Type Private Founded February 14, 1968 Area served United States, Europe | Industry Restaurant Founder Michael Chow | |
Headquarters New York City, United States | ||
Mr. Chow is a series of upscale Chinese restaurants founded by restaurateur Michael Chow.
History
Michael Chow, son of Chinese Peking Opera Grand Master, Zhou Xinfang, opened the first Mr. Chow in Knightsbridge, London on February 14, 1968. A Beverly Hills, California location soon followed in 1974 and Midtown New York at 57th Street in 1978. In 2006 the fourth location in Tribeca, New York opened. In 2009 a location opened in South Beach Miami at the W Hotel, and another in Malibu, California in 2012 at the Malibu Country Mart.
In 1999, Eurochow, a restaurant located in a $4-million restoration of a landmark domed building in Westwood Village neighborhood of Los Angeles opened but closed by 2007.
Michael Chow has said the Mr. Chow restaurants have always been underlined by a desire and need to promote the Chinese culture. "China always has been a great, great nation", Chow stated in a Wall Street Journal interview and added, "Chinese people — I like them. What can I say?"
Alan Richman of GQ Magazine has described the experience at Mr. Chow as "an establishment that cannot be defined by customary standards but must be appreciated for its sheer fabulousness." The food at his restaurants has been panned, for example The New York Times critic Frank Bruni gave Mr. Chow Tribeca zero stars, and New York magazine critic Adam Platt gave it a similarly dismal review. The goal of his restaurant design is to be fancy and expensive, being quoted as saying "Expensive is important. Very important."