Hung Far Low (restaurant)

Hung Far Low was a Chinese restaurant in Portland, Oregon's Old Town Chinatown neighborhood, in the United States.

Hung Far Low
The building which housed the original restaurant and its restored signage in 2016
Restaurant information
Established1928 (1928)
Closed2015 (2015)
Food typeChinese
Street address
  • 112 Northwest 4th Avenue (1928–2005)
  • 2410 Southeast 82nd Avenue (2005–2015)
CityPortland, Oregon
CountyMultnomah
StateOregon
CountryUnited States

History

The Chinese restaurant Hung Far Low, which means "red flower restaurant" in Cantonese or "almond blossom fragrance" in the Taishanese dialect,[1][2][3][4] was established in 1928 and housed in a building completed in 1916.[1][5] Located at 112 Northwest 4th Avenue in Portland's Old Town Chinatown neighborhood, the restaurant was owned by Wong On and open from lunch to early morning.[3][6] In 1938, the restaurant's proprietor, Jack Wong, purchased the building from the Stubbs family. According to the National Park Service, the Wong family still owns the building today.[1] In her 2013 book Walking Portland: 30 Tours of Stumptown's Funky Neighborhoods, Historic Landmarks, Park Trails, Farmers Markets, and Brewpubs, Becky Ohlsen said of the restaurant: "Dedicated barflies adored Hung Far Low for the minuscule corner bar, dark as night, with its tiny, cheap, and powerful drinks, impassive bartenders, glowing Buddha statue, and perilously long, narrow staircase that led up from the street."[7]

In 2005,[8] the restaurant relocated to 2410 Southeast 82nd Avenue,[9] at the intersection of 82nd Avenue and Division Street in the Montavilla neighborhood, because of the Portland Development Commission's urban renewal plans, construction interferences, and increasing rent costs.[5][10][11] Sarah Mirk and Denis Theriault of The Portland Mercury said the restaurant "[occupied] a squat building with a large parking lot and a bland rectangular sign within view of two other Chinese restaurants and two Asian markets".[10] Hung Far Low was open from 11am to 11pm, Sunday through Thursday, and from 11am to 11:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Happy hour was available from 1–4pm, Monday through Friday.[9] The restaurant closed in 2015.[11][12]

American chemist Kenneth Koe washed dishes at Hung Far Low while attending Reed College.[13][14]

Sign
The restaurant's renovated sign in 2011

The restaurant erected a large advertisement, which became known as the "Hung Far Low sign" (or the "Chop Suey Hung Far Low Cocktails" sign, based on its displayed text),[1] as early as 1928.[2][10] The two-story, 2,000-pound (910 kg) sign and its supports were severely damaged by the 2000s.[5] In 2008, the display was removed during building renovations and for safety reasons,[15] and put into storage at a sign repository in Scappoose, Oregon.[1][2][10] Local residents organized a campaign to save the advertisement, and Kurt Huffman and Andy Ricker, the restaurateurs who opened Ping when Hung Far Low relocated,[10] worked to keep the sign because of its popularity.[5]

In 2010, Security Signs restored the sign, which now hangs at the intersection of Northwest Fourth Avenue and Couch Street.[5] The restoration cost $77,000 (equivalent to $90,000 in 2019), $45,000 of which was paid for by the Portland Development Commission.[5][10] An additional $8,600 was raised from T-shirt sales and other fundraisers,[10][15] and the Old Town Chinatown Business Association and neighborhood businesses also supported renovation efforts.[1] The neon sign's pagoda top and bottom half were salvaged, and the rest of the structure was crafted from aluminum. The pieces were welded together, sanded, then covered with a zinc-based primer and multiple layers of acrylic polyurethane paint. The sign's treatment has an estimated lifespan of 50 years.[5]

