It’s a precarious situation for a neighborhood that has long caught the eye of developers.
At China King last month, the phone rarely rang.
“One day, there was nothing,” said owner Doris Huang of a day without a single order. “Nobody at all. I have never seen it so quiet.”
The rent for her modest Chinatown restaurant is past due. One employee remains on the payroll, and Huang’s small pool of savings ebbs lower each day. The money China King needs to stay afloat is simply not there, and there are no sign profits that will start pouring in soon. So Huang closed her beloved 25-year-old restaurant last week — at least temporarily — after sparring with the decision for a while.
Eateries across the state, like China King, are suffering under necessary distancing guidelines and barely staving off financial ruin during COVID-19. In response, restaurateurs have implemented cost-cutting measures, including truncated hours, shortened menus, and widespread layoffs.
But a slew of recent restaurant closures in Chinatown signals an especially dire financial future for the historic neighborhood. (Boston Globe)
