Author: William Tang (Vice President of Arizona Chinese History Association)
Translator: Ella Wu
Jiang Sunyun is known as the Queen of Chinese food in the United States and rightfully so. In the 1960s, she opened the Mandarin, a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco where she launched a culinary excursion of authentic Chinese food famous in the United States.
By 1975, business was booming. Jiang expanded the Mandarin to Beverly Hills where it attracted Hollywood stars, politicians, and multitudes of other celebrities craving her authentic Chinese food.
Cecilia Chiang’s son Philip Chiang, though raised in his family’s business surrounded by cooking and restaurant management, strayed onto a different path: art and design. Unfortunately, Chiang’s income was unstable in the art field, so he climbed back onto his family’s path and opened a restaurant of his own called the Mandarinette. Since the English name of 福禄寿 is the Mandarin, then the Mandarinette is known as “The Little Mandarin.” It happened that one brand of orange juice was named Mandarinette.
Mother and son smile for a photo. Cecilia Chiang (front) and Jiang Yifan (back).
To Dine at the Mandarinette, one does not need to dress for formality. The restaurant is homey and welcoming with simple, delicious dishes and low prices which are suitable for younger guests and single diners.
American restaurant giant Paul Fleming, who kickstarted several successful restaurant chains of his own, was a regular customer at the Mandarinette. Jiang Yifan and Fleming hit it off immediately and even struck up conversations with big ideas to start a Chinese restaurant chain together with a handshake.
Paul Fleming
In 1993, these dreams became reality. Fleming and Chiang co-founded P.F. Chang’s, an American-Chinese restaurant. The name of the restaurant incorporated both men’s names, with “P. F.” for Paul Fleming’s initials and Chang, which is Chiang without it to become the Wade-Giles transliteration of Zhang, the third largest family name of the Chinese.
P.F. Chang’s China Bistro is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Philip Chiang
The entrance of P.F. Chang’s (photo by Michael Rivera)
P. F. Chang’s quickly rose to success with an annual turnover of more than four million dollars. It also won the Best Local Chinese Restaurant award as well as the Best New Restaurant award. Soon after, three more branches were opened across southern California.
The company went public in 1998, and in 2012, Centerbridge Partners acquired it for 1.1 billion dollars. After going private once again, ownership was later transferred to ConAgra Foods Inc. in the same year.
The bistro’s menu is online, but some of the most significant and popular dishes are listed below.
Appetizers: lettuce wraps, grilled pork chops, delicious shrimp, small platters: pork or shrimp dumplings (4 pieces), crab ravioli (4 pieces), vegetable spring rolls (2 pieces), Japanese edamame.
Do-it-yourself lettuce wraps
Delicious shrimp
Dumpling platter
Dim Sum: Pork Dumplings, Shrimp Dumplings, Pork Spring Rolls, Crab Meat Wontons.
Dumplings
Main dishes: Korean BBQ steak, spicy chicken, Mongolian beef, Peking duck, eggplant with spring onion, sesame chicken, shrimp lobster paste, kale chicken, mapo tofu.
Mongolian beef dish
Roasted Peking Duck
Sesame chicken dish
Spicy chicken dish
Desserts: Chocolate Great Wall, Chocolate Souffle, Banana Spring Rolls, Baked Alaska.
The secret of Huaguan’s success lies in the combination of its comfortable, elegant ambience, high-quality service, fusion of Chinese and western tastes, and affordable prices. Not only that; P. F. Chang’s also expanded to include dishes from all over Asia, including Thailand, Japan, Korea, and Malaysia.
The Bistro completely transformed the conventional Chinese restaurant business model by straying away from serving only main dishes. P. F. Chang’s serves a bar-worthy selection of wines and beverages, western cocktails, and fruit nectar as well as a delectable selection of western and Chinese desserts.
Gourmet Henry Lin said, “P. F. Chang’s is one of my favorite and frequent restaurants, whether in Chicago, Connecticut, or Phoenix. Besides delicious food they serve all kinds of beverages.They provide clean and elegant environment and professional service. These are important reasons.”
The restaurant is nothing like its counterparts. P. F. Chang’s offers a valet parking service to get you comfortably parked and accommodated. Either outside or inside the restaurant stands a statue of a tall white horse. Upon entry, statues of Qin soldiers imitating the Terracotta Warriors welcome the guests. The interior decoration of the establishment is equally exquisite with murals of ancient Chinese ladies and vigorous Chinese calligraphy on the walls. The diner provides an illusory feeling of traveling back in time to Ancient China.
The author of this article stands next to the statue of the white horse at a P. F. Chang’s in Tempe, Arizona.
The author of the article stands next to a mural at the same P. F. Chang’s in Tempe, Arizona.
TriArtisan Capital and Paulson & Co. acquired the P. F. Chang’s restaurant chain from Centerbridge Partners on March 2, 2019. While the specific terms of the deal were not disclosed, Bloomberg News reported that it was worth nearly $700 million [3, 4, 5].
Since then, P. F. Chang’s transformed itself once again to cater to the appetite of its ever-expanding customer pool. The Bistro now offers take-out, delivery, and catering services in various supermarkets [6]. As of May 2021, P. F. Chang’s has 218 chain stores in more than 30 states in the United States and 90 franchise locations in 24 countries/regions [5] covering the United States, Aruba, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Turkey, Lebanon, the Philippines, South Korea, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, United Kingdom and China.
CEO Damola Adamolekun said in an interview with Bloomberg Radio in June that the company is making early plans to be listed again [5].
Thanks to P. F. Chang’s, love for Chinese cuisine has been reinvigorated all throughout the world.
Abstract
P. F. Chang’s China Bistro is an American-based, Asian-themed dining restaurant chain founded in 1993 by Paul Fleming and Philip Chiang. P. F. Chang’s is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The chain specializes in American Chinese cuisine, plus other Asian dishes. As of May 2021, P.F. Chang’s operates 218 locations in the United States and more than 100 in international markets under license agreements.
Special items on their menu include their Chang’s Lettuce Wraps, Chang’s Spicy Chicken, Peking Duck, and various types of sushi. Wine, speciality drinks, Asian beers,sake, cappuccino, and espresso are available outside standard beverage offerings.
References:
- P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Inc. 2010.
- Rusli, Evelyn M. (May 1, 2012). “Centerbridge Buys P.F. Chang’s for $1.1 Billion”. The New York Times.
- “Treasury, SBA data show small-business loans went to private-equity backed chains, members of Congress”. The Washington Post. 2020.
- Ruggless, Ron (January 15, 2020). “P.F. Chang’s to open first of several To Go locations in Chicago”. Nations Restaurant News.
- Gillian Tan, Crystal Tse, and Kiel Porter. PF Chang’s Is in Early Planning for Initial Public Offering. July 22, 2021, 4:35 PM CDT
- Julie Littman. P.F. Chang’s considering IPO, Bloomberg reports. July 23, 2021. https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/pf-changs-considering-ipo-bloomberg-reports/603857/
