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[[Image:Joy Young 1937.jpg|right|thumb|325px|Joy Young in [[1937]]]]
[[Image:Joy Young 1937.jpg|right|thumb|575px|Joy Young in [[1937]]]]
[[Image:Joy Young interior postcard.jpg|right|thumb|325px|Joy Young interior in the 1960s]]
'''Joy Young Restaurant''', also called '''Joy Young Cafe''', was a landmark Chinese restaurant at 412-414 [[20th Street North]].
'''Joy Young Restaurant''' was a landmark Chinese restaurant at 412-414 [[20th Street North]].


According to Kristen Lee, her great grandparents, a man and wife named "Joe" (zho-ee) were the first Chinese family to settle in Alabama, having arrived in the Port of Mobile in the late 1880s. With no knowledge of English, they struggled in their new home. In [[1919]] they were able to open a restaurant in the boom town of [[Birmingham]]. Another founder was known as [[Loo Bing]].
According to Kristen Lee, her great grandparents, a man and wife named "Joe" (zho-ee) were the first Chinese family to settle in Alabama, having arrived in the Port of Mobile from Canton (Guangzhou) China in the late 1880s. With no knowledge of English, they struggled in their new home.


In June [[1922]] the restaurant, owned by [[Joy Young]], moved to a new location, the former [[Beaver's Cafe]] at 115 20th Street North. [[Thomas Willard]], a foreman for the [[Terry Showcase Company]], constructed the interior woodwork, including staircases, wainscoting and dining booths of gum and poplar with mahogany details. In October [[1924]] the cafe was the scene of a fight between two men that required six detectives and two patrolmen to quell, leaving the dining room in disarray.
In [[1919]] then 23-year-old [[Joe Mansion]] joined with [[Loo Bing]], [[Loo Choy]] and [[Choi Sai|Choi "George" Sai]] to open a restaurant called [[King Joy]] on [[3rd Avenue North]]. In June [[1922]] they opened Joy Young Restaurant in the former [[Beaver's Cafe]] at 115 20th Street North. [[Thomas Willard]], a foreman for the [[Terry Showcase Company]], constructed the interior woodwork, including staircases, wainscoting and dining booths of gum and poplar with mahogany details.


In October [[1925]] the restaurant moved to 412 20th Street North opposite the [[Tutwiler Hotel]]., soon expanding into the former shop next door. The owners of the popular restaurant earned a reputation as friendly, generous business owners, sometimes helping provide meals to the needy. That reputation served them well as the [[Ku Klux Klan]] found no support from the public in efforts to drive the restaurant out of business.  
Joe Mansion and Loo Choy operated the front of house, while Loo Bing and Choi Sai oversaw the kitchen staff. In October [[1924]] the café was the scene of a fight between two men that required six detectives and two patrolmen to quell, leaving the dining room in disarray.


Several varieties of "chop suey", "egg fooyoung", and "chow mein" dominated the portion of the menu labeled "Mandarin Style". The other half of the menu listed "American" favorites for less adventurous diners.  The restaurant served seafood, poultry and meats with french fried or creamed potatoes, english peas and fried tomatoes, and club or chicken salad sandwiches.  
In October [[1925]] the restaurant moved to 412 20th Street North opposite the [[Tutwiler Hotel]], soon expanding into the former shop next door.


[[Image:Joy Young menu sm.jpg|left|thumb|175px|A menu from [[1950]]]]
Joe and Loo earned reputations as friendly, generous businessmen, sometimes helping provide meals to the needy. That reputation served them well as the [[Ku Klux Klan]] found no support from the public in efforts to drive the restaurant out of business. On [[January 2]], [[1926]] Joy Young and two other Chinese restaurants, [[Shanghai Low]] and [[King Joy]], were "raided" by eight men wearing masks and hoods, purportedly serving "warrants" for the alleged sale of whiskey to diners in private booths. The raiders abducted suspected partakers and brought them to the county jail, but were turned away. [[Virginia Bridge & Iron Co.]] engineer [[W. W. Israel]], an officer of the "[[Woodlawn Ku Klux Klan No. 59]]" affirmed that he was an instigator of the raids, which were subsequently panned as illegal, and at least two of the hooded participants were said to have been sworn "special deputies" of the [[Jefferson County Sheriff's Office]]. The owners of the businesses made plans to file lawsuits against the raiders. Mansion consulted with attorney [[Hugo Black]]. The restaurant owners set aside those plans as two grand juries began investigations. Sheriff [[T. J. Shirley]] was out of town on the night of the raids, but later complained that the publicity of the incident, "was only a plot on the part of newspapers to run down the Ku Klux Klan, and that the fact that persons were found in the cafes drinking was as big a crime as hooded raiders."
In advertisements of the 1930s the restaurant's manager is listed as [[Joe Mansion]]. The restaurant was remodeled in [[1946]] with new electric kitchen equipment and refreshed dining rooms. The ''[[Birmingham News]]'' listed Joy Young's fried chicken (1/2 spring chicken, fried for $1.25 in [[1950]]) as the best in Birmingham. Some of the booths had curtains that could be drawn for privacy. The reviewing stand for the annual [[Veteran's Day Parade]] was usually directly across the street from Joy Young.
Another major remodeling took place in [[1954]]. At the time the staff of 70 included, "a new master baker from Bremen, Germany, who will prepare new Bavarian dishes such as cakes, pies, rolls, for your added pleasure."


