Houston Foodie Starts Community Group to Save the City’s Chinatown

Coronavirus has forced restaurants across the world to shut their doors, and Chinatowns have been hit particularly hard. With the rise of Asian hate and anti-Asian violence motivated by racist misperceptions of COVID-19’s origin, research showed Asian-owned businesses saw the biggest decline in working business owners through the end of 2020.

Data from Yelp displayed how customer interest levels for restaurants, bars, and retailers in Chinatowns of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Houston, and Chicago trailed behind those of their greater metropolitan areas.

Chow Down in Chinatown was a group created on Facebook to help Asian restaurants in the Houston area fight the stigma and survive. Founder Stevie Vu wanted to build a safe space for others to acknowledge and recognize the humanity that exists within Houston’s Chinatown and garner a community that shares a love of Asian cuisine to help bridge a common bond among each other.

Yu is a Houston area food influencer who is also a part of Facebook’s Community Accelerator Program, an initiative designed to identify, mentor, and fund a cohort of groups and its selfless community leaders who are making a positive impact in their local communities.

The following is a thank you letter from Yu to those who dedicated their time and resources to help protect Houston’s Chinatown during the pandemic and what other Chinatown communities can do to future-proof precious enclaves.

Dear fellow foodies, 

It’s been an exhausting few months as we struggled to survive the pandemic and disprove misinformation around the AAPI Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. The damage caused by this misinformation has been physically and financially difficult for us, awakening a different kind of pain — one fueled with a hope for a new era of accountability and solidarity across other communities.

It’s not enough for aspiring allies to say “we see you” and “we hear you” anymore. These words must come with real actions. That’s why myself and a group of friends got together to create the Facebook group, Chow Down in Chinatown – Houston, which was founded upon this belief — with a mission to help raise awareness for local businesses that were significantly impacted throughout the COVID pandemic. 

Many Asian-American-owned restaurant owners have gone the extra mile to alleviate misplaced public concern, taking steps beyond health department requirements in hopes that if they did more, it would make potential patrons feel safe to dine with them. These efforts are often shared in our Chow Down community of over 18,300 members. We created this community to dispel false rumors with positive reinforcement, provide informative updates on safety protocols that restaurants integrated, and offer tips and insight on cultural cuisines others haven’t yet had the pleasure to enjoy. We also hope that by sharing information about our local Houston restaurants and images of mouth-watering dishes, it would assist our favorite restaurants — old and new — in expanding their reach.

At the beginning of the pandemic, we had asked members to share their experiences of Chinatown — in Houston and elsewhere. Whether it be stories about running around their family’s restaurant or socializing over boba and snacks with friends late into the night, we wanted to shine a light on these memories that were at risk and keep them alive by helping businesses remain open.

Chow Down has promoted several activities, like virtual “mukbang” fundraisers with proceeds going towards a Pay It Forward initiative for future diners and a photo contest where images with the most likes and reactions would be eligible towards a raffle to win gift cards to dine at restaurants selected by the admin team. We have even collaborated with multiple organizations such as Asia Society of Texas Houston, Asian Chamber of Commerce, VisitHouston and OCA Greater Houston to help promote community events that ranged from virtual and in-person night markets to celebrations of Asian American Heritage Month to various city pop-ups and festivals.

So, what does our group ask to do to help in your areas? Frequent mom-and-pop restaurants. Dining in and ordering takeout provides a critical lifeline to the community. By supporting smaller restaurants, you are directly supporting the livelihood of the individuals and families that work there. Doing this with love gives them the energy to keep going. 

Most importantly, do the right thing when witnessing problematic behavior. It’s more than being friendly or polite, it’s using your privilege to defend others. It’s something we can all do to protect the future of Asian-owned businesses. We’ve reached a tipping point — we are going to be louder and fight harder to push forward. We need our allies to do the same — speak up and stand up for us and with us. United support is a lot stronger and more powerful.

So continue to support Asian restaurants and love us like you love our food. Asian cuisine is so intricately interwoven into American culture, but has been largely underpriced and under-appreciated. Help our community members showcase and celebrate what it means to be Asian-American.

For Asian-Americans, sharing our grief is an act of revolution. This pandemic created a rare moment of visibility for the country’s often overlooked AAPI communities. To turn this moment into a lasting movement, our communities need new platforms, like Chow Down, to amplify our collective voice and exercise our growing power. When we lift up these stories, we see we are not short of examples of how to lead with solidarity at the heart.

We have this unique opportunity to preserve something that exists from old Chinatown. As an Asian-American, I’m speaking out without keeping my head down. Let’s share stories. Let’s share food. Let’s share culture. Let’s share love. Let’s bring about a world where our loved ones can live free from fear. Love is the only thing that can do that. Stop the hate.

I’d like to take this time to thank all those who have joined our Facebook group, Chow Down in Chinatown – Houston, as an ally-ship to support Asian-owned restaurants in the community. Many local mom-and-pop shops around the city may not exist today if not for your interest, your help, and your appetite. Together, we can write a new and promising story, one extended family meal at a time.

Yours,

Stevie and the Chow Down in Chinatown community