The Fall River chow mein sandwich was restored to its former glory. Six months later, the Oriental Chow Mein Company was back in business.
Restaurants reported they were losing business because they had to buy their chow mein noodles from Boston and New York. People stopped her on the street wanting to know when the noodles would be back. She got so many calls she disconnected her business phone. When a fire in 2009 destroyed the factory on Eighth Street, Barbara Wong was besieged by customers wanting to know if she would rebuild. It is the only company that makes chow mein noodles in the region. Then Barbara joined the business with her brothers-in-law and became the gregarious, well-loved face of the Oriental Chow Mein Company, greeting customers with hugs. Albert took over from his father, churning out Hoo-Mee chow mein noodles until his death in the 1990s. She also married into the family business. “I thought it was great,” she said.īarbara married Albert in 1953. It was the early 1950s when Albert brought Barbara to see the family business. They were a part of the Fall River school lunch menu well into the 1990s. Popular chef Emeril Lagasse, who also grew up in Fall River, has expressed his love for the chow mein sandwich. So did the need for cheap and filling food in a city that never recovered from the Great Depression.įall River native Elise Johnson remembers the staple meal: chow mein sandwich, French fries and an orange soda. The distinctive crunch and flavor of the Hoo-Mee chow mein noodles ensured the chow mein sandwich would remain a favorite in the Fall River area long after it faded elsewhere. The timing was perfect: In 1942 chow mein was added to the U.S. But just before World War II, he started to package the crunchy chow mein noodles and a packet of gravy in bright yellow boxes under the Hoo-Mee brand name. At first he sold only to local restaurants. From there he made chow mein mix, crispy noodles and bean sprouts. He opened the the Oriental Chow Mein Company in the brick building on Eighth Street in 1938. After 10 years in the restaurant business, he knew what appealed to local tastes: chow mein, with its soft vegetables in a brown sauce that resembled Yankee cooking. Like most Chinese immigrant cooks, Frederick Wong tailored his food to the taste of the area’s population. The Fall River textile mills employed a large immigrant population, mostly from Quebec, Ireland and England. He spent the next 10 years frying noodles in the back of the restaurant, saving to start his own business. Frederick decided he’d rather go into the restaurant business.
He stopped in Fall River to visit an uncle who owned the Hong Kong Restaurant. He brought her to the brick factory on Eighth Street in Fall River.Īlbert’s father Frederick Wong had left Canton, China, in 1926 to study at Salem State University. Five years after her arrival, Barbara met Albert Wong, the son of the owner of the Oriental Chow Mein Company. You can’t have a Fall River chow mein sandwich without this.īarbara Wong came to Fall River to reunite with her father, who she only knew through letters.
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