Kowloon Restaurant
Asian restaurant · Saugus ·
Asian fusion with mai tais, comedy, and kitschy Polynesian decor
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23318485/March_8__2022_Kowloon_248.jpg "Kowloon Restaurant by eater.com")
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70629640/March_8__2022_Kowloon_272.0.jpg "Kowloon Restaurant by Sophie Park")
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23318487/March_8__2022_Kowloon_216.jpg "Kowloon Restaurant by eater.com")
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23318477/March_8__2022_Kowloon_14.jpg "Kowloon Restaurant by eater.com")
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23318496/March_8__2022_Kowloon_265.jpg "Kowloon Restaurant by eater.com")
Asian fusion with mai tais, comedy, and kitschy Polynesian decor
"Located on Route 1, this gargantuan, totem-festooned restaurant — a kitsch-soaked icon of 1950s tiki culture that has been operating in one form or another for more than 70 years — is being downsized from about 1,200 seats to roughly 350. The Wong family, whose matriarchal founders Chun Sau Chin and Tow See Chin opened it in 1950 as the Mandarin House (40–50 seats) and whose Madeline and Bill Wong expanded and renamed it after buying the business in 1958, plans to build two residential buildings on the site; eventually the current building will be torn down and replaced by a roughly 20,000-square-foot restaurant space with apartments on the upper floors, and the restaurant will be temporarily relocated elsewhere on the property during construction (likely a couple of years away and still awaiting permits). Long cherished as a landmark along the highway and photographed alongside orange dinosaurs, a “leaning tower of pizza” and other roadside curiosities, some longtime patrons lament that a much smaller venue won’t feel the same, while the owners argue the reduced footprint is what they can realistically maintain as they age and as the next generation steps back." - Stephanie Carter
"A gargantuan, totem-festooned restaurant on U.S. Route 1 in Saugus that has anchored a fading midcentury driving-and-dining corridor since 1950, founded by Chun Sau Chin and Tow See Chin and later expanded into a 50,000-square-foot escapist fantasia by William Wong. Inside are hazy lights, a fountain, an ’80s-era Hong Kong Lounge bar and seven named dining rooms — including a Tiki Lagoon with a massive water feature and a Volcano Bay Room centered on a ship replica and glowing volcano wallpaper — plus a sushi bar, frozen-drink novelties served in outrageous vessels, huge shareable platters and a pan-Asian menu (with an off-menu cult favorite known as Saugus wings). The sprawling operation also houses a respected upstairs comedy venue that has hosted top comics, employs large numbers of local staff, and functions as a multigenerational community hub; the family owners are weighing sale or subdivision even as locals defend its cultural importance, making its future uncertain but its legacy unmistakable." - Hannah Selinger
"I can reassure readers that Kowloon, the iconic Route 1 Chinese restaurant at 948 Broadway opened by Madeline and Bill Wong in 1960 and operating in one form or another for more than 70 years, is not sold or closing and will remain open for the foreseeable future. After reports about a Saugus Planning Board meeting, Bobby Wong said the family is merely “looking at other options we might have with the property” sometime in the future and acknowledged the restaurant business is tough and that the next generation doesn’t want to be involved in operations. The preliminary subdivision plan presented by attorney Richard Magnan would create two separate lots that could allow mixed-use development down the road, but any project would require years of local approvals and is not imminent. In a social-media statement the family stressed they are “not sold or closing soon,” that they are “just planning for the future” after completing their 70th year in business, and that while the life is rewarding it’s demanding—“there will be an end at some point...just not right now”—concluding, “Nothing gold can stay, but Kowloon stays another day.”" - Terrence Doyle
"A Saugus landmark with a quirky online gift shop full of tiki bowls, novelty items and apparel, including a human-sized black hoodie with a bright red logo and a matching winter hat; items ship from the shop, which has also repurposed its parking lot for events like drive‑in movies." - Rachel Leah Blumenthal
"It’s a bit of a geographic outlier on this particular map, but Kowloon out in Saugus is a necessary scorpion bowl destination on the North Shore. The decades-old kitschy landmark is a palace of tiki drinks, fountains, parties, and comedy, with a humongous menu of Chinese, Thai, and Japanese food. You can even buy your own bowl for making giant cocktails at home." - Rachel Leah Blumenthal