Huffman unveiled the restored advertisement at a dedication ceremony on September 2, 2010,[2][8][10] during the "First Thursday" art series.[15] The event was attended by Bruce Wong, whose grandfather erected the sign. Reporting on the display's rededication, Mirk and Theriault wrote, "... for all the talk of history on Thursday—very personal history for the Wong family—it was also clear that the sign doesn't really represent Chinatown anymore. If anything, it represents how Portland's official Chinatown has become home to few Chinese citizens or businesses."[10] Daily Journal of Commerce's Daniel Savickas wrote, "Earlier this month the Portland Development Commission spent $45,000 in grant money to restore and re-hang the Hung Far Low sign. Yes, the sign is fun, but it's not $45,000 fun. For $45,000, the sign needs to pour me free drinks and tell me jokes."[16]

The sign has been called a "Classic Chinese gaffe", an icon,[17] and "unforgettable", as well as a "conversation piece, a landmark, and a testament to Chinese-American history".[2][18] It has been included in at least one published walking tour of Old Town Chinatown.[7]

See also

References
  1. "Portland New Chinatown/Japantown Historic District: Portland, Oregon". National Park Service (United States Department of the Interior). Archived from the original on January 6, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  2. Adams, Anne (September 2, 2010). ""Hung Far Low" Sign Returns!". Portland Monthly. ISSN 1546-2765. Archived from the original on September 15, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  3. Anderson, Heather Arndt (November 13, 2014). Portland: A Food Biography. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 129. ISBN 9781442227392. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  4. Jung, John (2010). Sweet and Sour: Life in Chinese Family Restaurants. pp. 51–52. ISBN 9780615345451. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  5. Griffin, Anna (August 17, 2010). "Restoration of Portland's Hung Far Low sign done with painstaking detail". The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon: Advance Publications. ISSN 8750-1317. Archived from the original on October 20, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  6. Bottenberg, Ray; Bottenberg, Jeanna (2008). Vanishing Portland. Arcadia Publishing. p. 36. ISBN 9780738558301. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  7. Ohlsen, Becky (April 9, 2013). Walking Portland: 30 Tours of Stumptown's Funky Neighborhoods, Historic Landmarks, Park Trails, Farmers Markets, and Brewpubs. Wilderness Press. p. 5. ISBN 9780899976815. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  8. Mirk, Sarah (September 3, 2010). "From 82nd Ave: New Chinatown at the Real Hung Far Low". The Portland Mercury. Index Publishing. Archived from the original on September 12, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  9. "Hung Far Low". The Portland Mercury. Archived from the original on January 6, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  10. Mirk, Sarah; Theriault, Denis C. (September 9, 2010). "Hung Far from Chinatown". The Portland Mercury. Archived from the original on September 20, 2015. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  11. Tsai, Mei. "Our Heritage, Our History Part 2: Portland Chinese-American Displacement and Migration". Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  12. "Hung Far Low Shutters its SE 82nd Street Location - Is it the end of an era?". Eater Portland. Vox Media. October 19, 2015. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
  13. Slovic, Beth (October 14, 2015). "Kenneth Koe, Portland's "Super Inventor" of Zoloft, Dies". Willamette Week. Portland, Oregon: City of Roses Newspapers. Archived from the original on January 9, 2017. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  14. "Breaking Depression's Icy Grip". Reed Magazine. Reed College. Winter 2009. Archived from the original on March 8, 2017. Retrieved January 8, 2017.
  15. Savickas, Daniel (August 18, 2010). "Hung Far Low sign soon to be rehung". Daily Journal of Commerce. Portland, Oregon: BridgeTower Media. Archived from the original on January 2, 2016. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  16. Savickas, Daniel (September 17, 2010). "Commentary: Are 'iconic' Portland signs a waste of money?". Daily Journal of Commerce. Archived from the original on November 19, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2017 – via HighBeam Research.
  17. Burningham, Lucy. "Portland day trip: Old Town Chinatown". Sunset. Oakland, California: Time Inc. ISSN 0039-5404.
  18. Anderson, John Gottberg (November 15, 2015). "New hotel heralds change in Portland's Old Town/Chinatown". The Bulletin. Bend, Oregon: Western Communications. Archived from the original on January 9, 2017. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
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