In the [[1964]] city directory, the proprietor is listed as [[George Sai|George W. Sai]]. The restaurant's sign is visible in scenes from the 1976 film ''[[Stay Hungry]]''. Another "Joy Young" restaurant operated in Memphis.
Several varieties of "chop suey", "egg fooyoung", and "chow mein" dominated the portion of the menu labeled "Mandarin Style". The other half of the menu listed "American" favorites for less adventurous diners. The restaurant served seafood, poultry and meats with French fried or creamed potatoes, English peas and fried tomatoes, and club or chicken salad sandwiches.


In the 1960s a new location on [[Highland Avenue]] opened as '''New Joy Young Restaurant'''. Later, several years after the [[Tutwiler Hotel (1914)|original Tutwiler Hotel]] across the street was demolished, the original Joy Young closed its doors. Owner [[Henry Joe]] reopened in the [[Brookwood Gallery]], a retail strip on the ground floor of the [[Brookwood Medical Center]] parking deck where it operated until the late 1980s.
In [[1929]] Joy Young and two other Chinese restaurants were fined $50 each for violating the city's [[Birmingham anti-booth ordinance|anti-booth ordinance]], which prohibited private dining booths in public accomodations.


Joy Young ended its life as a take-out egg roll store in [[Pelham]]. Some have noted that the egg rolls and other dishes at the [[Chop Suey Inn]] on [[Green Springs Highway]] in [[Homewood]] are unmistakably similar to Joy Young's.
After renewing its lease in [[1935]], Joy Young embarked on a $15,000–$20,000 remodeling and expansion. The cafe, heralded as the "New Joy Young Restaurant", took over the entire 40-foot x 100-foot ground floor and mezzanine and added new kitchen equipment as well as air conditioning system. [[Miller, Martin & Lewis Architects]] designed the renovations, which were carried out by [[S. Lewis & Co.]]. The renovation included air conditioning and a neon marquee constructed by the [[Alabama Neon Sign Co.]] When it re-opened on [[August 19]], the restaurant featured live music from [[Rudy Clark]] and his [[Melody Makers]] nightly.


==External link==
The restaurant was remodeled in [[1946]] with new electric kitchen equipment and refreshed dining rooms. The ''[[Birmingham News]]'' listed Joy Young's fried chicken (1/2 spring chicken, fried for $1.25 in [[1950]]) as the best in Birmingham. Some of the booths had curtains that could be drawn for privacy. The reviewing stand for the annual [[Veteran's Day Parade]] was usually directly across the street from Joy Young.
* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcdavidphoto/3184869588 1970s photo of marquee] on Flickr.com
 
Joe Mansion died in February [[1954]]. The restaurant underwent another remodeling project between July and September [[1954]]. At the time the staff of 70 included, "a new master baker from Bremen, Germany, who will prepare new Bavarian dishes such as cakes, pies, rolls, for your added pleasure." Black businessman [[A. G. Gaston]] was a fan of Joy Young's cuisine, but during Birmingham's era of [[segregation]], he could not dine at the restaurant and had to drive to the alley door to pick up his meals.
 
