Is delivery the key to survival?

Read a transcript of this episode at dishcity.org.
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram: @dishcity.
Leave us a tip at wamu.org/supportdishcity.
Email us your favorite delivery order at dishcity@wamu.org.

30 min

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