Type Subsidiary Founders Jack Lew Founder Jack Lew | Industry Fast Food Area served Canada
United States Founded 1980 | |
 | ||
Headquarters Markham, Ontario, Canada Products Canadian Chinese cuisine
Chinese-American cuisine Parent organizations MTY Food Group, MTY Tiki Ming Enterprises Inc. Profiles | ||
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Manchu Wok Inc. is a Canadian Chinese-themed fast food restaurant chain in the United States and Canada. The chain operates 200 stores, primarily in shopping mall locations. It was owned by Hong Kong-based Café de Coral, and now it is owned by Canada-based MTY Food Group since 2014.
Contents
Despite the chain's name, the menu does not feature any dishes from traditional Manchurian cuisine and instead contains mostly American Chinese cuisine and Canadian Chinese cuisine.
History
The first store was opened by Dr. Jack Lew and other Hong Kong immigrants in 1980 in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Lew hired food service equipment consultant Alfred Grech, a Maltese immigrant, to design and help with the building of the first 33 stores. In 1992, Lew sold the company to Scott's Hospitality Inc. At the time of the sale, there were 113 Manchu Wok units in Canada and United States. Under new ownership, there were 237 Manchu Wok units in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom by April 1992. By 1996, there were 245 Manchu Wok when parent company Scott's Hospitality was acquired by Laidlaw Inc. In 2000, Laidlaw sold the company to a group of investors headed by Ken Fowler and Café de Coral. At the time of the sale in 2000, there were 74 locations in Canada, 119 locations in the United States and 2 in Poland.
Expansion outside Canada
In 2003 and 2004, Manchu Wok expanded its operations to US military bases in Santa Rita, Guam; and Okinawa, Japan, respectively. It also has location on a U.S. Army garrison in Korea, and Ramstein Air Base in Germany. and US Army Base, Grafenwohr, Germany.