Loo Choy died in [[1959]]. In the [[1964]] city directory, the proprietor is listed as [[Choi Sai|George W. Sai]]. Joe's son [[Wing Soon Joe|Wing Soon]] who came to the United States in [[1931]] to work in the restaurant, took on added responsibilities as a partner.<!--In the 1960s a new location on [[Highland Avenue]] opened as '''New Joy Young Restaurant'''. Another "Joy Young" restaurant operated in Memphis.-->
 
The closing of the Tutwiler Hotel in [[1972]] impacted the visibility of Joy Young to out-of-town visitors. Its sign is visible in scenes from the 1976 film ''[[Stay Hungry]]''. In [[1978]] third-generation owner [[Henry Joe]] told {{BPH}} reporter [[Peter de Selding]] that [[Jefferson County Health Department]] inspectors, who had formerly been "capricious", were treating the business more fairly, relating that "The inspector tells us what has to be done, and we do it."
 
In [[1981]] developer [[Raymond Gotlieb]] attempted to buy up most of [[Block 60]], including the Joy Young building, which was owned by [[Cameron Grammas]] and [[Phil Hontzas]]. Those efforts were complicated by the [[Birmingham City Council]]'s delay in formally adopting the [[1979 Downtown Master Plan]] as its urban renewal and redevelopment plan, which would have given property owners facing the threat of condemnation access to tax incentives for relocating.
 
Joy Young closed its downtown location in the mid 1980s. Henry Joe reopened in the [[Brookwood Gallery]], a retail strip on the ground floor of the [[Brookwood Medical Center]] parking deck where it operated for several more years. Many of the restaurant's well-loved recipes were kept secret by the head chef, who went by the moniker [[A La Carte]]. The business lost its lease at Brookwood Gallery in [[1992]].
 
In March [[1993]] Joe opened a "Joy Young" take-out stand in the [[Midtown Food Court]] inside the [[Birmingham Parking Authority Deck 8|Liberty National Parking Deck]]. That business later moved to [[Pelham]]. Some have noted that the egg rolls and other dishes at the [[Chop Suey Inn]] on [[Green Springs Highway]] in [[Homewood]] are unmistakably similar to Joy Young's.
 
Joe Mansion's great-grandson, [[Chris Joe]], whose portrait as a child once appeared on the cover of Joy Young's children's menu, worked in the family's business before graduating to other restaurant jobs. After taking a break from cooking during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], he launched a [[List of food trucks|food trailer]] called "[[Rickshaw]]" which features a blend of American-inflected Asian dishes.
 
==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Joe Mansion.png|[[Joe Mansion]]
Image:Joy Young menu sm.jpg|A Joy Young menu from [[1950]]
Image:Joy Young interior postcard.jpg|Joy Young interior in the 1960s
</gallery>


==References==
==References==
* "New Chinese Restaurant" (June 10, 1922) {{BN}}, p. 7
* "[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news/40986885/ New Chinese Restaurant]" (June 10, 1922) {{BN}}, p. 7
* "Plan To Swap Girls Leads To Encounter" (October 12, 1924) {{BN}}, p. 10
* "Plan To Swap Girls Leads To Encounter" (October 12, 1924) {{BN}}, p. 10
* "Restaurant Raid Violation of Law, Officers Declare." (January 4, 1926) {{BN}}, p. 1
* "Probe Is Started of Masked Raid on Chinese Cafe" (January 5, 1926) {{BN}}, p. 1
* "[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-chinese-fined-in-ant/127016287/ Chinese Fined in Anti-Booth Cases]" (May 24, 1929), p. 1
* "[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-joy-young-expands/127016010/ Joy Young Expands]" (July 7, 1935) ''[[Birmingham News|The Birmingham News—Age-Herald]]'', p. 3
* "[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news-insert-18-aug-1935-j/106996445/ We Open Monday]" advertisement (August 18, 1935) {{BN}}
* "[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-news/107451645/ Joe Mansion, owner of Joy Young's, dies after short illness]." (February 28, 1954) {{BN}}, p. 35
* De Selding, Peter (July 15, 1978) "Restaurants can get by with low standards." {{BPH}}, p. 1–2
* Stevens, Deborah L. (September 28, 1980) "From China to Homewood, Joe family follows tradition." {{BN}}, p. B1
* Frieden, Kitty (February 27, 1981) "[http://bplonline.cdmhost.com/digital/collection/p16044coll6/id/940/rec/3 Firm hopes to get key property pieces today for complex]" {{BN}} - via {{BPLDC}}
* Lee, Kristen. "I Come from a Family that is Considered 'White'" Newsletter of the Asian Student Union at San Francisco State University. [http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~asu/Newsletter/nws04KLee2.html] - accessed March 27, 2006
* Lee, Kristen. "I Come from a Family that is Considered 'White'" Newsletter of the Asian Student Union at San Francisco State University. [http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~asu/Newsletter/nws04KLee2.html] - accessed March 27, 2006
* Angell, Glory Clark (1983) ''[[Birmingham Inside Out]]'' Birmingham: self published.
* Angell, Glory Clark (1983) ''[[Birmingham Inside Out]]'' Birmingham: self published.
* Wagstaff, Cherry Rich (October 21, 1992) "[https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-joy-youngs-resta/127018713/ Joy Young's restaurant still looking for a new home]." {{BPH}}, p. C1
* Dent, Suzanne Kennemer & Cherry Rich Wagstaff (March 31, 1993) "[https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald-its-a-new-kind-o/127018416/ It's a new kind of place, but good old Joy Young is back in the Magic City]." {{BPH}}, p. C6
* State of Alabama Department of Revenue vs. New Joy Young Restaurant, Inc. State of Alabama Dept. of Revenue Administrative Law Division. Docket No. S. 91-246. "Final Order" - [http://www.ador.state.al.us/aljrules/91-246.pdf] - accessed March 27, 2006
* State of Alabama Department of Revenue vs. New Joy Young Restaurant, Inc. State of Alabama Dept. of Revenue Administrative Law Division. Docket No. S. 91-246. "Final Order" - [http://www.ador.state.al.us/aljrules/91-246.pdf] - accessed March 27, 2006
* Archibald, John (January 20, 1996) "[https://www.newspapers.com/article/birmingham-post-herald/120957767/ Gaston's lasting impression]." {{BPH}}, p. 1
* Carlton, Bob (March 15, 2023) "[https://www.al.com/life/2023/03/this-food-trucks-connection-to-a-beloved-birmingham-restaurant.html This food truck’s connection to a beloved Birmingham restaurant]" {{AL}}
==External link==
* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcdavidphoto/3184869588 1970s photo of marquee] on Flickr.com


