A new Arlington Historical Society exhibition looks at the life and legacy of what may have been Arlington’s first Chinese-inspired restaurant.
“The Family Tea House: Where Culture and Cuisine Met in Arlington” delves into the story of Family Tea House, the dishes it offered and the role it played in a brief but important episode in Virginia’s civil rights movement.
Overall, the exhibit serves “an homage to all the rich Asian history here in Northern Virginia,” Caroline Tso, who created the exhibition, said in a Sunday presentation at the Arlington Historical Museum.
Tso, a rising freshman at Carter G. Woodson High School in Fairfax County, uncovered previously unknown facts about the restaurant — most likely the first in the region run by Asian Americans and serving food that, while Americanized, represented their home culture.
Tso unearthed information about the restaurant and its owner, Jim Wing, by working largely from newspaper archives.
The restaurant was located in the 4000 block of Lee Highway (now Langston Blvd), where Rosewood Imports later stood. Wing also operated a nearby gift shop.
The historic record about the restaurant continues to have some gaps. It opened in the late 1940s or early 1950s, but its closing date is unknown.
Previously, Wing appears to have operated a restaurant called Fong Yuen, but where it was located and whether it had a direct connection to the Family Tea House is unknown. Such is the life of a researcher, said Tso, who has spent the past year serving as a docent at the Arlington Historical Museum with her father.
“You have these missing pieces, and it’s up to you to find out what’s there,” she said.
Even less is known about Wing. “His restaurant did attract a lot of attention, but he didn’t,” Tso said.
Efforts to contact his descendants proved unsuccessful.
Some other Northern Virginia restaurants also sold Chinese fare during Family Tea House’s time, though as a marketing strategy, they mostly served just a few dishes.
The restaurant offered both American and Chinese dishes. On the menu in 1955 was a special: wonton soup, an egg roll, chicken chow mein, fried rice and tea for $1.50.
The all-in-one meal deal appeared to be an effort to introduce locals to a cuisine few were familiar with.
“It’s definitely a steal,” Tso said of the price. “It was their house special.”
In the 1950s-60s, the restaurant had a Chinese chef for Asian-inspired fare, a Black chef for American food and white waitresses, a help-wanted ad included in the exhibition makes clear.
Clientele included families, fraternal groups and students from Washington-Lee High School (now Washington-Liberty).
The restaurant was “just the place to stop for a pick-me-up lunch,” a period copy of the W-L yearbook noted.
One photo in the exhibition shows high-school students Tom Sullivan, Chuck Crowell, Gretchen Greene and Alice Peck enjoying a meal there in the early 1960s. The dual menu was a selling point to the four students.
Two were opting for Chinese cuisine, while the other two were sticking with more typical American fare.
Beyond serving up meals, the restaurant played a supporting role in a key civil-rights victory of 65 summers ago.
In June 1960, Arlington sit-ins began targeting restaurants that allowed Black customers to buy food, but refused to let them use lunch counters or other facilities.
On June 23, 1960, the Family Tea House was one of nearly two dozen restaurants that opted to integrate their seating facilities rather than adhere to Jim Crow-era restrictions.
The restaurant owners “treated all as family,” Tso said.
While the current exhibition is temporary in nature, portions of it will be incorporated into the “Commerce & Industry” section of the recently renovated museum.
David Pearson, a past president of the historical society, said Tso’s work augments the type of holding the museum aims to expand. Specifically, he mentioned interest in providing more information on the experiences of 20th-century immigrants in the region.
“We’re still very light” on that, Pearson acknowledged.
Tso’s presentation was among the first in a new series of informal 30-minute talks on select Sundays at the museum. They are held in a second-floor room that, before the renovation, had been used for storage.
“We really wanted to make it a community gathering space,” Pearson said.
The next presentation, set for Sunday, Aug. 10 at 2 p.m., will look at the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and its impact on Northern Virginia.
“If you have ideas for [future] topics or want to present, let us know,” Pearson told attendees.
