© 2026 NPR Illinois
For your right to be curious.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Click here to register to attend the This I Believe - Meet the Authors event Nov. 4, 6 PM at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. Free and open to the public.

The Chinese Restaurant in America

Chinese food has been a feature of American life since the 19th century. An exhibit in New York's Chinatown makes clear that the Chinese restaurant was an economic and social necessity for Chinese immigrants.

Cynthia Lee, curator of the exhibit at the Museum of Chinese in the Americas, takes Jacki Lyden on a tour.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Jacki Lyden
Jacki Lyden is a contributing host and correspondent on NPR.
Related Stories