[[Category:Former restaurants]]
[[Category:Former restaurants]]
[[Category:Chinese restaurants]]
[[Category:Chinese restaurants]]
[[Category:Block 60]]
[[Category:20th Street North]]
[[Category:20th Street North]]
[[Category:1919 establishments]]
[[Category:1922 establishments]]
[[Category:1980s disestablishments]]
[[Category:1935 buildings]]
[[Category:Miller, Martin & Lewis buildings]]
[[Category:1992 disestablishments]]
[[Category:Birmingham Parking Authority Deck 8]]

Latest revision as of 11:20, 24 June 2023

Joy Young in 1937

Joy Young Restaurant, also called Joy Young Cafe, was a landmark Chinese restaurant at 412-414 20th Street North.

According to Kristen Lee, her great grandparents, a man and wife named "Joe" (zho-ee) were the first Chinese family to settle in Alabama, having arrived in the Port of Mobile from Canton (Guangzhou) China in the late 1880s. With no knowledge of English, they struggled in their new home.

In 1919 then 23-year-old Joe Mansion joined with Loo Bing, Loo Choy and Choi "George" Sai to open a restaurant called King Joy on 3rd Avenue North. In June 1922 they opened Joy Young Restaurant in the former Beaver's Cafe at 115 20th Street North. Thomas Willard, a foreman for the Terry Showcase Company, constructed the interior woodwork, including staircases, wainscoting and dining booths of gum and poplar with mahogany details.

Joe Mansion and Loo Choy operated the front of house, while Loo Bing and Choi Sai oversaw the kitchen staff. In October 1924 the café was the scene of a fight between two men that required six detectives and two patrolmen to quell, leaving the dining room in disarray.

In October 1925 the restaurant moved to 412 20th Street North opposite the Tutwiler Hotel, soon expanding into the former shop next door.

Joe and Loo earned reputations as friendly, generous businessmen, sometimes helping provide meals to the needy. That reputation served them well as the Ku Klux Klan found no support from the public in efforts to drive the restaurant out of business. On January 2, 1926 Joy Young and two other Chinese restaurants, Shanghai Low and King Joy, were "raided" by eight men wearing masks and hoods, purportedly serving "warrants" for the alleged sale of whiskey to diners in private booths. The raiders abducted suspected partakers and brought them to the county jail, but were turned away. Virginia Bridge & Iron Co. engineer W. W. Israel, an officer of the "Woodlawn Ku Klux Klan No. 59" affirmed that he was an instigator of the raids, which were subsequently panned as illegal, and at least two of the hooded participants were said to have been sworn "special deputies" of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. The owners of the businesses made plans to file lawsuits against the raiders. Mansion consulted with attorney Hugo Black. The restaurant owners set aside those plans as two grand juries began investigations. Sheriff T. J. Shirley was out of town on the night of the raids, but later complained that the publicity of the incident, "was only a plot on the part of newspapers to run down the Ku Klux Klan, and that the fact that persons were found in the cafes drinking was as big a crime as hooded raiders."

