The Peking Cafe announced their most popular dish to passersby via the neon sign mounted above the entrance: Chop Suey. As the North Park neighborhood transformed around their restaurant, The Fong family held fast to their local monument. The restaurant served Cantonese cuisine for three generations until they announced their closure in 2018 and served their final entree in March of 2019.
A recent permit filing revealed that an establishment by the name of Chop Suey Social Club will soon be entering the premises at 2877 University Ave., under new ownership. Details are being kept under wraps, but a real estate representative told What Now San Diego that the new business intends to open within the next two months.
The Fong family made their intentions clear in 2018: the Peking Cafe brand would come to a halt when they closed their doors for the final time. The purpose behind the closure was to allow the older generation of owners to retire, and the younger generation to pursue careers in different fields.
Jen Fong, granddaughter of the restaurant’s original founder Leo Fong, told the San Diego Union Tribune that the family decided not to sell the brand to a new owner when they closed.
“The restaurant should rest with those who created it,” Jen Fong told the Tribune in 2018.
The name Chop Suey is to be kept for historical purposes, the real estate representative explained; the Chop Suey Social Club’s menu and brand will be an original concept developed by the new ownership.
