Fu Manchu Restaurant closes its doors tonight
after 71 years
By EVAN S. BENN
It's fitting that Fu Manchu
Chinese restaurant in Miami Beach was named after a fictional
character who defied nature by staying strong and healthy no
matter how old he got.
After 71 years, three ownership
changes and hundreds of thousands of egg foo yong servings, Fu
Manchu, the iconic restaurant bathed in red and green neon at 325
71st St., will close its doors for the last time at 10:30 tonight.
''Everyone who walks through that
door is family to us,'' said Lucy Yee, who has owned Fu Manchu
since 1971 with her husband, Julius, and another couple, Jesus and
Vicky Li. ``That is the saddest part, saying goodbye, because
there are a lot of memories in these walls.''
The Beach's second-oldest
restaurant -- only Joe's Stone Crab has been around longer -- Fu
Manchu survived hurricanes, the Depression and sky-high rent
increases.
Celebrities came in the 1950s and
'60s, writing their names in gold paint on the backs of chairs
that remain today. That idea belonged to Al Goldman, the original
owner who opened Fu Manchu on 41st Street before moving it north
30 blocks.
The Lis and Yees kept the original
soul of the place when they bought it 35 years ago. They kept the
Buddha figurines and pictures of the restaurant's namesake, Dr. Fu
Manchu, and they repainted the colorful wall murals.
They also kept the same menu but
added fried plantains to the appetizer options.
Julius Yee, 68, and Jesus Li, 70,
handled the kitchen duties while their wives ran the dining room.
Every day, except for Thanksgiving, the four would get to the
restaurant at 10:30 a.m. to prepare for the noon opening. They
were lucky if they could go home before midnight.
''Thirty-five years in that fire,
it gets exhausting,'' Vicky Li said from the kitchen, watching her
husband stir chicken slices in a three-foot-wide wok.
The Lis and Yees plan on staying
in Miami and enjoying retirement with their children and
grandchildren.
The couples, who came to Miami
after moving from China to Cuba to Spain, tried to find someone to
buy the restaurant, or even someone they could teach to cook who
would then take control.
Lucy Yee wiped tears from her
cheeks when she talked about her faded hope that Fu Manchu would
make it to its 100th anniversary.
''There are a lot of children here
whose grandparents used to eat here,'' Yee said. ``We tried to
leave the doors open for one more generation. We did the best we
could. But it couldn't be. This is what really hurts.''
On Wednesday, residents dropped by
for one last taste of their favorite chicken wings or shrimp fried
rice.
Some came in to say thanks and hug
the Yees and Lis. One snowbird called from his summer home in New
Jersey, asking if the rumor he heard about Fu Manchu closing was
true.
Tanya Hall remembered Fu Manchu's
spare ribs from her childhood. Although she hasn't visited the
restaurant in some time, nostalgia drove her to pick up a large
take-out order on her way home to Miramar on Wednesday.
''My dad used to bring us here as
a treat,'' Hall said. ``I'm going to surprise my mom and bring it
to her.''
Regulars like Jussara Quinan say
they'll miss the way Fu Manchu's staff made them feel like family.
''When I'm here, they know exactly
what I like,'' said Quinan, of Miami, who ate a pepper steak for
lunch Wednesday with her son Kajlil, 16. ``I like my wonton soup
with a lot of pork and a lot of scallion, but I don't even need to
ask them. They just know.''
With 71 years of history, almost
everything in Fu Manchu has a story behind it.
Lucy Yee smiles when she thinks
about the time in the late 1980s when she argued with Miami Beach
commissioners to let her keep the restaurant's bright neon glowing
outside. They did.
Chris Castrataro, the restaurant's
longtime delivery driver, thinks about the thousands of orders he
has delivered since he showed up at the restaurant in 1976 with a
Volkswagen Beetle and a new driver's license, looking for a job.
His dad worked there, too, making deliveries from 1980 to 2000.
Castrataro says his fondest memory
was the day he spotted Susie, the pretty new hostess standing
behind the front counter. That was in 1986. Chris and Susie
Castrataro have been married ever since.
Said Yee: ``It's memories like
that that make me know the spirit here will continue, even if we
are not selling food anymore.''
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