Several varieties of "chop suey", "egg fooyoung", and "chow mein" dominated the portion of the menu labeled "Mandarin Style". The other half of the menu listed "American" favorites for less adventurous diners. The restaurant served seafood, poultry and meats with French fried or creamed potatoes, English peas and fried tomatoes, and club or chicken salad sandwiches.

In 1929 Joy Young and two other Chinese restaurants were fined $50 each for violating the city's anti-booth ordinance, which prohibited private dining booths in public accomodations.

After renewing its lease in 1935, Joy Young embarked on a $15,000–$20,000 remodeling and expansion. The cafe, heralded as the "New Joy Young Restaurant", took over the entire 40-foot x 100-foot ground floor and mezzanine and added new kitchen equipment as well as air conditioning system. Miller, Martin & Lewis Architects designed the renovations, which were carried out by S. Lewis & Co.. The renovation included air conditioning and a neon marquee constructed by the Alabama Neon Sign Co. When it re-opened on August 19, the restaurant featured live music from Rudy Clark and his Melody Makers nightly.

The restaurant was remodeled in 1946 with new electric kitchen equipment and refreshed dining rooms. The Birmingham News listed Joy Young's fried chicken (1/2 spring chicken, fried for $1.25 in 1950) as the best in Birmingham. Some of the booths had curtains that could be drawn for privacy. The reviewing stand for the annual Veteran's Day Parade was usually directly across the street from Joy Young.

Joe Mansion died in February 1954. The restaurant underwent another remodeling project between July and September 1954. At the time the staff of 70 included, "a new master baker from Bremen, Germany, who will prepare new Bavarian dishes such as cakes, pies, rolls, for your added pleasure." Black businessman A. G. Gaston was a fan of Joy Young's cuisine, but during Birmingham's era of segregation, he could not dine at the restaurant and had to drive to the alley door to pick up his meals.

Loo Choy died in 1959. In the 1964 city directory, the proprietor is listed as George W. Sai. Joe's son Wing Soon who came to the United States in 1931 to work in the restaurant, took on added responsibilities as a partner.

The closing of the Tutwiler Hotel in 1972 impacted the visibility of Joy Young to out-of-town visitors. Its sign is visible in scenes from the 1976 film Stay Hungry. In 1978 third-generation owner Henry Joe told Birmingham Post-Herald reporter Peter de Selding that Jefferson County Health Department inspectors, who had formerly been "capricious", were treating the business more fairly, relating that "The inspector tells us what has to be done, and we do it."

In 1981 developer Raymond Gotlieb attempted to buy up most of Block 60, including the Joy Young building, which was owned by Cameron Grammas and Phil Hontzas. Those efforts were complicated by the Birmingham City Council's delay in formally adopting the 1979 Downtown Master Plan as its urban renewal and redevelopment plan, which would have given property owners facing the threat of condemnation access to tax incentives for relocating.

Joy Young closed its downtown location in the mid 1980s. Henry Joe reopened in the Brookwood Gallery, a retail strip on the ground floor of the Brookwood Medical Center parking deck where it operated for several more years. Many of the restaurant's well-loved recipes were kept secret by the head chef, who went by the moniker A La Carte. The business lost its lease at Brookwood Gallery in 1992.

In March 1993 Joe opened a "Joy Young" take-out stand in the Midtown Food Court inside the Liberty National Parking Deck. That business later moved to Pelham. Some have noted that the egg rolls and other dishes at the Chop Suey Inn on Green Springs Highway in Homewood are unmistakably similar to Joy Young's.

Joe Mansion's great-grandson, Chris Joe, whose portrait as a child once appeared on the cover of Joy Young's children's menu, worked in the family's business before graduating to other restaurant jobs. After taking a break from cooking during the COVID-19 pandemic, he launched a food trailer called "Rickshaw" which features a blend of American-inflected Asian dishes.

Gallery

References

External link

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