The Woodland City Council is poised to adopt a proclamation honoring Chicago Café as likely the oldest continuously operating Chinese restaurant in California and possibly even the United States.
A city staff report explained that the 411 Main St. restaurant has operated in Woodland since at least 1910 and has recently enjoyed a surge in notoriety due to UC Davis researchers making this finding.
The proclamation stated that the city values and celebrates its local restaurants that play an important role in the social, cultural and economic fabric of the community.
"Three generations of the Fong family have operated the Chicago Café and dedicated their time, effort and resources to the Woodland community," the proclamation emphasized. "The city of Woodland recognizes that the Chicago Café is an important symbol of Chinese-American resilience and culture."
The goal of the historical research project published in January was to document the diner's past and how such institutions reflect the Chinese American experience.
"Owned by three generations of the Fong family, the café has operated at least since 1910, according to the UC Davis research, or 1903, according to the Fongs and some tantalizing yet unverifiable mentions elsewhere," the UC Davis website stated.
The website explained that the students researching the restaurant in the Yolo County archives, other libraries, online and through interviews could not nail down the 1903 date because city directories of the day excluded Asian-owned businesses.
"The paper details how a 'racist federal immigration regime' kept Chinese immigrants from becoming citizens or outright banned them from immigrating," the website highlighted. "Yet Chinese restaurants, conversely, also offered a 'rare economic lifeline.'"
To read more from the study uncovering Chicago Café as likely the oldest Chinese restaurant in the country, visit papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4493301.
Public comments can be submitted prior to the Tuesday council meeting to CouncilMeetings@cityofwoodland.gov. Written comments received at least two hours prior to the scheduled start time of the meeting will be provided to the council and posted to the city website as part of the official record of the meeting but will not be read into the record.
For more information on how to comment and to view the agenda, visit cityofwoodland.gov/654/Meetings-Agendas.
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